The slavery practiced in the United States prior to the Civil War was the legal establishment of human chattel enslavement, primarily, but not exclusively, of Africans and their descendants. Chattel slavery is so named because the enslaved are the personal property of the owners and bought and sold as a commodity, and the status of slave was imposed on the enslaved from birth. This form of slavery is in contrast to other forms such as bonded labor, in which a person pledged him or herself against a loan.
In chattel slavery, the limits of slave punishments were only set by the masters, as they had the legal right to do whatever they wished. Therefore, slaves in the American South experienced horrific levels of brutality.
The more serious the ‘crime’ committed, the more severe the punishment.
Plantation owners often made the other slaves watch the punishment to prevent them from slacking at work or trying to run away.
PODCAST: HISTORY UNPLUGGEDThe Son of Mississippi Slaves Who Fled to Russia and Brought Jazz to Istanbul
"Slave Punishments in the Antebellum American South" History on the Net
© 2000-2024, Salem Media.
September 11, 2024
More Citation Information.
