An auction taking place in Richmond, Virginia, 1861.
A slave market in Brazil, 1820s
3. Hard labour in the plantations
Slaves working in a tobacco farm in Cuba, 1850
Slaves working in a sugar mill in Surinam, 1839.
Slaves working in a sugar plantation in the West Indies, 19th century.
Slaves carrying bales of cotton to a river port in the south, 1850s
Black porters carrying sacks of coffee beans in Brazil, 1826.
Slaves husking corn in the US, south 1861.
4. Modes of punishment
Punishment was meted out to those who disobeyed their masters or mistresses, or who tried to run away. Rebellion against their masters was punishable by hanging or decapitation. Dogs were used to hunt down slaves that attempted to run away.Slaves who participated in a revolt were hanged. Slaves convicted of major crimes were decapitated in the British West Indies. One of the drawings above (bottom left) shows two heads impaled on wooden poles.
Slaves being punished in Madagascar, 1850s. On the left, a boy wearing a heavy metal collar bent around his neck. On the left, a girl is constrained by a wooden board that is assembled from two pieces wood.
A slave hanging by the ribs for participating in a revolt in Surinam, 1770s. An eyewitness described how it was done: a cut was made in the ribs and a hook was inserted in the hole. The victim survived for three days until he was clubbed to death by a guard who claimed that the victim had insulted him.
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