Fear of revolt
Punishments towards enslaved people were often brutal. Severe punishments included:
- Nose slit
- Loss of limb (a runaway - Antigua)
- Whipping
- Stocks
- Death penalty for theft (of items worth more than 12 pence - Barbados)
- Death penalty by burning (for striking a white person - Jamaica)
Historian David Olusoga examines instruments of torture used to punish slaves.
A, enslaved people, known as Gordon, displays scars on his back from being whipped
The long hours and exhausting work rate was largely achieved through punishment, principally whipping. This made economic sense when cheap replacement enslaved people were available. However this made control by fear a key feature of plantation relationships.
On the plantations, African enslaved people easily outnumbered European planters. Punishing treatment acted as both a cause and effect on the behaviour of the enslaved, creating a vicious circle.
- the masters鈥 fears led to excessive punishment
- the excessive cruelty led to revolts, runaways, or other types of disobedience
- disobedience led to further fear for the masters and retribution punishment
Revolt was prevented by a rigid application of the slave code.