TORTURE: ASIAN AND GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES | JUNE-AUG 2013
VOLUME 02 NUMBER 02 & 03
routinely rejected under the premise that they were not citizens of the United States and therefore not party to equal rights.
descendant from Africans, was not a citizen of Missouri, and was therefore unable to legally make a complaint in that state.9
Firearms were the primary method used by slave owners to keep slaves in bondage. In some states, laws required that slave owners even bring their guns to church, in fear that slaves would gain access to them and use them in rebellion. Nat Turner’s rebellion in 1831 displayed the inadequate ability of slaves to defend themselves against an armed militia.7
Slavery was not legally eradicated in the United States until President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, stating “that all persons held as slaves… are, and henceforth shall be free”. This proclamation had short comings however, as its’ legality was entirely dependent on a Union victory in the Civil War. It also only applied to the Confederate slave owning states.10
The invention of the cotton gin by Eli Whitney greatly impacted the slave trade. For years, the South had been lacking a significant cash crop for export. The production of cotton was labor intensive and time consuming, causing farmers to grow more lucrative crops such as tobacco. The invention of the cotton gin in 1792 changed all this, as the ability to produce seedless cotton transformed from being done by hand to being done by machine. Rather than decreasing the need for slave labor, the cotton gin actually increased the demand for field hands to grow and pick the cotton, as cotton became a valuable export for the South. From 1790 to 1808, eighty thousand Africans were imported into the United States.8 This didn’t slow until laws were put into place by the UK and the new United States regarding the import of people. In March of 1857, a decision was handed down on Dred Scott v. Sandford stating that a person brought to America for means of enslavement was not a citizen of the United States. The ramifications of this judgment meant that the plaintiff, Dred Scott, as a 7 Lansford, Tom. “African Americans and Gun Violence.” Guns in American Society. Ed. Gregg Lee Carter. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2012. N. pag. Print. 8 http://www.eliwhitney.org/museum/eliwhitney/cotton-gin
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Methods of Torture Torture of slaves was both physical and psychological. As if the physical labor they had to endure on plantations wasn’t hard enough, they were often set unreasonable production targets and behavioral standards, and were beaten if they didn’t meet the expectations of their master. The emotional trauma of either being forcibly removed from one’s native land to become a slave or being born into such a horrific life was severe and perpetual. Familial ties were frequently severed as children were torn from mothers, husbands from wives, etc., as owners conducted deals of sale across state lines.
“If slaves were particularly rebellious they were sent to the gallows to serve as an example to other slaves. This punishment was most often prescribed for violent crimes, such as the 9 “Scott v. Sandford.” www.cornell.edu. Cornell University, n.d. Web. 05 June 2013 10 “The Emancipation Proclamation.” Archives.gov. National Archives & Records Administration, n.d. Web. 03 May 2013. <http://www.archives.gov/ exhibits/featured_documents/emancipation_ proclamation/>.