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             The masters of these slaves used many things to control them. These included both physical and mental punishment, as both could be used to degrade the slaves. Whippings and beatings were very common, and it was also true that many of the masters violated the female slaves and had children by them. This physical torment was of course very painful and degrading, and many slaves were actually killed by their masters. As slaves, they had virtually no rights at all, and therefore the law could do nothing to help them.

             Mentally, however, they were treated even worse than physically. Very few slaves were allowed to read and write, and few were taught. The ones that tried to learn were physically punished, and all of the materials that they were using to learn these skills were taken from them. The same was true of religion, as they were also not allowed to read the Bible or attempt to learn anything from it. They were treated as though they were less than human and this is what most of the masters thought of them. There were a few kind masters, but these were not common. These kind masters often taught their slaves to read and write, and they treated them with a reasonable amount of decency. They were certainly never treated as equals, but they also were not punished for no reason.

             The masters made a strong effort to keep their slaves beaten down. They made them work very long hours and forced them to do hard labor with little food and little rest. Many died, but the ones that survived only grew increasingly more interested in being free and escaping the cruelty that these people heaped upon them. It seemed that control was the most important part of slavery. It was cheap labor, but if the master had no control over his slaves then the work would not get done. To avoid this, he worked his slaves hard so that they did not have the energy to plot anything against him or try to get away.