Slavery as a Cruel Institution Cruelty can be defined as an inhumane action done to an individual .
or group of people that causes either physical or mental harm. Slavery, at its very core, was a .
cruel and inhumane institution. From the idea behind it to the way that it was enforced, it .
degraded the lives of human beings and forbade the basic liberties that every man deserves .
under the Constitution of the United States. Three major areas where cruelty was especially .
prevalent were in the slaves working conditions, living conditions, and loss of fundamental .
freedoms. Working conditions for slaves were about as bad as can possibly be imagined. .
Slaves worked from dawn till dusk and sometimes even longer. Solomon Northrup describes .
his experience as a slave on his Louisiana plantation: The hands are required to be in the cotton .
field as soon as it is light in the morning and with the exception of ten or fifteen minutes, which is .
given them at noon to swallow their allowance of cold bacon, they are not permitted a moment .
idle until it is too dark to see, and when the moon is full, they often times labor till the middle of .
the night (Northrup 15). The slaves lived in constant fear of punishment while at work, and it .
was that fear that drove them to obey. Northrup continues to say that, "No matter how fatigued .
and weary he may be a slave never approaches the gin-house with his basket of cotton but .
with fear. If it falls short in weight-if he has not performed the full task appointed him, he .
knows he must suffer" (10). He goes on to explain that after weighing, "follow the whippings" .
(10). This was not the end of the workday for a common slave though. Each slave had his or .
her own respective chores to do. "One feeds the mules, another the swine-another cuts the .
wood, and so forth (Northrop 11). Then there were jobs to do in the slaves" quarters, jobs that .
were necessary for their basic needs and survival: Finally, at a late hour, they reach the quarters, .
