Throughout the Civil War captured soldiers would be sent to the opposing side's prison camps. The most dreaded prison camp was Andersonville also know as Camp Sumter. Just saying the name of this Confederate prison brought cringes to the stomachs of the Union soldiers. Andersonville had a harsh approach to treating the captured; they would starve them for days, make them walk around naked, and even make them drink water that had been contaminated with their own waste. Andersonville was the harshest prison throughout the civil war and the way they treated prisoners was unlawful and unjustifiable. .
As you read through this paper ask yourself if the way these prisoners were treated was cruel and unusual. The definition of Cruel and Unusual Punishment is this, punishment that is offensive to the contemporary morality or jurisprudence (as by being degrading, inflicting unnecessary and intentional pain, or being disproportionate to the offense). As you read through, put yourself in the prisoner's shoes. Is what being done to them against the law? Is it right to starve thousands of men just because they were fighting for the freedom of slaves? Keep these questions in mind as you read through this paper.
The way that guards treated the inmates was disgusting to say the least. When the men first went into the prison camps they were stripped of all their clothes and belongings. After the prisoner was sent into the camp the only way to get clothing was to go find someone who had died and take the clothes right off his back. It may not seem important, but clothing is a necessity in the southern climate. It not only protects the skin from the sun but during the night it keeps a person warm. To not provide proper clothing for the inmates is inhumane and cruel and unusual punishment. To take the clothing off a man's back is cruel punishment. There is no need to take away the clothing of prisoners; it serves no purpose to have all the men take off their clothes.
