Why Did so Many Soldiers Die?

By the mid-ninteenth century, they were killing people faster than they were saving them. The formations they had in battle, the size of their armies, and the growing technology for weapons all made the death rate increase greatly. While they thought having doctors by the battle fields would help save lives, it actually did quite the opposite. It was to the point where soldier would rather lay on the battle field than get help. Doctors had no idea what they were doing, so the sanitation in hospitals was horrible. All of the amputated limbs in the hospitals, the dirty scrubs the doctors would wear for days on end, and the unsanitary cleaning procedures caused many soldiers to die in the hospitals. By the end of all of this 260,00 rebel soldiers and 373,000 union soldiers had died.

1. What were the cons of having doctors by the battle fields?
2. What were ways diseases spread through army camps?
3. How did the doctors treat wounds?

"Letter to an English Abolitionist,” John Henry Hammond, 1845

In this article the author is arguing that slavery is an acceptable practice. He states that in the Bible God has his own form of slaves called the apostles and that as long as you treat them with kiindness and respect that slavery should be an acceptable practice. Politically, many of the people who lived during this time had no say in how they were treated or in policies that would effect them because they were apart of the slavery population and ineligible to be politically active. He appeals to logic by presenting both sides and using religion as a basis for his argument. He is very straight forward in his writing, yet leaves enough open for you to form your own opinion. The historical significance of this article is that it written at a time when slavery was in controversy and when the owner had a plantation with many slaves of their own. In my opinion I do not feel that people should be owned by other people but that they can be committed to an employer in a respectful manner. I feel that it is wrong for people to be unable to make choices of their own or to not have a say in rules and regulations that apply to them.

How Often Were Slaves Whipped?

Slaves were punished in many different ways for multiple reasons. The most common form of punishment was whipping. Whippings could have been administered by plantation owners or their overseers. There is actually no evidence to show how often slaves were whipped,but we are able to look into the severity of the beatings. The severity depended on the material the whips were made of. Some slaves were not even whipped, but they all knew the horrors of it from being forced to watch. Most of this article is about Bennet H. Barrow's planation due to the fact that he recorded every whipping he administered or ordered. On average, slaves on his plantation were whipped at least once, minus the children and pregnant women.
1. What were the possibly materials used for a whip?
2. What were reasons for slaves being Whipped?
3. What were other forms of punishment?
4. On average, how often were slaves whipped on Bennet H. Barrow's plantation? Which slaves were mostlikely being whipped?