Slavery as a cruel institution Cruelty can be defined as an inhumane action committed against an individual or a group of people that causes physical or mental harm. Slavery, at its essence, was a cruel and inhumane institution. From the underlying idea to the way it has been applied, it has degraded the lives of human beings and prohibited the basic freedoms that every man deserves under the Constitution of the United States. Three main areas where cruelty was particularly prevalent involved slaves' working conditions, living conditions, and the loss of basic freedoms. The working conditions of the slaves were the worst imaginable. Slaves worked from dawn to dusk and sometimes even longer. Solomon Northrup describes his experience as a slave on his Louisiana plantation: The hands must be in the cotton field as soon as it is light in the morning, and with the exception of ten or fifteen minutes, which are given them at noon for swallowing. their allowance of cold bacon, they are not allowed a moment of idle time until it is too dark to see, and when the moon is full, they often work until the middle of the night (Northrup 15). Slaves lived in constant fear of punishment as they worked, and it was that fear that drove them to obey. Northrup continues to say that: "No matter how fatigued and tired he may be... a slave never approaches the gin with his cotton basket except in fear. If he falls bodily, if he has not performed the entire task assigned to him, he knows he will have to suffer" (10). He goes on to explain that after the weighing "follow the whippings" (10). This, however, was not the end of the working day for a common slave. “One feeds the mules, another the pigs, another cuts wood, and so on (Northrop 11). Then there were jobs to be done in the slave quarters, jobs that were necessary for their basic needs and survival: finally, at a certain point Late in the hour, they reach the quarters, sleepy and overwhelmed by the fatigue of the long day. Then you have to light a fire in the hut, grind the grain in the small hand mill, and prepare dinner and lunch for the next day in the field. (Northrup 12). Slaves slept very little because "an hour before dawn the horn is blown," and it was "an offense invariably followed by flogging, to be found in the quarters after dawn" (Northrup 12). 14).