Details
Title Whipping with the paddle, as witnessed by the author [graphic].
Publisher [Boston: s.n]
Publisher MA. Boston. 1850
Date [1850]
Physical Description 1 print: wood engraving; image 8 x 13 cm. (3.25 x 5 in)
Description Image shows the type of event that Watson witnessed regularly while in the custody of a slave-trader named Mr. Denton. As Watson explained, "I was not sold for several weeks, thought I wished to be the first, not wishing to witness his cruelty to his slaves any longer; for if they displeased him in the least, he would order them to be stripped, and tied hand and foot together. He would then have his paddle brought, which was a board about two feet in length and one inch in thickness, having fourteen holes bored through it, about an inch in circumference. This instrument of torture he would apply, until the slave was exhausted, on parts which the purchaser would not be likely to examine." Correspondingly, in this scene, Denton beats a man who is tied to an upright pole in such a manner that he is forced to lie on his side on the ground in a fetal position. A child cries in the background; two potential purchasers approach.
Is part of Watson, Henry, b. 1813?. Narrative of Henry Watson. Boston: Bela Marsh, 1850.
Notes Illustration in Henry Watson's Narrative of Henry Watson: a Fugitive Slave (Boston: Bela Marsh, 1850), p. 11.
Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Punishment Scenes.
Subject Slave trade -- United States -- Pictorial works -- 19th century.
Slaves -- Punishment & torture -- Unitd States.
Punishment devices.
Whipping.
Genre Wood engravings -- 1840-1850.
Book illustrations -- 1840-1850.
Location Library Company of Philadelphia| Books & Other Texts | Rare | Am 1850 Wat 71223.O p 11
Accession number 71223.O