Today’s Distasteful Yet Truly Morbid Fact!
In 19th century Jamaican jails, slaves were ‘bowed’ (a naval term meaning to stretch out with block and tackle) for flogging. An account in the Jamaican Christian Record for 1830 provides the distasteful details:
A female… about 22 years of age, was then laid down, with her face downwards; her wrists were secured by cords run into nooses; her ankles were brought together and placed in another noose; the cord composing this last one, passed through a block, connected with a post. The cord was tightened, and the young woman was then stretched to her utmost length.
A female then advanced, and raised her clothes towards her head, leaving the person indecently exposed. The boatswain of the workhouse, a tall athletic man, flourished his whip four or five times round his head, and proceeded with the punishment. This instrument of punishment was a cat, formed of knotted cords. The blood sprang from the wounds it inflicted. The poor creature shrieked in agony…
Culled from: The History of Torture
This type of brutality can be seen in the movie “12 Years a Slave.” An excellent film, but quite uncomfortable to watch at times. There are certain people who need to see this movie in light of their opinion that slaves did not have it that bad.