Would You Be Able to Keep a Slave In Line? To Whip Them For a Half Hour?

David Brion Davis poses a thought-provoking question about the challenging and morally reprehensible job of controlling and punishing slaves. He reflects on his own experience in the navy and the difficulty of ordering around African American sailors. Davis points out the disturbing nature of the treatment of slaves, which we would now consider sociopathic. He questions whether we could inflict such brutal punishment on another person, regardless of their gender or age.