The savage treatment of slaves
Punishment given to slaves for even the most minor of offences could be hard. Plantation owners saw it as their right to attack their slaves as and when they felt like it. Slaves working in the fields were often flogged if the owner thought they weren't working hard enough and the punishment was carried out by the owner, overseer or even the black slave-driver. Very few slaves reached the end of their working lives without having been flogged.
Sexual abuse of female slaves
Domestic slaves too were often punished for no apparent reason, such as accidentally breaking something. As most domestic slaves were female, they were at serious risk of physical abuse from their male owners and overseers (as were the female workers in the fields). Sexual abuse of female slaves, particularly in the West Indies was considered as being quite acceptable. In North America it happened but it was not openly acceptable.
Severe punishments
Serious and cruel punishments were carried out for 'offences' such as stealing or what owners thought was the deliberate sabotage of plantation equipment. The loss of a hand or limb or ear was a frequent punishment, but owners had to keep in mind the economic usefulness of the punished slave if they were disabled and unable to work as effectively. The stocks (a wooden structure in a public place to which criminals were fastened by their feet or hands) was another form of punishment and used.
Torture and execution
Punishment for crimes such as murder or rebellion was torture and death. Some extremely cruel methods were used. These included execution and the display of the dismembered corpse; the use of the gibbet for a slow and painful death by hanging; flogging to death; the use of the wheel; and hanging, drawing and quartering (where the person being hanged was cut whilst still alive). These methods designed to give the maximum pain to the victim set an example for those watching so they would not be tempted into crime.