Question

Before the Emancipation Proclamation how were the enslaved African Americans captured by Union forces often treated?

Answer 1

Hint: The Emancipation Proclamation was undertaken by the US President Abraham Lincoln in order to end slavery and set all those African American who had been captured as slaves to be freed.

Complete answer: The Emancipation Proclamation was issued by Abraham Lincoln on september 22nd 1862.The Emancipation declared that from 1st January 1863, all African Americans who had been held as slaves and were rebelling against the Union will be set free.However the document only applied to those held as slaves in the Confederacy and excluded those states in the border who remained loyal to the Union.
Before the formulation of the Emancipation Proclamation the slaves were treated very cruely by the Union forces. Slaves received brutal punishment like whipping,beating, branding and imprisonment.Even pregnant women were also not spared. Such was the brutality. The mistreatment was followed by rape and sexual abuse also. These slaves were received as property of the owners. Fear was instilled among the slaves in order to maintain discipline.They were vastly made to overwork and even guillotined.They were made to survive in dehumanizing conditions. They were not given access to the outside world as well.

Note: The exploitation of children in America was legal both physical and sexually.The slaves were not provided with medical access by the owners. Most of the time it was the fellow slaves who took care of the ill and diseases. The slightest of disobedience led to punishments.