Why was punishment so central to american slavery

because slavery is dehumanization and it is taking someone stripping them of who they are and saying you are my property and you belong to m, meaning that they will do whatever they are told because they do not own themselves

Punishment was central to American slavery because the slave owners wanted the slaves to fear them. They wanted this so that they would not be motivated to run away. The slave owners punished the slaves so that they would not dare to disobey them.