Of all the different ways in which slaves were punished, this was the one that was emphasized the most when taught in school. Frederick Douglass describes whippings in detail, describing them as “drawing blood for half an hour at a time” (Douglass 5). The punishments were so severe because without them, slave owners had nothing to keep workers in line. They had already taken their children, they had nowhere to live, so what else did they have to lose. Whippings were also used as examples to get other slaves to stay in line and not cause trouble. Another, more disguised, form of punishment for slaves was long hours of work. At first glance, this may not seem like a punishment, but day after day, long working hours and working in direct heat can lead to undesirable consequences and injuries such as cuts and calluses on the hands, as described in the manual. Long working hours also prevented slaves from mixing. Frederick's mother is once again a good example: she had to go back to work so early that she never really had time to talk to her son because she left well before he woke up. She also left early so as not to receive real punishment in the form of a whipping. Once again, the work of the fields left the slaves tired and reluctant to stand up against their tormentors and