© Alamy
Say the words concentration camps, and most will surmise the topic surrounds World War II and the Nazis; but the hard labor, constant threat of death, and barbarism these microcosmic hells presented weren't unique to Adolf Hitler โ in just one year, around 20,000 freed slaves
perished in the Devil's Punchbowl โ in Natchez, Mississippi, U.S.A.
After the Civil War, a massive exodus of former slaves from Southern plantations trekked northward in hopes of reaching a location of true freedom; but embittered soldiers, resentful the people considered property were now free, had other plans.
One tiny town's population mushroomed twelvefold from the influx, as researcher Paula Westbrook, who has extensively studied Devil's Punchbowl,
noted, "When the slaves were released from the plantations during the occupation they overran Natchez. And the population went from about 10,000 to 120,000 overnight." Unable to grapple with an instant population swell, the city turned to Union troops still lingering after the war to devise a merciless, impenitent solution.
"So they decided to build an encampment for 'em at Devil's Punchbowl which they walled off and wouldn't let 'em out," former director of the Natchez City Cemetery, Don Estes, explained.
Comment:
Indigenous peoples around the world tell myths which contain warning signs for natural disasters - Scientists are now listening