described, "I burnt her with a hot iron, on the left side of her face, I tried to make the letter M."

Most slave owners would use whipping as their main method, but at other times they would use branding to punish their slaves. Another testimony explains how a slave owner in Kentucky around 1848 was looking for his runaway slave. He described her having "a brand mark on the breast something like L blotched". In South Carolina, there were many laws which permitted the punishments slaves would receive.