Convict lease
Prisoners were often treated very badly.  Unlike during slavery, the contractors had not paid very much for the prisoners, and they would not have them forever.  For these reasons, contractors had very little   Prisoners could be beaten or whipped if their bosses did not think they were working hard enough.  They were abused by guards.  One source says: "Mines and plantations that used convict laborers commonly had secret graveyards containing the bodies of prisoners who had been beaten and/or tortured to death. Convicts would be made to fight each other, sometimes to the death, for the amusement of the guards and wardens."