If you wan to look at it very coldly, an 18th century slave was $100,000 in 2000 dollars. Plus food, housing and insurance(most slave insurance companies were in NE by the way). A modern pice of farm equipment probably costs the same. How many people whip, beat and fail to change the oil in there combines? No owner in there right mind would purposely abuse their slaves, it just doesn't make sense. Why would insurance companies insure a slave? Heck all the owner would do is make the slave "have an accident" and collect the money.
Depends on what you think of as abuse.
I hope you and your friends never realize the horrors of slavery.
Of course, they didn’t define ‘rape’ as abuse.