Florida and Georgia Turpentine Camps: Convict Leasing with 50% Mortality

Florida and Georgia turpentine camps operating under convict lease reach mortality rates investigators later document at up to 50% annually. Convicts — overwhelmingly Black men sentenced for minor offenses — labor in remote pine forests under armed guards with no oversight. Escape attempts are met with torture and murder. Conditions are described by one inspector as 'worse than slavery' since lessees have no long-term investment in worker survival.