Why did slaves try to escape? Well it was very simple. For the Same reason that a captured animal escapes. It is usually treated badly. Many slaves were beaten not because they did something wrong, but because one of them in their group was "misbehaving". Some people can endure pain themselves but hate to see something or someone they love be beaten, so slave owners would sometimes punish a Innocent slave to get the one who was in trouble to "behave". Many slaves escaped and even were able to murder their "master". On occasion, slaves that were not mistreated ran away just for the reason that they wanted more. This most often lead to a wicked beating or even their death. Large plantations usually did most of the killing for they could better afford the cost of a new slave, and smaller businesses and small farms had a few slaves at most. Some escaped slaves would try to join the Indians in the land, but some were killed because they were trying to join warrior tribes and some were killed because they were unwanted. only a very few were able to join and live with the Indians.