Slave patrols—also known as patrollers, patterrollers, pattyrollers or paddy rollers—were organized groups of armed men who monitored and enforced discipline upon slaves in the antebellum U.S. southern states. The slave patrols' function was to police enslaved persons, especially those who escaped or were viewed as defiant. They also formed river patrols to prevent escape by boat. Policing the movements of Black people, slave patrols were explicit in their design to empower the White population. They were first established in South Carolina in 1704, and the idea spread throughout the colonies before their use ended following the Civil War. Formation of slave patrols Slave patrols first began in South Carolina in 1704 and spread throughout the thirteen colonies, lasting well beyond the American Revolution. As colonisers enslaved more Africans and the population of enslaved people in South Carolina grew, especially with the invention of the cotton gin, so did the colonisers's fear of slave uprisings. They developed slave patrols when other means of slave control failed to quell enslaved people's resistance. Their biggest concern was how to keep enslaved people on the plantations being held against their will, since that is where enslaved populations were highest. Initially, slaveowners offered incentives to the non slave owning whites, such as tobacco and money, to urge them to be more vigilant in the capture of runaway slaves. When this approach failed, slave patrols were formally established. Legislators introduced laws that enlisted white people in the regulation of enslaved people's activities and movement. Black people were subjected to questioning, searches, and other harassment. Slaves who were encountered without passes from their white "master" were expected to be returned to their owners, as stated in the slave code. If caught by patrols and returned to their masters, punishments included whippings and other physical violence, and the threat of being placed on the auction block and sold away from their families, an option for masters who no longer wanted to deal with "non-compliant" slaves. State militias as patrollers Slave owners feared gatherings held by enslaved people would allow them to trade or steal goods, and had the potential for organizing a revolt or rebellion. South Carolina and Virginia selected patrols from state militias. State militia groups were also organized from among the cadets of the Southern military academies, of The Citadel and the Virginia Military Institute, which were founded to provide a military command structure and discipline