Even as crime rates dropped in the 1930s, the police of New Orleans stepped up their use of torture to obtain confessions from Black Americans accused of crimes.

The American use of torture, then called the “water cure,” in the Philippines during the war of 1899–1902 shocked some Americans of the day.

After being made illegal in the 19th century, why did torture return in the 20th century and why does it continue into the present?