Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. (US) to beat.

1948

(con. c.1910s) J. Stevens Big Jim Turner 37: They’d rawhide me to the end of my days if they learnt I took you into a saloon hell.

2. (US tramp) to work hard; to make others work hard.

1931		Irwin Amer. Tramp and Und. Sl. 155: Rawhide.–To work desperately. To force others to work.
1935		J. Conroy World to Win 210: Some of the more impetuous strikers might take advantage of the situation to settle an old grudge against a rawhiding boss.
1962		Ragen & Finston World’s Toughest Prison 814: rawhide – To work desperately, To force others to work.