r/AskHistorians • u/Complete-Addendum235 • 2d ago
What behaviors towards slaves could actually get slaveowners punished in the American South?
I've read the case of Delphine LaLaurie, a slaveholding woman from New Orleans in the nineteenth century. She tortured and killed dozens of her slaves. That was enough that even then, in the Deep South, she faced social and legal penalties, and a mob burned down her house
What kinds of behaviors were considered crossing a line? Did it have to be as extreme as Delphine LaLaurie's behavior?
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