April 28, 2025 • 41 mins
The elegant Royal Street mansion stood as a monument to wealth and sophistication in 1830s New Orleans, its mistress celebrated for lavish parties that drew the city's elite. Behind this veneer of high society refinement lurked unspeakable cruelty that would shock even a community built on human bondage.
Delving into the notorious case of Madame Delphine LaLaurie, we explore how a woman from one of New Orleans' most prestigious Creole families transformed from celebrated socialite to legendary monster. Through careful historical analysis, we trace LaLaurie's rise through three strategic marriages, her acquisition of substantial wealth, and the rumors of cruelty that circulated years before the catastrophic fire of April 10, 1834, that would expose her darkest secrets.
The discovery made that day – seven enslaved people subjected to torture so extreme that newspapers struggled to describe it – provoked a level of public outrage rarely seen in antebellum America. Four thousand citizens converged on the mansion, eventually reducing it to ruins when they discovered the LaLaurie family had escaped justice. Yet this very extremity allowed the broader institution of slavery to continue unchallenged, with LaLaurie's sadism treated as an aberration rather than the logical extension of a system granting absolute power over human beings.
This episode examines not just the horrors discovered in the LaLaurie mansion, but also the complex social context surrounding them – from the unique characteristics of urban slavery in New Orleans to the elaborate justifications used to defend human bondage. Join us as we peel back layers of historical romanticism to confront an uncomfortable truth: the charming French Quarter we celebrate today was built upon foundations of unacknowledged suffering, with the LaLaurie mansion standing as its most haunting reminder.
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Speaker 1 (00:20):
Welcome back to History's Greatest Crimes.
I'm Michael.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
And I'm Elena.
Today we're delving into aparticularly dark chapter of
American history, set againstthe vibrant yet brutal backdrop
of antebellum New Orleans, thehorrifying case of Madame
Delphine LaLaurie.
Speaker 1 (00:37):
New Orleans in the 1830s.
It conjures images of a uniquecultural melting pot French,
Spanish, American, AfricanCaribbean influences all
swirling together, A city alivewith commerce and music.
But that captivating facade,Elena, concealed the brutal
reality that fueled itsprosperity, and that was human
(00:59):
enslavement.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
Absolutely.
And New Orleans wasn't justincidentally involved.
It was a critical hub, arguablythe largest slave market in the
nation.
It was the engine driving thedomestic slave trade, tearing
families apart to power theSouthern economy.
Speaker 1 (01:15):
It's in this environment of extreme contrasts
opulence beside oppression thatwe find Madame Marie Delphine
McCarty LaLaurie.
She was a prominent figure inCreole society, known for the
lavish gatherings at her RoyalStreet mansion.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
Yet in April of 1834, a fire at that very mansion led
to a discovery so gruesome, sosadistic.
It horrified even a societydesensitized to the violence
inherited in slavery.
The events at the LawleryMansion ripped away the veneer
of civility.
This isn't merely the tale ofone monstrous individual.
(01:54):
It's a stark illumination ofthe system that enabled such
atrocities.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
Hey history students, michael here, I just wanted to
let you know that we now have asubscription service, and if you
subscribe to the history'sgreatest crimes class, then you
will get access to episodes daysbefore they are made public.
You will also have the abilityto join a soon to be created
discord server where you can askus questions, vote on topics
(02:32):
and talk to Elena and myself.
So if you have a chance,definitely try to sign up and
subscribe.
Thanks so much, and a big shoutout to Smokey Brown, our first
subscriber.
Appreciate you so much.
Now back to the story.
So let's start by understandingDelphine LaLaurie herself.
(02:58):
Her origins placed her right atthe top of New Orleans society
right at the top of New Orleanssociety.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
Indeed, Marie Delphine McCarty was born around
1787, during the Spanishcolonial era.
The city of New Orleans wasoriginally established in 1718
by the French calling it LaNouvelle Orleans.
In 1763, following Britain'svictory in the Seven Years' War,
the French colony west of theMississippi River, including New
Orleans, was ceded to theSpanish Empire.
(03:27):
This transition of New Orleansand the surrounding area to
Spanish control was intended tocompensate Spain for the loss of
Florida to the British, and itremained under Spanish control
from 1763 until 1800, when Spainand France signed the Treaty of
San Ildefonso stipulating thatSpain give Louisiana back to
(03:49):
France.
However, this shift fromSpanish to French control was
very brief.
Three years later, in 1803,Napoleon sold the territory to
the United States through theLouisiana Purchase.
Speaker 1 (04:03):
So, having been born in 1787, delphine McCarty had
experienced three shifts ingovernment, from Spanish to
French, to American by the timeshe was 15 years old.
But the McCarty familymaneuvered the social politics
to become one of the city's mostinfluential Creole families.
Speaker 2 (04:21):
The McCartys were deeply embedded in the power
structures.
Creole families.
The McCartys were deeplyembedded in the power structures
military, planting, commerce,government.
Delphine's uncle even served asgovernor and a cousin later
became mayor.
She was raised in wealth andstill with an expectation of
command especially over theenslaved people.
Speaker 1 (04:40):
Her status was further solidified through three
marriages.
Her first marriage took placeat the very early age of 13,
when she was wed to ahigh-ranking Spanish official,
don Ramon de López y Angulo.
When the United States acquiredLouisiana and New Orleans in
1803, don Ramon was appointed tothe position of Consul General
(05:01):
for Spain and was called toappear at the royal court in
Madrid.
Don Ramon and Delphine, who wasthen pregnant, traveled to
Havana, cuba, from where theyintended to begin their journey
across the Atlantic.
However, while in Havana, donRamon fell ill and died.
A few days later, delphine gavebirth to a daughter and,
(05:21):
returned to New Orleans, gavebirth to a daughter and returned
to New Orleans.
Speaker 2 (05:24):
Then, in 1808, around the age of 21, she married Jean
Blanc.
He was considerably older but amajor player in the city, a
banker a merchant, lawyer,legislator and, significantly, a
slave trader.
Speaker 1 (05:40):
That connection to the slave trade itself is
telling, placing her right atthe heart of the city's economic
engine.
Speaker 2 (05:44):
It certainly does.
Delphine and Jean Blanc went onto have four children, three
daughters and a son, but Blancdied in 1815, leaving Delphine
with substantial debts, but alsoher own inherited wealth and
property, including enslavedindividuals, and over the next
10 years she proved adept atmanaging her finances, emerging
(06:05):
as a very wealthy woman.
Speaker 1 (06:07):
And that brings us to her third marriage, then, in
1825, which was to the doctorLeonard Louis-Nicolas Lalaurie,
a physician and dentist muchyounger than her.
Because there were no schoolsof medicine in New Orleans prior
to the 1830s, Dr LaLaurie'sknowledge was most likely
considered top-notch.
He was 23 years old to Delphine, who was then 38.
(06:30):
Perhaps not surprisingly, theirmarriage soon shown signs of
strain.
In 1832, Delphine petitionedthe district court for a
separation from her husband.
She claimed that he, quote,treated her in such a manner as
to render their living togetherunsupportable.
End quote and claimed, whichher son and her two daughters by
(06:50):
Jean Bloch confirmed.
However, the separation doesnot seem to have been permanent,
as Dr LaLaurie was present atthe house in 1834 when the fire
broke out.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
It was also around the time of those marriage
troubles that Delphine acquiredthe property on 1140 Royal
Street.
The previous owner had startedbuilding a house before selling
the property and Delphinefinished it to her taste.
Contemporary records suggestedthat the house was solely
Delphine's endeavor and DrLollery's only role to play was
(07:22):
to just live in the house.
Speaker 1 (07:26):
Lollary's only role to play was to just live in the
house.
When completed, the LollaryHouse was a three-story 12,000
square foot mansion thatfeatured the federal
architectural style.
This style was quite popular atthe time and both Thomas
Jefferson's Monticello and theUnited States White House also
featured that architecturalstyle.
The house included afreestanding kitchen with an
attic built above it where theslave quarters were located Due
(07:48):
to the risk of fire.
Antebellum houses in NewOrleans and elsewhere usually
had freestanding kitchens thatwere detached from the main
residences and apartments forenslaved people, which were
often located on the secondstory of this rear detached
structure.
Speaker 2 (08:04):
The inside was also impressive.
Gold plates and paintings ofnoticed artists adorned the
walls.
One New Orleans newspaperdescribed the home's furnishing
as quote of the most costlydescription, end quote.
It was there that MadameLaLaurie cemented her reputation
as a leading socialite, hostingthose famously extravagant
(08:26):
parties.
She was known for her frequentcocktail parties, private balls
and lavish galas.
These events were attended bythe most prominent citizens of
New Orleans, celebrated forbeing a gracious host.
Everyone seemed to look pastthe quote.
Haggard and wretched state ofher slaves.
To some, even her two daughtersthat continued to live with
(08:49):
Delphine and Dr LaLaurie in thehouse seemed miserable.
But Madame LaLaurie was sooutwardly pleasant that no one
really thought too hard about it.
Speaker 1 (08:58):
So this life of high society is unfolding within the
unique context of urban slaveryin New Orleans, which operated
differently than the large-scaleplantation system we usually
associate slavery with.
Speaker 2 (09:11):
That's a crucial point.
New Orleans was the nexus.
The nation's largest slavemarket was there.
An estimated 135,000 peoplewere bought and sold at that
slave market and it was theprocessing and shipping point
for goods produced by enslavedlabor on plantations.
This economic function shapedthe nature of slavery within the
(09:32):
city itself.
Speaker 1 (09:34):
The city's French and Spanish colonial past also left
its mark, particularly throughthe legal frameworks like the
Code Noir.
Speaker 2 (09:42):
Exactly the French Code Noir of 1724, and later
Spanish and American adaptions,attempted to regulate the lives
of enslaved people andinteractions between races.
The Code Noir mandated Catholicinstruction, defined enslaved
people as property, establishedthat status followed the mother
and forbade enslaved people fromowning property or carrying
(10:04):
weapons.
It also set minimal standardsfor how slaves should be treated
.
For example, masters wereprohibited from making their
slaves work on Sundays andreligious holidays, and the code
required that slaves be clothedand fed and taken care of when
sick.
But in contrast, the code alsoprescribed brutal punishment for
(10:24):
offenses committed by slavesagainst their masters, like
running away.
Speaker 1 (10:28):
Now you mentioned minimal standards for how slaves
should be treated, but I couldimagine that the enforcement of
these codes against powerfulwhite enslavers like LaLaurie
was often weak or non-existentright.
Speaker 2 (10:41):
Extremely lax.
The American Black Code of 1806, established after the
Louisiana Purchase, maintainedharsh elements and explicitly
reinforced white supremacy.
Crucially, american law alsocurtailed paths to freedom that
existed previously under Spanishrule.
The records show that underSpanish rule, between 2 and 4%
(11:05):
of the enslaved population wasfreed each year through a
practice called cortacion.
This practice allowed enslavedpeople who earned enough money
to purchase their own freedom,and this practice was
particularly evident in 1788 and1794, when New Orleans was
devastated by two differentfires.
The Spanish crown hired manyenslaved people to rebuild the
(11:28):
city and earn their freedom inreturn.
In contrast, the later AmericanBlack Code left no possibility
for manumission and otherfreedoms, like being able to
travel, learning to read andwrite or earning any money.
That was completely cut off forslaves by the early 1800s.
Speaker 1 (11:45):
Another defining feature of New Orleans was its
significant population of gensde couleur libre, or free people
of color.
Although the American slavecode sought stricter control
over slaves, there remained inNew Orleans a small but steady,
free black population In 1803,steady, free black population In
(12:09):
1803,.
The records indicate that about1,500 free people lived in or
around New Orleans.
They worked as laborers,storekeepers and skilled
craftsmen, with a small minoritybecoming enslavers themselves.
Speaker 2 (12:17):
Yes, and their numbers surged around 1809 to
1810, with refugees from theHaitian Revolution.
The Haitian Revolution was anuprising of black slaves against
their colonial masters, and itultimately resulted in the
independence of Haiti in 1804,making it the second independent
(12:38):
nation in the WesternHemisphere and the world's first
black-led republic.
In the wake of the revolution,many Haitians spread out to Cuba
and other islands.
In 1809, spanish authoritiesexpelled thousands of Haitians
from Cuba, many of whom madetheir way to Louisiana and
specifically New Orleans.
As a result, the free blackpopulation of New Orleans
tripled, reaching nearly 5,000and constituting almost a third
(13:01):
of the city's total population.
At the time, this was aproportion unmatched in other
southern cities.
Speaker 1 (13:08):
The rapid growth of the city's population of free
persons of color strengthenedthe quote three-caste society
made up of free white people,free people of color and slaves.
Free people of color occupied aunique though precarious
position.
They legally held rights thatwere denied to the enslaved,
like property ownership, accessto education and to legal means,
(13:31):
but they faced increasingdiscrimination under American
rule, and the free blackpopulation certainly didn't
enjoy the same rights as whiteAmericans.
And let's consider the city'sdemographics around then.
Speaker 2 (13:43):
Based on estimates, around 1810, new Orleans had
about 27,000 residents, roughlysplit into thirds white,
enslaved and free people ofcolor.
By 1830, 20 years later, thetotal population had almost
doubled, hitting approximately46,000.
And of that 46,000, enslavedpeople still made up about a
(14:04):
third.
Speaker 1 (14:05):
And by 1840, the city population had doubled again,
exploding to over 100,000.
The enslaved population made upa total of about 23,000,
continuing to make up a quarterof the population in total.
The free people of color in thepopulation was estimated around
19,000,.
The free people of color in thepopulation was estimated around
19,000, representing about afifth of the population.
(14:26):
This was a rapidly going,complex city.
Speaker 2 (14:30):
And amidst all of this progress, in New Orleans,
while Madame Lollery played thegracious hostess, disturbing
accounts of her private behaviortowards the enslaved began to
surface, and they actually beganto surface long before the 1834
fire in her mansion thatrevealed the entire horror.
Speaker 1 (14:50):
Historians found documentation suggesting
Lalaurie faced an investigationfor cruelty as early as 1828.
In that particularinvestigation, madame Lalaurie
was denounced for quotebarbarous treatment of her
slaves contrary to the law.
Apparently, the situation waspretty horrific, as some of
Lalaurie's slaves were foundquote still all bloody end.
(15:12):
Quote by the investigatorsthemselves.
Speaker 2 (15:15):
But despite what the investigation revealed, the
Lawlery household simplyincurred a few legal fees and
sold several enslavedindividuals, and that seemed to
be the end of it.
Speaker 1 (15:26):
But the investigation didn't appear to do too much to
curb Madame Lawlery's abusivebehavior.
Speaker 2 (15:32):
In one story about Delphine and her slaves.
A young enslaved girl,identified sometimes as named
Leah, perhaps 11 or 12 years old, reportedly fell to her death
from the mansion's roof, fleeinga whipping by Madame Lollery.
The neighbors would laterassert that the young girl was
carried into the courtyard laterthat night and buried inside
(15:52):
the well.
Speaker 1 (15:54):
When that happened, another formal investigation
took place, during whichLaLaurie was found guilty of
illegal cruelty fined a mere$300, and forced to forfeit nine
enslaved people.
Speaker 2 (16:08):
But LaLaurie apparently circumvented this by
having relatives buy thoseslaves back at auction and
secretly return them to herhousehold.
And in another rumor, delphinewas said to have kept the cook
quote starved and chained to thekitchen stove and would beat
her own daughters, delphine thatis, if they tried to offer food
to the slaves.
Speaker 1 (16:26):
It paints a picture of extreme cruelty being
something of an open secretknown to neighbors, perhaps even
attracting limited officialnotice, like the two
investigations that happened afew years prior.
Speaker 2 (16:37):
Yet meaningful intervention was absent.
The true shock of the 1834 firelikely stemmed not from the
suspicion of cruelty but fromthe sudden, undeniable public
revelation of its horrifyingextent.
The fire forced a confrontationwith a reality that polite
society had managed to ignore upto that point.
Speaker 1 (17:06):
This brings us to the morning of April 10th 1834.
Flames erupt from the LolleryMansion kitchen.
Speaker 2 (17:13):
And the first discovery was harrowing.
The authorities found a70-year-old enslaved woman the
cook chained by her ankle to thestove.
She later confessed to settingthe fire deliberately, a
desperate suicide attempt,claiming she feared being taken
to an upstairs room, from whichenslaved people never came back.
Speaker 1 (17:33):
While Madame LaLaurie was reportedly preoccupied with
saving her furniture,volunteers gathered outside
concerned for the other enslavedindividuals known to be housed
within.
Neighbors knew that, quote theupper part of the building was
used as a prison and that it wasthen tenanted by several
unfortunate slaves.
Speaker 2 (17:53):
end quote then tenanted by several unfortunate
slaves.
End quote.
The crowd demanded access tothe slave quarters, but the
Lolleries refused to provide thekeys.
Judge Jacques-Francois Canangewas among the responders and he
approached Dr Lollerie.
Speaker 1 (18:07):
Canange requested permission quote in a polite
manner to remove the enslavedpeople to safety.
This part is interestingbecause Judge Canage was
apparently a very dear friend ofthe Lolleries and frequently in
attendance at their parties.
But Dr Lollerie, knowing thehorrors within, responded with
arrogance, declaring that quotesome people had better stay at
(18:30):
home rather than come to others'houses to dictate laws and
meddle with other people'sbusiness end quote.
Speaker 2 (18:37):
Faced with this refusal and the spreading fire,
judge Kanange gave the orderbreak down the doors to the
service quarters, which includedthe attic space above the
kitchen.
What lay beyond stunnedeveryone.
Contemporary newspapers likethe New Orleans Bee and the
Courier, whose editors claimedto be eyewitnesses, struggled
for words, calling it anappalling sight.
Speaker 1 (19:00):
The New Orleans Bee reported on April 11th the
discovery of quote seven slavesmore or less horribly mutilated.
End quote.
The graphic details publishedin both papers are difficult to
comprehend even now published inboth papers are difficult to
comprehend even now.
Speaker 2 (19:17):
They described victims, quote, suspended by the
neck, with their limbsapparently stretched and torn
from one extremity to the otherend quote.
Rescuers found quote an elderlywoman, weak and with a deep
wound on her head.
End quote.
Another woman wore an ironcollar and was, quote chained
with heavy irons around herankles.
End quote.
Speaker 1 (19:37):
There was also a man suffering from quote a large
hole in his head, his bodycovered from head to foot with
scars and filled with worms endquote.
And a young boy who testifiedhe had, quote been chained for
five months, being fed dailywith only a handful of meal and
receiving every morning the mostcruel treatment end quote.
Speaker 2 (19:58):
Other sources note more gruesome details Victims
emaciated.
Bearing marks of being quoteflayed with a whip end quote.
Bound end quote.
Restricted postures end quoteWearing quote.
Spiked iron collars which kepttheir heads in static positions
end quote.
Judge Kananja's officialdeposition corroborated all of
(20:20):
that.
Speaker 1 (20:21):
The newspapers didn't hold back in their condemnation
.
The B denounced the quote.
Barbarous and fiendishatrocities committed by the
woman Lalari upon the persons ofher slaves.
End quote.
Some accounts admitted languagefailed them, describing horrors
quote which seemed tooincredible for human belief,
choosing to leave it rather tothe reader's imagination.
(20:43):
End quote.
Speaker 2 (20:44):
Another newspaper account aimed straight for
empathy, quote we saw one of themiserable beings.
The sight was so horrible thatwe could scarce look upon it.
The most savage heart could nothave witnessed the spectacle
unmoved.
End quote the fire had exposeda secret chamber of horrors,
confirming the darkest rumors inthe most ghastly way possible.
Speaker 1 (21:08):
The revelations of these atrocities must have sent
shockwaves through New Orleans.
The seven survivors physicalevidence of the torture, were
taken to the Cabildo.
The Cabildo, located next tothe St Louis Cathedral, was the
physical center of New Orleansgovernment and included
political meeting halls,courtrooms and a prison.
Speaker 2 (21:30):
News spread incredibly fast.
The New Orleans Bee reported animmense crowd, estimated at
4,000 people, converging on theCabildo.
And it wasn't just curiosity,it became a macabre public
viewing.
Citizens witnessed themutilated bodies firsthand,
fueling collective outrage.
Tragically, two of the rescuedindividuals reportedly died
(21:52):
shortly after from theirinjuries.
Speaker 1 (21:54):
Two of the rescued individuals reportedly died
shortly after from theirinjuries.
As the day progressed, itbecame apparent the authorities
weren't arresting MadameLalaurie, and the public mood
shifted from shock to fury.
Just as an aside, I originallywondered why the authorities and
the crowd were so focused onDelphine Lalaurie rather than
her husband and daughters.
But while Dr Lalaurie andothers apparently knew what was
(22:15):
going on, the surviving slavesfrom the household emphasized
that the torture and crueltythey experienced was done by
primarily Delphine Lalaurie.
Speaker 2 (22:25):
Meanwhile, the crowd outside the Cabildo transformed
into a mob and turned itsattention to the source of the
horror, the Lalaurie Mansion onRoyal Street.
Contemporary newspapersdescribed the populace
exasperated by the Lawlery'ssuccessful escape from the hands
of justice descending upon theproperty.
Speaker 1 (22:44):
But by then the Lawlerys had already vanished.
Delphine, her husband and herdaughters made a hasty escape in
a carriage towards LakePontchartrain, eventually
boarding a schooner.
Speaker 2 (22:57):
From there they likely traveled via Mobile and
New York, eventually findingrefuge in France.
Delphine Lalaurie lived out herdays in Paris, dying in 1849.
Despite the horrific evidenceand public outcry, she never
faced formal legal charges.
Speaker 1 (23:14):
With the perpetrators gone, the mob vented its rage
on the empty house, the symbolof LaLaurie's cruelty.
They ransacked the mansion.
Speaker 2 (23:23):
Accounts detail systematic destruction,
furniture, valuables, chinacrystal, artwork all smashed.
The structure itself wasattacked Floors, stairs, wine
scotting wrecked, windows broken, iron balconies torn down.
The assault continued untilquote nearly the whole of the
edifice had been pulled down.
(23:43):
End quote.
The elegant mansion was left agutted ruin.
Speaker 1 (23:48):
The destruction of the property feels like a
powerful, albeit violent, publiccondemnation.
Speaker 2 (23:55):
It does seem like a symbolic purging Michael by
demolishing the physicalmanifestation of her crime and
status, the community performeda ritualistic act declaring that
such hidden, grotesque torturewent too far, even for them.
Even for them, this perhapsallowed them to define lollery
(24:18):
as an aberration, implicitlyreinforcing the notion that
ordinary slavery was different.
This sentiment preserved thetraditional system of slavery by
scapegoating the lolleryatrocity as an outlier.
Speaker 1 (24:42):
So the LaLaurie family gets away, but I think
it's important that we revisitthe distinctions between the
urban and plantation slavery.
How did the specificenvironment of New Orleans shape
the institution and,potentially, lalaurie's actions?
Speaker 2 (24:52):
It's a critical lens.
Plantation slavery centered onlarge-scale agriculture.
Urban slavery in New Orleanswas much more diversified.
Domestic service was paramountcooking, cleaning, childcare,
marketing.
These were performed mostly bywomen.
This demand skewed thedemographics Nearly two-thirds
(25:13):
of the city's enslavedpopulation were female.
Speaker 1 (25:16):
Middle-class and wealthy white people saw service
work as demeaning, with onlythe poorest households not
holding at least one enslaveddomestic worker.
Enslaved domestics were soubiquitous in New Orleans that,
according to one resident, itwas rare to see any white people
in the city's marketplaces,because the buying and cooking
(25:36):
of food for domestic consumptionwas largely performed by
enslaved people.
Speaker 2 (25:42):
Enslaved men in New Orleans typically performed
heavy menial labor around town,particularly as dock workers and
construction workers.
New Orleans' antebellum economywas dominated by the city's
port and many enslaved menworked the docks by loading and
unloading cargo, stockingwarehouses and repairing ships
in dry dock, and often theseenslaved dockhands worked
(26:05):
alongside foreign-bornimmigrants, native-born white
people and free men of color.
Enslaved men also crewed urbanconstruction sites.
They paved streets, dug sewers,laid pipe and built levees and
wharves.
In New Orleans and Baton Rouge,essential public infrastructure
was primarily built by chaingangs of imprisoned, enslaved
(26:26):
people taken from the city'sslave jails.
Speaker 1 (26:30):
Living arrangements also differed significantly
between urban and rural slaves.
Living arrangements alsodiffered significantly between
urban and rural slaves.
Urban enslaved people generallylived in much closer proximity
to their enslavers, in attics,rooms above kitchens, attached
quarters, unlike the separatecabins typical on plantations.
Space was always at a premiumin cities and thus many enslaved
(26:51):
people were also crammed intoclosets, foyers, stables and
hallways.
A guest at one prominent NewOrleans hotel complained that
the waiters, who were allenslaved quote had no beds and
slept like dogs in the passagesof the house.
End quote.
Speaker 2 (27:08):
The city offered, paradoxically, both more
potential interaction andstricter controls for slaves.
The hiring out system wascommon.
Under this system, slaveholderswith more enslaved people than
they could profitably employwithin their own businesses and
homes could rent their surplusenslaved workers to shorthanded
(27:28):
employers.
This practice allowed urbanslaveholders to maximize their
profits by constantlyreallocating their labor supply
according to fluctuating demand.
Speaker 1 (27:39):
Some enslaved people in New Orleans even managed
quote self-hiring.
Under this arrangement,enslaved people obtained their
owner's permission to negotiatetheir own wages and to rent
their own housing, living andworking in near total autonomy,
on the condition that theyperiodically return to deliver a
portion of their earnings totheir owner.
Technically, slave self-hiringwas illegal, though the laws
(28:03):
prohibiting it wereinconsistently enforced.
Speaker 2 (28:07):
But this potential autonomy was also seen as a
threat by some.
So cities like New Orleansimplemented stringent controls
slave patrols, pass systems,curfews, dedicated slave prisons
.
Even the architecture, withhigh walls and closing
properties, reflected thisdesire for control.
The high walls were not meantas much to keep people out as
(28:29):
they were intended to keep thedomestic staff from interacting
with free society outside.
Speaker 1 (28:35):
And, in the case of the Lollary Mansion, it also
kept the slaves from tellingothers about the atrocities and
cruelties within those walls and, for the most part, it kept the
public from actually witnessingit.
Speaker 2 (28:47):
Exactly.
It demonstrates how thestructures of urban life could
be perverted to facilitateextreme brutality, concealed
behind a facade of socialrespectability.
Speaker 1 (28:58):
And this entire system which enabled such
horrors was propped up byelaborate justifications
historical, economical,religious and pseudoscientific.
Speaker 2 (29:10):
Foundational was the argument of economic necessity.
The southern economy,particularly cotton, supposedly
depended entirely on enslavedlabor.
Abolition, they claimed, meantruin for the South, and in some
ways that was kind of true.
In the first part of the 1800s,farmers moved away from
planting tobacco to the moreprofitable crop of cotton.
(29:32):
Cotton grew spectacularly inthe rich soil of the Deep South
and as a result more Americanswere moving into the region to
start their own farms andplantations.
In connection with thatdevelopment, the number of
slaves in the Deep South alsojumped significantly.
As mentioned, an estimated135,000 slaves were bought and
sold in New Orleans slavemarkets, which was the nation's
(29:59):
largest.
Even banking in New Orleanscentered on slavery.
Banks in New Orleans loanedmoney for the purchase of
plantations and slaves and infact New Orleans banking capital
exceeded that of New York Cityuntil the mid-1800s.
Speaker 1 (30:08):
Slave owners and pro-slavery supporters also
defended slavery by pointing tohistorical precedent.
They cited slavery in ancientGreece and Rome, framing it as a
natural condition.
Legally, they relied onframeworks like slave codes and
prior court decisions, like thatof the later 1857 Dred Scott
Supreme Court case, whichofficially defined black
(30:31):
individuals as property.
Speaker 2 (30:34):
Deeply ingrained racism fueled incorrect beliefs
in the biological andintellectual inferiority of
African descendants, deemingthem more suited for servitude.
The pseudoscience theory ofphrenology reinforced that idea
by suggesting that one's headsize and shape was connected to
their intelligence, personalityand character.
(30:55):
Many researchers of the timejustified their own racism by
suggesting that Caucasian brainswere quote larger, better
formed and better balanced, endquote.
In fact, the pro-slaverypolitician and vice president of
the United States, john CCalhoun, famously asserted that
enslavement had elevatedAfricans to their highest
(31:16):
possible state.
Speaker 1 (31:18):
Religion also provided powerful, though
twisted, justifications.
Some people suggested that thetheory of polygenesis, which
argued for separate creations byGod, the Bible, was frequently
manipulating, citing OldTestament, patriarchs owning
slaves or the Ten Commandments,mentions of servants and
interpretations of the curse ofHam, in which Noah curses his
(31:41):
son, ham's descendants, toslavery, were used to argue for
divinely ordained slavery.
Speaker 2 (31:48):
Pro-slavery authorities also noted the
apostle paul returning therunaway philemon and the lack of
explicit condemnation fromjesus.
Some even argued enslavementbrought africans to christianity
.
Southern ministers were key,framing slavery within a
divinely sanctioned householdorder, paralleling the
subordination of wives andchildren to their father and
(32:11):
husbands.
Speaker 1 (32:12):
Then there was the pervasive narrative of
paternalism the slaveholder as abenevolent guardian.
Speaker 2 (32:19):
This ideology claimed , masters provided food,
clothing, shelter and care totheir slaves, and they
contrasted that supposedsecurity with the precarious
lives of free laborers or whothey called wage slaves, in the
North and in Europe.
Speaker 1 (32:34):
And by the 1830s, coinciding with the Lowry events
, the popular view changed fromdescribing slavery as a
necessary evil to slavery as apositive good.
Speaker 2 (32:46):
Figures like Calhoun and South Carolina Governor
James Henry Hammond argued thatslavery created a stable,
hierarchical society superior tothe North.
Hammond's mudsill theoryasserted that every advanced
society needed a subordinatelaboring class, the mudsill, to
perform menial tasks, freeingthe elite from having to do so.
(33:08):
He argued that, quote in socialsystems there must be a class
to do the menial duties.
It constitutes the very mudsillof society.
We use them for our purpose andcall them slaves.
End quote.
The American author and socialtheorist George Fitzhugh went
further, arguing Southern slaveswere freer and happier than
(33:30):
Northern industrial workersslaves were freer and happier
than northern industrial workers, fitzhugh declared quote the
slaves of the South are thehappiest and in some sense the
freest people in the world.
The free laborer must work orstarve.
He is more a slave than theactual slave.
End quote.
Fitzhugh similarly argued thatpeople of color were only
grown-up children needing theeconomic and social protections
(33:53):
of slavery.
Speaker 1 (33:54):
The Lowry case stands as a grotesque rebuttal to all
of this.
Delphine Lowry's documentedactions starvation, mutilation
and torture completelydemolished the facade of
benevolent paternalism.
Speaker 2 (34:08):
It exposed the lie that slavery was a civilizing
institution.
It starkly revealed theterrifying reality of the
absolute power inherent in themaster-slave relationship and
how easily it could metastasizeinto unrestrained depravity
behind closed doors.
Speaker 1 (34:26):
So the incident functioned as an unintentional
but powerful stress test forpro-slavery ideology.
While defenders couldrationalize normal violence,
lalaurie's extreme, hiddensadism was indefensible even
within their narratives.
Speaker 2 (34:43):
The visceral public revulsion and the mob's
destructive responses show thateven within that pro-slavery
society, Madame LaLaurie'sactions crossed a line.
Condemning this specificmanifestation of brutality
perhaps served partly to protectthe perceived legitimacy of the
institution itself from beingdefined by its most monstrous
(35:06):
outlier.
Speaker 1 (35:15):
So what were the lasting repercussions of the
1834 fire and the mock violence?
Delphine Lallery's socialstanding was obviously destroyed
.
Speaker 2 (35:25):
Irrevocably, the mansion was rebuilt in 1838 and
assumed the appearance it hastoday.
Over the years, the mansionserved as a public high school,
a conservatory of music, anapartment building, a refuge for
young delinquents, a bar andeven a furniture store, before
returning back to a private home.
But regardless of its use, themansion on Royal Street became
(35:47):
permanently linked to thehorrors discovered there in 1834
.
Speaker 1 (35:51):
Yet LaLaurie herself faced no legal consequences,
having fled to Paris, where shedied at the age of 62.
Interesting, dr LaLaurie andDelphine appeared to have
separated by the late 1830s.
At that point, delphineremained in Paris and the doctor
moved to Havana, cuba, where helived for the last 20 years of
(36:12):
his life, until his death in1863.
Speaker 2 (36:15):
But the shocking 1834 discovery at the Lawlery
Mansion undoubtedly providedpotent material for
abolitionists, serving as alurid example of the barbarity
inherent in the system.
It highlighted the failure oflaws and social pressure to
prevent extreme abuse by thepowerful.
Speaker 1 (36:35):
That's true, but there's limited evidence
suggesting that LaLaurie'saffair led to any major changes
in American society or theperception of slavery within the
South.
It mostly remained local theoutrage, lalaurie's psychology,
the mob, the transformation intofolklore, rather than prompting
a broader social reckoning withslavery itself.
Speaker 2 (36:57):
So it seems, the case functioned less as a catalyst
for change and more as anotorious exemplar of slavery's
capacity for evil.
Unfortunately, its veryextremity might have
inadvertently normalized theroutine violence of the broader
system.
Speaker 1 (37:14):
By condemning Delphine LaLaurie as a monstrous
exception, society couldperhaps avoid confronting the
inherent brutality of slave rule.
Speaker 2 (37:24):
Today, the LaLaurie mansion is mostly known not for
its connection to slavery'shistory, but as one of America's
most famous haunted houses.
Speaker 1 (37:33):
This transformation into dark tourism is complex.
Ghost tours often focus on thesensationalized, the embellished
tales building on the horrificfacts.
Speaker 2 (37:43):
And historians and cultural critics have rightly
raised concerns about how thisfocus on the supernatural can
trivialize the real, documentedsuffering of the enslaved
individuals tortured and killedthere.
Turning historical atrocityinto entertainment risks
obscuring the specific contextof racialized violence and
systematic oppression.
Speaker 1 (38:05):
The case of Delphine Lalaurie and the discoveries at
her Royal Street mansionrepresent a significant crime in
history, but the culpabilityextends beyond one sadistic
individual.
The atrocities were an extremeoutgrowth of the violence
inherent in slavery itself.
Speaker 2 (38:22):
A system predicated on dehumanization, granting
enslavers near absolute power.
The Lawlery mansion became amicrocosm of the potential for
unchecked brutality within thatsystem.
Speaker 1 (38:35):
The fire that April morning briefly illuminated
slavery's darkest potential,revealing truths many preferred
to ignore or rationalize awaywith justifications of
paternalism and racial hierarchy.
Speaker 2 (38:48):
And Lawlery's escape from justice underscores the
system's failure to hold evenits most egregious abusers
accountable, especially thewealthy and connected.
Speaker 1 (39:08):
It compels us to confront the uncomfortable
relationship between placescelebrated for charm, like the
French Quarter, and theunacknowledged histories of
suffering embedded within them,endured unimaginable cruelty
(39:29):
under a brutal regime.
Speaker 2 (39:30):
Their suffering and Lawlery's crimes testify to the
depths of inhumanity enabledwhen people are defined as
property.
Speaker 1 (39:39):
A truly disturbing story, one crucial to remember,
and that's all the time we havefor this episode of History's
Greatest Crimes.
Speaker 2 (39:46):
Join us next time as we explore another dark corner
of the past.
I'm Elena.
Speaker 1 (39:50):
And I'm Michael.
Stay curious Bye.
Welcome back to History's Greatest Crimes.
I'm Michael.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
And I'm Elena.
Today we're delving into aparticularly dark chapter of
American history, set againstthe vibrant yet brutal backdrop
of antebellum New Orleans, thehorrifying case of Madame
Delphine LaLaurie.
Speaker 1 (00:37):
New Orleans in the 1830s.
It conjures images of a uniquecultural melting pot French,
Spanish, American, AfricanCaribbean influences all
swirling together, A city alivewith commerce and music.
But that captivating facade,Elena, concealed the brutal
reality that fueled itsprosperity, and that was human
(00:59):
enslavement.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
Absolutely.
And New Orleans wasn't justincidentally involved.
It was a critical hub, arguablythe largest slave market in the
nation.
It was the engine driving thedomestic slave trade, tearing
families apart to power theSouthern economy.
Speaker 1 (01:15):
It's in this environment of extreme contrasts
opulence beside oppression thatwe find Madame Marie Delphine
McCarty LaLaurie.
She was a prominent figure inCreole society, known for the
lavish gatherings at her RoyalStreet mansion.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
Yet in April of 1834, a fire at that very mansion led
to a discovery so gruesome, sosadistic.
It horrified even a societydesensitized to the violence
inherited in slavery.
The events at the LawleryMansion ripped away the veneer
of civility.
This isn't merely the tale ofone monstrous individual.
(01:54):
It's a stark illumination ofthe system that enabled such
atrocities.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
Hey history students, michael here, I just wanted to
let you know that we now have asubscription service, and if you
subscribe to the history'sgreatest crimes class, then you
will get access to episodes daysbefore they are made public.
You will also have the abilityto join a soon to be created
discord server where you can askus questions, vote on topics
(02:32):
and talk to Elena and myself.
So if you have a chance,definitely try to sign up and
subscribe.
Thanks so much, and a big shoutout to Smokey Brown, our first
subscriber.
Appreciate you so much.
Now back to the story.
So let's start by understandingDelphine LaLaurie herself.
(02:58):
Her origins placed her right atthe top of New Orleans society
right at the top of New Orleanssociety.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
Indeed, Marie Delphine McCarty was born around
1787, during the Spanishcolonial era.
The city of New Orleans wasoriginally established in 1718
by the French calling it LaNouvelle Orleans.
In 1763, following Britain'svictory in the Seven Years' War,
the French colony west of theMississippi River, including New
Orleans, was ceded to theSpanish Empire.
(03:27):
This transition of New Orleansand the surrounding area to
Spanish control was intended tocompensate Spain for the loss of
Florida to the British, and itremained under Spanish control
from 1763 until 1800, when Spainand France signed the Treaty of
San Ildefonso stipulating thatSpain give Louisiana back to
(03:49):
France.
However, this shift fromSpanish to French control was
very brief.
Three years later, in 1803,Napoleon sold the territory to
the United States through theLouisiana Purchase.
Speaker 1 (04:03):
So, having been born in 1787, delphine McCarty had
experienced three shifts ingovernment, from Spanish to
French, to American by the timeshe was 15 years old.
But the McCarty familymaneuvered the social politics
to become one of the city's mostinfluential Creole families.
Speaker 2 (04:21):
The McCartys were deeply embedded in the power
structures.
Creole families.
The McCartys were deeplyembedded in the power structures
military, planting, commerce,government.
Delphine's uncle even served asgovernor and a cousin later
became mayor.
She was raised in wealth andstill with an expectation of
command especially over theenslaved people.
Speaker 1 (04:40):
Her status was further solidified through three
marriages.
Her first marriage took placeat the very early age of 13,
when she was wed to ahigh-ranking Spanish official,
don Ramon de López y Angulo.
When the United States acquiredLouisiana and New Orleans in
1803, don Ramon was appointed tothe position of Consul General
(05:01):
for Spain and was called toappear at the royal court in
Madrid.
Don Ramon and Delphine, who wasthen pregnant, traveled to
Havana, cuba, from where theyintended to begin their journey
across the Atlantic.
However, while in Havana, donRamon fell ill and died.
A few days later, delphine gavebirth to a daughter and,
(05:21):
returned to New Orleans, gavebirth to a daughter and returned
to New Orleans.
Speaker 2 (05:24):
Then, in 1808, around the age of 21, she married Jean
Blanc.
He was considerably older but amajor player in the city, a
banker a merchant, lawyer,legislator and, significantly, a
slave trader.
Speaker 1 (05:40):
That connection to the slave trade itself is
telling, placing her right atthe heart of the city's economic
engine.
Speaker 2 (05:44):
It certainly does.
Delphine and Jean Blanc went onto have four children, three
daughters and a son, but Blancdied in 1815, leaving Delphine
with substantial debts, but alsoher own inherited wealth and
property, including enslavedindividuals, and over the next
10 years she proved adept atmanaging her finances, emerging
(06:05):
as a very wealthy woman.
Speaker 1 (06:07):
And that brings us to her third marriage, then, in
1825, which was to the doctorLeonard Louis-Nicolas Lalaurie,
a physician and dentist muchyounger than her.
Because there were no schoolsof medicine in New Orleans prior
to the 1830s, Dr LaLaurie'sknowledge was most likely
considered top-notch.
He was 23 years old to Delphine, who was then 38.
(06:30):
Perhaps not surprisingly, theirmarriage soon shown signs of
strain.
In 1832, Delphine petitionedthe district court for a
separation from her husband.
She claimed that he, quote,treated her in such a manner as
to render their living togetherunsupportable.
End quote and claimed, whichher son and her two daughters by
(06:50):
Jean Bloch confirmed.
However, the separation doesnot seem to have been permanent,
as Dr LaLaurie was present atthe house in 1834 when the fire
broke out.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
It was also around the time of those marriage
troubles that Delphine acquiredthe property on 1140 Royal
Street.
The previous owner had startedbuilding a house before selling
the property and Delphinefinished it to her taste.
Contemporary records suggestedthat the house was solely
Delphine's endeavor and DrLollery's only role to play was
(07:22):
to just live in the house.
Speaker 1 (07:26):
Lollary's only role to play was to just live in the
house.
When completed, the LollaryHouse was a three-story 12,000
square foot mansion thatfeatured the federal
architectural style.
This style was quite popular atthe time and both Thomas
Jefferson's Monticello and theUnited States White House also
featured that architecturalstyle.
The house included afreestanding kitchen with an
attic built above it where theslave quarters were located Due
(07:48):
to the risk of fire.
Antebellum houses in NewOrleans and elsewhere usually
had freestanding kitchens thatwere detached from the main
residences and apartments forenslaved people, which were
often located on the secondstory of this rear detached
structure.
Speaker 2 (08:04):
The inside was also impressive.
Gold plates and paintings ofnoticed artists adorned the
walls.
One New Orleans newspaperdescribed the home's furnishing
as quote of the most costlydescription, end quote.
It was there that MadameLaLaurie cemented her reputation
as a leading socialite, hostingthose famously extravagant
(08:26):
parties.
She was known for her frequentcocktail parties, private balls
and lavish galas.
These events were attended bythe most prominent citizens of
New Orleans, celebrated forbeing a gracious host.
Everyone seemed to look pastthe quote.
Haggard and wretched state ofher slaves.
To some, even her two daughtersthat continued to live with
(08:49):
Delphine and Dr LaLaurie in thehouse seemed miserable.
But Madame LaLaurie was sooutwardly pleasant that no one
really thought too hard about it.
Speaker 1 (08:58):
So this life of high society is unfolding within the
unique context of urban slaveryin New Orleans, which operated
differently than the large-scaleplantation system we usually
associate slavery with.
Speaker 2 (09:11):
That's a crucial point.
New Orleans was the nexus.
The nation's largest slavemarket was there.
An estimated 135,000 peoplewere bought and sold at that
slave market and it was theprocessing and shipping point
for goods produced by enslavedlabor on plantations.
This economic function shapedthe nature of slavery within the
(09:32):
city itself.
Speaker 1 (09:34):
The city's French and Spanish colonial past also left
its mark, particularly throughthe legal frameworks like the
Code Noir.
Speaker 2 (09:42):
Exactly the French Code Noir of 1724, and later
Spanish and American adaptions,attempted to regulate the lives
of enslaved people andinteractions between races.
The Code Noir mandated Catholicinstruction, defined enslaved
people as property, establishedthat status followed the mother
and forbade enslaved people fromowning property or carrying
(10:04):
weapons.
It also set minimal standardsfor how slaves should be treated
.
For example, masters wereprohibited from making their
slaves work on Sundays andreligious holidays, and the code
required that slaves be clothedand fed and taken care of when
sick.
But in contrast, the code alsoprescribed brutal punishment for
(10:24):
offenses committed by slavesagainst their masters, like
running away.
Speaker 1 (10:28):
Now you mentioned minimal standards for how slaves
should be treated, but I couldimagine that the enforcement of
these codes against powerfulwhite enslavers like LaLaurie
was often weak or non-existentright.
Speaker 2 (10:41):
Extremely lax.
The American Black Code of 1806, established after the
Louisiana Purchase, maintainedharsh elements and explicitly
reinforced white supremacy.
Crucially, american law alsocurtailed paths to freedom that
existed previously under Spanishrule.
The records show that underSpanish rule, between 2 and 4%
(11:05):
of the enslaved population wasfreed each year through a
practice called cortacion.
This practice allowed enslavedpeople who earned enough money
to purchase their own freedom,and this practice was
particularly evident in 1788 and1794, when New Orleans was
devastated by two differentfires.
The Spanish crown hired manyenslaved people to rebuild the
(11:28):
city and earn their freedom inreturn.
In contrast, the later AmericanBlack Code left no possibility
for manumission and otherfreedoms, like being able to
travel, learning to read andwrite or earning any money.
That was completely cut off forslaves by the early 1800s.
Speaker 1 (11:45):
Another defining feature of New Orleans was its
significant population of gensde couleur libre, or free people
of color.
Although the American slavecode sought stricter control
over slaves, there remained inNew Orleans a small but steady,
free black population In 1803,steady, free black population In
(12:09):
1803,.
The records indicate that about1,500 free people lived in or
around New Orleans.
They worked as laborers,storekeepers and skilled
craftsmen, with a small minoritybecoming enslavers themselves.
Speaker 2 (12:17):
Yes, and their numbers surged around 1809 to
1810, with refugees from theHaitian Revolution.
The Haitian Revolution was anuprising of black slaves against
their colonial masters, and itultimately resulted in the
independence of Haiti in 1804,making it the second independent
(12:38):
nation in the WesternHemisphere and the world's first
black-led republic.
In the wake of the revolution,many Haitians spread out to Cuba
and other islands.
In 1809, spanish authoritiesexpelled thousands of Haitians
from Cuba, many of whom madetheir way to Louisiana and
specifically New Orleans.
As a result, the free blackpopulation of New Orleans
tripled, reaching nearly 5,000and constituting almost a third
(13:01):
of the city's total population.
At the time, this was aproportion unmatched in other
southern cities.
Speaker 1 (13:08):
The rapid growth of the city's population of free
persons of color strengthenedthe quote three-caste society
made up of free white people,free people of color and slaves.
Free people of color occupied aunique though precarious
position.
They legally held rights thatwere denied to the enslaved,
like property ownership, accessto education and to legal means,
(13:31):
but they faced increasingdiscrimination under American
rule, and the free blackpopulation certainly didn't
enjoy the same rights as whiteAmericans.
And let's consider the city'sdemographics around then.
Speaker 2 (13:43):
Based on estimates, around 1810, new Orleans had
about 27,000 residents, roughlysplit into thirds white,
enslaved and free people ofcolor.
By 1830, 20 years later, thetotal population had almost
doubled, hitting approximately46,000.
And of that 46,000, enslavedpeople still made up about a
(14:04):
third.
Speaker 1 (14:05):
And by 1840, the city population had doubled again,
exploding to over 100,000.
The enslaved population made upa total of about 23,000,
continuing to make up a quarterof the population in total.
The free people of color in thepopulation was estimated around
19,000,.
The free people of color in thepopulation was estimated around
19,000, representing about afifth of the population.
(14:26):
This was a rapidly going,complex city.
Speaker 2 (14:30):
And amidst all of this progress, in New Orleans,
while Madame Lollery played thegracious hostess, disturbing
accounts of her private behaviortowards the enslaved began to
surface, and they actually beganto surface long before the 1834
fire in her mansion thatrevealed the entire horror.
Speaker 1 (14:50):
Historians found documentation suggesting
Lalaurie faced an investigationfor cruelty as early as 1828.
In that particularinvestigation, madame Lalaurie
was denounced for quotebarbarous treatment of her
slaves contrary to the law.
Apparently, the situation waspretty horrific, as some of
Lalaurie's slaves were foundquote still all bloody end.
(15:12):
Quote by the investigatorsthemselves.
Speaker 2 (15:15):
But despite what the investigation revealed, the
Lawlery household simplyincurred a few legal fees and
sold several enslavedindividuals, and that seemed to
be the end of it.
Speaker 1 (15:26):
But the investigation didn't appear to do too much to
curb Madame Lawlery's abusivebehavior.
Speaker 2 (15:32):
In one story about Delphine and her slaves.
A young enslaved girl,identified sometimes as named
Leah, perhaps 11 or 12 years old, reportedly fell to her death
from the mansion's roof, fleeinga whipping by Madame Lollery.
The neighbors would laterassert that the young girl was
carried into the courtyard laterthat night and buried inside
(15:52):
the well.
Speaker 1 (15:54):
When that happened, another formal investigation
took place, during whichLaLaurie was found guilty of
illegal cruelty fined a mere$300, and forced to forfeit nine
enslaved people.
Speaker 2 (16:08):
But LaLaurie apparently circumvented this by
having relatives buy thoseslaves back at auction and
secretly return them to herhousehold.
And in another rumor, delphinewas said to have kept the cook
quote starved and chained to thekitchen stove and would beat
her own daughters, delphine thatis, if they tried to offer food
to the slaves.
Speaker 1 (16:26):
It paints a picture of extreme cruelty being
something of an open secretknown to neighbors, perhaps even
attracting limited officialnotice, like the two
investigations that happened afew years prior.
Speaker 2 (16:37):
Yet meaningful intervention was absent.
The true shock of the 1834 firelikely stemmed not from the
suspicion of cruelty but fromthe sudden, undeniable public
revelation of its horrifyingextent.
The fire forced a confrontationwith a reality that polite
society had managed to ignore upto that point.
Speaker 1 (17:06):
This brings us to the morning of April 10th 1834.
Flames erupt from the LolleryMansion kitchen.
Speaker 2 (17:13):
And the first discovery was harrowing.
The authorities found a70-year-old enslaved woman the
cook chained by her ankle to thestove.
She later confessed to settingthe fire deliberately, a
desperate suicide attempt,claiming she feared being taken
to an upstairs room, from whichenslaved people never came back.
Speaker 1 (17:33):
While Madame LaLaurie was reportedly preoccupied with
saving her furniture,volunteers gathered outside
concerned for the other enslavedindividuals known to be housed
within.
Neighbors knew that, quote theupper part of the building was
used as a prison and that it wasthen tenanted by several
unfortunate slaves.
Speaker 2 (17:53):
end quote then tenanted by several unfortunate
slaves.
End quote.
The crowd demanded access tothe slave quarters, but the
Lolleries refused to provide thekeys.
Judge Jacques-Francois Canangewas among the responders and he
approached Dr Lollerie.
Speaker 1 (18:07):
Canange requested permission quote in a polite
manner to remove the enslavedpeople to safety.
This part is interestingbecause Judge Canage was
apparently a very dear friend ofthe Lolleries and frequently in
attendance at their parties.
But Dr Lollerie, knowing thehorrors within, responded with
arrogance, declaring that quotesome people had better stay at
(18:30):
home rather than come to others'houses to dictate laws and
meddle with other people'sbusiness end quote.
Speaker 2 (18:37):
Faced with this refusal and the spreading fire,
judge Kanange gave the orderbreak down the doors to the
service quarters, which includedthe attic space above the
kitchen.
What lay beyond stunnedeveryone.
Contemporary newspapers likethe New Orleans Bee and the
Courier, whose editors claimedto be eyewitnesses, struggled
for words, calling it anappalling sight.
Speaker 1 (19:00):
The New Orleans Bee reported on April 11th the
discovery of quote seven slavesmore or less horribly mutilated.
End quote.
The graphic details publishedin both papers are difficult to
comprehend even now published inboth papers are difficult to
comprehend even now.
Speaker 2 (19:17):
They described victims, quote, suspended by the
neck, with their limbsapparently stretched and torn
from one extremity to the otherend quote.
Rescuers found quote an elderlywoman, weak and with a deep
wound on her head.
End quote.
Another woman wore an ironcollar and was, quote chained
with heavy irons around herankles.
End quote.
Speaker 1 (19:37):
There was also a man suffering from quote a large
hole in his head, his bodycovered from head to foot with
scars and filled with worms endquote.
And a young boy who testifiedhe had, quote been chained for
five months, being fed dailywith only a handful of meal and
receiving every morning the mostcruel treatment end quote.
Speaker 2 (19:58):
Other sources note more gruesome details Victims
emaciated.
Bearing marks of being quoteflayed with a whip end quote.
Bound end quote.
Restricted postures end quoteWearing quote.
Spiked iron collars which kepttheir heads in static positions
end quote.
Judge Kananja's officialdeposition corroborated all of
(20:20):
that.
Speaker 1 (20:21):
The newspapers didn't hold back in their condemnation
.
The B denounced the quote.
Barbarous and fiendishatrocities committed by the
woman Lalari upon the persons ofher slaves.
End quote.
Some accounts admitted languagefailed them, describing horrors
quote which seemed tooincredible for human belief,
choosing to leave it rather tothe reader's imagination.
(20:43):
End quote.
Speaker 2 (20:44):
Another newspaper account aimed straight for
empathy, quote we saw one of themiserable beings.
The sight was so horrible thatwe could scarce look upon it.
The most savage heart could nothave witnessed the spectacle
unmoved.
End quote the fire had exposeda secret chamber of horrors,
confirming the darkest rumors inthe most ghastly way possible.
Speaker 1 (21:08):
The revelations of these atrocities must have sent
shockwaves through New Orleans.
The seven survivors physicalevidence of the torture, were
taken to the Cabildo.
The Cabildo, located next tothe St Louis Cathedral, was the
physical center of New Orleansgovernment and included
political meeting halls,courtrooms and a prison.
Speaker 2 (21:30):
News spread incredibly fast.
The New Orleans Bee reported animmense crowd, estimated at
4,000 people, converging on theCabildo.
And it wasn't just curiosity,it became a macabre public
viewing.
Citizens witnessed themutilated bodies firsthand,
fueling collective outrage.
Tragically, two of the rescuedindividuals reportedly died
(21:52):
shortly after from theirinjuries.
Speaker 1 (21:54):
Two of the rescued individuals reportedly died
shortly after from theirinjuries.
As the day progressed, itbecame apparent the authorities
weren't arresting MadameLalaurie, and the public mood
shifted from shock to fury.
Just as an aside, I originallywondered why the authorities and
the crowd were so focused onDelphine Lalaurie rather than
her husband and daughters.
But while Dr Lalaurie andothers apparently knew what was
(22:15):
going on, the surviving slavesfrom the household emphasized
that the torture and crueltythey experienced was done by
primarily Delphine Lalaurie.
Speaker 2 (22:25):
Meanwhile, the crowd outside the Cabildo transformed
into a mob and turned itsattention to the source of the
horror, the Lalaurie Mansion onRoyal Street.
Contemporary newspapersdescribed the populace
exasperated by the Lawlery'ssuccessful escape from the hands
of justice descending upon theproperty.
Speaker 1 (22:44):
But by then the Lawlerys had already vanished.
Delphine, her husband and herdaughters made a hasty escape in
a carriage towards LakePontchartrain, eventually
boarding a schooner.
Speaker 2 (22:57):
From there they likely traveled via Mobile and
New York, eventually findingrefuge in France.
Delphine Lalaurie lived out herdays in Paris, dying in 1849.
Despite the horrific evidenceand public outcry, she never
faced formal legal charges.
Speaker 1 (23:14):
With the perpetrators gone, the mob vented its rage
on the empty house, the symbolof LaLaurie's cruelty.
They ransacked the mansion.
Speaker 2 (23:23):
Accounts detail systematic destruction,
furniture, valuables, chinacrystal, artwork all smashed.
The structure itself wasattacked Floors, stairs, wine
scotting wrecked, windows broken, iron balconies torn down.
The assault continued untilquote nearly the whole of the
edifice had been pulled down.
(23:43):
End quote.
The elegant mansion was left agutted ruin.
Speaker 1 (23:48):
The destruction of the property feels like a
powerful, albeit violent, publiccondemnation.
Speaker 2 (23:55):
It does seem like a symbolic purging Michael by
demolishing the physicalmanifestation of her crime and
status, the community performeda ritualistic act declaring that
such hidden, grotesque torturewent too far, even for them.
Even for them, this perhapsallowed them to define lollery
(24:18):
as an aberration, implicitlyreinforcing the notion that
ordinary slavery was different.
This sentiment preserved thetraditional system of slavery by
scapegoating the lolleryatrocity as an outlier.
Speaker 1 (24:42):
So the LaLaurie family gets away, but I think
it's important that we revisitthe distinctions between the
urban and plantation slavery.
How did the specificenvironment of New Orleans shape
the institution and,potentially, lalaurie's actions?
Speaker 2 (24:52):
It's a critical lens.
Plantation slavery centered onlarge-scale agriculture.
Urban slavery in New Orleanswas much more diversified.
Domestic service was paramountcooking, cleaning, childcare,
marketing.
These were performed mostly bywomen.
This demand skewed thedemographics Nearly two-thirds
(25:13):
of the city's enslavedpopulation were female.
Speaker 1 (25:16):
Middle-class and wealthy white people saw service
work as demeaning, with onlythe poorest households not
holding at least one enslaveddomestic worker.
Enslaved domestics were soubiquitous in New Orleans that,
according to one resident, itwas rare to see any white people
in the city's marketplaces,because the buying and cooking
(25:36):
of food for domestic consumptionwas largely performed by
enslaved people.
Speaker 2 (25:42):
Enslaved men in New Orleans typically performed
heavy menial labor around town,particularly as dock workers and
construction workers.
New Orleans' antebellum economywas dominated by the city's
port and many enslaved menworked the docks by loading and
unloading cargo, stockingwarehouses and repairing ships
in dry dock, and often theseenslaved dockhands worked
(26:05):
alongside foreign-bornimmigrants, native-born white
people and free men of color.
Enslaved men also crewed urbanconstruction sites.
They paved streets, dug sewers,laid pipe and built levees and
wharves.
In New Orleans and Baton Rouge,essential public infrastructure
was primarily built by chaingangs of imprisoned, enslaved
(26:26):
people taken from the city'sslave jails.
Speaker 1 (26:30):
Living arrangements also differed significantly
between urban and rural slaves.
Living arrangements alsodiffered significantly between
urban and rural slaves.
Urban enslaved people generallylived in much closer proximity
to their enslavers, in attics,rooms above kitchens, attached
quarters, unlike the separatecabins typical on plantations.
Space was always at a premiumin cities and thus many enslaved
(26:51):
people were also crammed intoclosets, foyers, stables and
hallways.
A guest at one prominent NewOrleans hotel complained that
the waiters, who were allenslaved quote had no beds and
slept like dogs in the passagesof the house.
End quote.
Speaker 2 (27:08):
The city offered, paradoxically, both more
potential interaction andstricter controls for slaves.
The hiring out system wascommon.
Under this system, slaveholderswith more enslaved people than
they could profitably employwithin their own businesses and
homes could rent their surplusenslaved workers to shorthanded
(27:28):
employers.
This practice allowed urbanslaveholders to maximize their
profits by constantlyreallocating their labor supply
according to fluctuating demand.
Speaker 1 (27:39):
Some enslaved people in New Orleans even managed
quote self-hiring.
Under this arrangement,enslaved people obtained their
owner's permission to negotiatetheir own wages and to rent
their own housing, living andworking in near total autonomy,
on the condition that theyperiodically return to deliver a
portion of their earnings totheir owner.
Technically, slave self-hiringwas illegal, though the laws
(28:03):
prohibiting it wereinconsistently enforced.
Speaker 2 (28:07):
But this potential autonomy was also seen as a
threat by some.
So cities like New Orleansimplemented stringent controls
slave patrols, pass systems,curfews, dedicated slave prisons
.
Even the architecture, withhigh walls and closing
properties, reflected thisdesire for control.
The high walls were not meantas much to keep people out as
(28:29):
they were intended to keep thedomestic staff from interacting
with free society outside.
Speaker 1 (28:35):
And, in the case of the Lollary Mansion, it also
kept the slaves from tellingothers about the atrocities and
cruelties within those walls and, for the most part, it kept the
public from actually witnessingit.
Speaker 2 (28:47):
Exactly.
It demonstrates how thestructures of urban life could
be perverted to facilitateextreme brutality, concealed
behind a facade of socialrespectability.
Speaker 1 (28:58):
And this entire system which enabled such
horrors was propped up byelaborate justifications
historical, economical,religious and pseudoscientific.
Speaker 2 (29:10):
Foundational was the argument of economic necessity.
The southern economy,particularly cotton, supposedly
depended entirely on enslavedlabor.
Abolition, they claimed, meantruin for the South, and in some
ways that was kind of true.
In the first part of the 1800s,farmers moved away from
planting tobacco to the moreprofitable crop of cotton.
(29:32):
Cotton grew spectacularly inthe rich soil of the Deep South
and as a result more Americanswere moving into the region to
start their own farms andplantations.
In connection with thatdevelopment, the number of
slaves in the Deep South alsojumped significantly.
As mentioned, an estimated135,000 slaves were bought and
sold in New Orleans slavemarkets, which was the nation's
(29:59):
largest.
Even banking in New Orleanscentered on slavery.
Banks in New Orleans loanedmoney for the purchase of
plantations and slaves and infact New Orleans banking capital
exceeded that of New York Cityuntil the mid-1800s.
Speaker 1 (30:08):
Slave owners and pro-slavery supporters also
defended slavery by pointing tohistorical precedent.
They cited slavery in ancientGreece and Rome, framing it as a
natural condition.
Legally, they relied onframeworks like slave codes and
prior court decisions, like thatof the later 1857 Dred Scott
Supreme Court case, whichofficially defined black
(30:31):
individuals as property.
Speaker 2 (30:34):
Deeply ingrained racism fueled incorrect beliefs
in the biological andintellectual inferiority of
African descendants, deemingthem more suited for servitude.
The pseudoscience theory ofphrenology reinforced that idea
by suggesting that one's headsize and shape was connected to
their intelligence, personalityand character.
(30:55):
Many researchers of the timejustified their own racism by
suggesting that Caucasian brainswere quote larger, better
formed and better balanced, endquote.
In fact, the pro-slaverypolitician and vice president of
the United States, john CCalhoun, famously asserted that
enslavement had elevatedAfricans to their highest
(31:16):
possible state.
Speaker 1 (31:18):
Religion also provided powerful, though
twisted, justifications.
Some people suggested that thetheory of polygenesis, which
argued for separate creations byGod, the Bible, was frequently
manipulating, citing OldTestament, patriarchs owning
slaves or the Ten Commandments,mentions of servants and
interpretations of the curse ofHam, in which Noah curses his
(31:41):
son, ham's descendants, toslavery, were used to argue for
divinely ordained slavery.
Speaker 2 (31:48):
Pro-slavery authorities also noted the
apostle paul returning therunaway philemon and the lack of
explicit condemnation fromjesus.
Some even argued enslavementbrought africans to christianity
.
Southern ministers were key,framing slavery within a
divinely sanctioned householdorder, paralleling the
subordination of wives andchildren to their father and
(32:11):
husbands.
Speaker 1 (32:12):
Then there was the pervasive narrative of
paternalism the slaveholder as abenevolent guardian.
Speaker 2 (32:19):
This ideology claimed , masters provided food,
clothing, shelter and care totheir slaves, and they
contrasted that supposedsecurity with the precarious
lives of free laborers or whothey called wage slaves, in the
North and in Europe.
Speaker 1 (32:34):
And by the 1830s, coinciding with the Lowry events
, the popular view changed fromdescribing slavery as a
necessary evil to slavery as apositive good.
Speaker 2 (32:46):
Figures like Calhoun and South Carolina Governor
James Henry Hammond argued thatslavery created a stable,
hierarchical society superior tothe North.
Hammond's mudsill theoryasserted that every advanced
society needed a subordinatelaboring class, the mudsill, to
perform menial tasks, freeingthe elite from having to do so.
(33:08):
He argued that, quote in socialsystems there must be a class
to do the menial duties.
It constitutes the very mudsillof society.
We use them for our purpose andcall them slaves.
End quote.
The American author and socialtheorist George Fitzhugh went
further, arguing Southern slaveswere freer and happier than
(33:30):
Northern industrial workersslaves were freer and happier
than northern industrial workers, fitzhugh declared quote the
slaves of the South are thehappiest and in some sense the
freest people in the world.
The free laborer must work orstarve.
He is more a slave than theactual slave.
End quote.
Fitzhugh similarly argued thatpeople of color were only
grown-up children needing theeconomic and social protections
(33:53):
of slavery.
Speaker 1 (33:54):
The Lowry case stands as a grotesque rebuttal to all
of this.
Delphine Lowry's documentedactions starvation, mutilation
and torture completelydemolished the facade of
benevolent paternalism.
Speaker 2 (34:08):
It exposed the lie that slavery was a civilizing
institution.
It starkly revealed theterrifying reality of the
absolute power inherent in themaster-slave relationship and
how easily it could metastasizeinto unrestrained depravity
behind closed doors.
Speaker 1 (34:26):
So the incident functioned as an unintentional
but powerful stress test forpro-slavery ideology.
While defenders couldrationalize normal violence,
lalaurie's extreme, hiddensadism was indefensible even
within their narratives.
Speaker 2 (34:43):
The visceral public revulsion and the mob's
destructive responses show thateven within that pro-slavery
society, Madame LaLaurie'sactions crossed a line.
Condemning this specificmanifestation of brutality
perhaps served partly to protectthe perceived legitimacy of the
institution itself from beingdefined by its most monstrous
(35:06):
outlier.
Speaker 1 (35:15):
So what were the lasting repercussions of the
1834 fire and the mock violence?
Delphine Lallery's socialstanding was obviously destroyed
.
Speaker 2 (35:25):
Irrevocably, the mansion was rebuilt in 1838 and
assumed the appearance it hastoday.
Over the years, the mansionserved as a public high school,
a conservatory of music, anapartment building, a refuge for
young delinquents, a bar andeven a furniture store, before
returning back to a private home.
But regardless of its use, themansion on Royal Street became
(35:47):
permanently linked to thehorrors discovered there in 1834
.
Speaker 1 (35:51):
Yet LaLaurie herself faced no legal consequences,
having fled to Paris, where shedied at the age of 62.
Interesting, dr LaLaurie andDelphine appeared to have
separated by the late 1830s.
At that point, delphineremained in Paris and the doctor
moved to Havana, cuba, where helived for the last 20 years of
(36:12):
his life, until his death in1863.
Speaker 2 (36:15):
But the shocking 1834 discovery at the Lawlery
Mansion undoubtedly providedpotent material for
abolitionists, serving as alurid example of the barbarity
inherent in the system.
It highlighted the failure oflaws and social pressure to
prevent extreme abuse by thepowerful.
Speaker 1 (36:35):
That's true, but there's limited evidence
suggesting that LaLaurie'saffair led to any major changes
in American society or theperception of slavery within the
South.
It mostly remained local theoutrage, lalaurie's psychology,
the mob, the transformation intofolklore, rather than prompting
a broader social reckoning withslavery itself.
Speaker 2 (36:57):
So it seems, the case functioned less as a catalyst
for change and more as anotorious exemplar of slavery's
capacity for evil.
Unfortunately, its veryextremity might have
inadvertently normalized theroutine violence of the broader
system.
Speaker 1 (37:14):
By condemning Delphine LaLaurie as a monstrous
exception, society couldperhaps avoid confronting the
inherent brutality of slave rule.
Speaker 2 (37:24):
Today, the LaLaurie mansion is mostly known not for
its connection to slavery'shistory, but as one of America's
most famous haunted houses.
Speaker 1 (37:33):
This transformation into dark tourism is complex.
Ghost tours often focus on thesensationalized, the embellished
tales building on the horrificfacts.
Speaker 2 (37:43):
And historians and cultural critics have rightly
raised concerns about how thisfocus on the supernatural can
trivialize the real, documentedsuffering of the enslaved
individuals tortured and killedthere.
Turning historical atrocityinto entertainment risks
obscuring the specific contextof racialized violence and
systematic oppression.
Speaker 1 (38:05):
The case of Delphine Lalaurie and the discoveries at
her Royal Street mansionrepresent a significant crime in
history, but the culpabilityextends beyond one sadistic
individual.
The atrocities were an extremeoutgrowth of the violence
inherent in slavery itself.
Speaker 2 (38:22):
A system predicated on dehumanization, granting
enslavers near absolute power.
The Lawlery mansion became amicrocosm of the potential for
unchecked brutality within thatsystem.
Speaker 1 (38:35):
The fire that April morning briefly illuminated
slavery's darkest potential,revealing truths many preferred
to ignore or rationalize awaywith justifications of
paternalism and racial hierarchy.
Speaker 2 (38:48):
And Lawlery's escape from justice underscores the
system's failure to hold evenits most egregious abusers
accountable, especially thewealthy and connected.
Speaker 1 (39:08):
It compels us to confront the uncomfortable
relationship between placescelebrated for charm, like the
French Quarter, and theunacknowledged histories of
suffering embedded within them,endured unimaginable cruelty
(39:29):
under a brutal regime.
Speaker 2 (39:30):
Their suffering and Lawlery's crimes testify to the
depths of inhumanity enabledwhen people are defined as
property.
Speaker 1 (39:39):
A truly disturbing story, one crucial to remember,
and that's all the time we havefor this episode of History's
Greatest Crimes.
Speaker 2 (39:46):
Join us next time as we explore another dark corner
of the past.
I'm Elena.
Speaker 1 (39:50):
And I'm Michael.
Stay curious Bye.
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