# Did people in the Confederacy/South look down on slave owners who were particularly barbaric?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-people-in-the-confederacy-south-look-down-on-slave-owners-who-were-particularly-barbaric/1022339>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [August 20, 2025, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-people-in-the-confederacy-south-look-down-on-slave-owners-who-were-particularly-barbaric/1022339 "2025-08-20T20:35:51Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Edward\_The\_Head](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ce73a5/32.png) [@Edward\_The\_Head](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Edward_The_Head)\
**Post date:** [August 22, 2025, 10:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-people-in-the-confederacy-south-look-down-on-slave-owners-who-were-particularly-barbaric/1022339/21 "2025-08-22T10:58:40Z")

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There was a family in Frederick county Maryland that had some legal problems for abusing their slaves. [The Vincendière family](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%2527Hermitage_Slave_Village_Archeological_Site) came to the county in the 1790s and owned a good number of slaves.

[Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_Ursyn_Niemcewicz "Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz") said this when he was near the area:

“One can see on the home farm instruments of torture, stocks, wooden horses, whips, etc. Two or three negroes crippled with torture have brought legal action”

The family had some cases brought against them, but most of them were dropped:

“Nine court proceedings against family members for cruelty to slaves are recorded, including proceedings against Boisneuf for “cruelly and immercifully beating and whipping” six slaves and against Victoire Vincendière for beating her slave Jenny. These charges were dismissed, but Payen e Boisneuf was found guilty in 1797 of beating a slave named Shadrack and of "not sufficiently clothing and feeding his negroes.”

[https://home.nps.gov/mono/learn/historyculture/hermitage.htm](https://home.nps.gov/mono/learn/historyculture/hermitage.htm)

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**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\
**Post date:** [August 23, 2025, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-people-in-the-confederacy-south-look-down-on-slave-owners-who-were-particularly-barbaric/1022339/22 "2025-08-23T18:15:47Z")

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According to _Slaves in the Family,_ a nonfiction account of the in author’s look at his family history as slaveowners, they never beat or mistreated a slave.

This is disingenuous, since they would take them to institutions that would handle “discipline” for them.

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**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\
**Post date:** [August 23, 2025, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-people-in-the-confederacy-south-look-down-on-slave-owners-who-were-particularly-barbaric/1022339/23 "2025-08-23T18:22:39Z")

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Thanks. This is the best response with cite to my OP question.

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