In 1834 a fire in a New Orleans mansion belonging to socialite Delphine LaLaurie and her husband revealed a torture chamber containing numerous black slaves who had been beaten and tortured.
The slaves were taken to a nearby jailhouse where people flocked to see the atrocities done to them. The ensuing anger led to the mob of spectators ransacking what was left of the mansion as Delphine LaLaurie and her husband fled to France.
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Photo Credits / Sources:
By Reading Tom (Flickr: The LaLaurie Mansion) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons