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'Virginian Gentility' By William Byrd

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'Virginian Gentility' By William Byrd
In William Byrd's diary he talks about violence against slaves only very briefly. Almost the entire entry is filled with mundane everyday activities. Near the end of the excerpt from his diary he mentions a incident involving his wife, and violence against slaves, in a very nonchalant way. In this incident his wife beats a slave, and in turn he gets mad at her and decides to beat a slave as well. This incident, while; disturbing shows his mind set was not that of spite and hate, but of general uncaring for slaves. I believe violence against slaves wasn't against what he viewed as "Virginian Gentility". I think his views of gentility were more invested in high fashion, or high standers of elegance/living. This being the view of many Virginia
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