Abstract
Shirley Elizabeth Thompson's precision of insight, depth of archival research, and accessible narrative make her book a superior undertaking and a wonderful read. Thompson's narrative explores how pre-1803 Spanish/French New Orleans viewed the concept of “race” so differently from Ango-American definitions of the same elsewhere that New Orleans was essentially a foreign territory. This distinguished it from other “empty” regions elsewhere in the Louisiana Purchase and other lands newly acquired by the new nation. While farther north, groups such as the Métis could be easily removed, ignored, or erased, in New Orleans generations of interracialism, forgotten genealogical trackings, and entrenched entanglements with multiracial communities throughout the Caribbean (especially Saint Domingue/Haiti and Cuba) made the assignment of specific racial identity—increasingly necessary in the decades leading up to the Civil War—nearly impossible. Thompson maps out these conditions through the experiences of individual families. Her archival ambit ranges from diaries and letters to court transcripts, property records, published narratives, Creole-of-color poetry (“Les Cenelles”: A Collection of Poems by Creole Writers of the Early Nineteenth Century [1979]), and white fiction, such as George Washington Cable's The Grandissimes (1898).
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.