From French Community to Missouri Town: Ste. Genevieve in the Nineteenth CenturyA small French settlement thrived for half a century on the west bank of the Mississippi River before the Louisiana Purchase made it part of the United States in 1803. But for the citizens of Ste. Genevieve, becoming Americans involved more than simply acknowledging a transfer of power. Bonnie Stepenoff has written an engaging history of Missouri's oldest permanent settlement to explore what it meant to be Americanized in our country's early years. Picking up where other studies of Ste. Genevieve leave off, she traces the dramatic changes wrought by the transfer of sovereignty to show the process of social and economic transformation on a young nation's new frontier. Stepenoff tells how French and Spanish residents--later joined by German immigrants and American settlers--made necessary compromises to achieve order and community, forging a democracy that represented different approaches to such matters as education, religion, property laws, and women's rights. By examining the town's historical circumstances, its legal institutions, and especially its popular customs, she shows how Ste. Genevieve differed from other towns along the Mississippi. Stepenoff has plumbed the town's voluminous archives to share previously untold stories of Ste. Genevieve citizens that reflect how Americanization affected their lives. In these pages we meet a free woman of color who sued a prominent white family for support of her children; a slave who obtained her own freedom and then purchased her daughters' freedom; a local sheriff who joined Aaron Burr's conspiracy; and a doctor who treated cholera victims and later became a U.S. senator. More than colorful characters, these are real people shown pursuing justice and liberty under a new flag. The story of Ste. Genevieve serves as a testament to Tocqueville's observations on American democracy while also challenging some of the commonly held beliefs about that institution. From French Community to Missouri Town provides a better understanding not only of how democracy works but also of what it meant to become American when America was still young. |
From inside the book
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Page 4
... farms, or speculators, hoping to make a fortune from mining or land acquisition. Others were doctors and lawyers, seeking professional opportunities, or merchants, wanting to tap into the lucrative river trade or to outfit the wagons ...
... farms, or speculators, hoping to make a fortune from mining or land acquisition. Others were doctors and lawyers, seeking professional opportunities, or merchants, wanting to tap into the lucrative river trade or to outfit the wagons ...
Page 6
... farms, and businesses because their husbands were absent most of the time.15 American practices, based on English common law, transferred a woman's property to her husband; therefore women did not necessarily benefit from ...
... farms, and businesses because their husbands were absent most of the time.15 American practices, based on English common law, transferred a woman's property to her husband; therefore women did not necessarily benefit from ...
Page 12
... farms. Surviving French houses and landscapes have made it possible for modern-day travelers to imagine Ste. Genevieve and its environs at the time of the Louisiana Purchase. Perhaps the most amazing survival of all was the big common ...
... farms. Surviving French houses and landscapes have made it possible for modern-day travelers to imagine Ste. Genevieve and its environs at the time of the Louisiana Purchase. Perhaps the most amazing survival of all was the big common ...
Page 13
... farming the rich bottomlands sometime in the middle of the eighteenth century. No one bothered to record the year in which the first permanent residents established themselves in the Point Basse, the alluvial plain directly across the ...
... farming the rich bottomlands sometime in the middle of the eighteenth century. No one bothered to record the year in which the first permanent residents established themselves in the Point Basse, the alluvial plain directly across the ...
Page 27
... farms, and stores and that relied on slave labor. His sons inherited and expanded these enterprises in a competitive marketplace. Loyalty and affection might have solidified the Vallés' position in the community, but shrewdness ...
... farms, and stores and that relied on slave labor. His sons inherited and expanded these enterprises in a competitive marketplace. Loyalty and affection might have solidified the Vallés' position in the community, but shrewdness ...
Contents
1 | |
11 | |
26 | |
Chapter Three Americans in a French Community | 42 |
Chapter Four German Influx | 58 |
Chapter Five Becoming an American Town | 75 |
Chapter Six Law and Order in Ste Genevieve | 91 |
Chapter Seven French omen in an American Republic | 106 |
Chapter Nine ork and Family in Ste Genevieve | 139 |
Chapter Ten Home Church and School | 154 |
Chapter Eleven Life Death and Remembrance | 170 |
Chapter Twelve Holidays and Celebrations | 187 |
Conclusion Ste Genevieve in 1885 | 200 |
Bibliography | 207 |
Index | 219 |
Chapter Eight Slavery and Freedom | 121 |
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From French Community to Missouri Town: Ste. Genevieve in the Nineteenth ... Bonnie Stepenoff No preview available - 2024 |
Common terms and phrases
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