Description
Book SynopsisStrikingly argued, richly researched, and methodologically sound, this wide-ranging look at how choices about sex triumphed over established class systems and artificial racial boundaries supplies a refreshing contribution to the history of early Louisiana.
Trade ReviewBreak[s] fresh analytical and methodological ground and respond[s] intelligently to alternative explanatory models pertaining to [its] respective subject. [It is a] significant contribution that will elicit scholarly engagement. -- John David Smith Florida Historical Quarterly A sophisticated navigation of the intersections of race, status, and sexuality and the permeability of each boundary. -- Marilyn Westerkamp Journal of Southern History This thoroughly researched, extremely well-documented study gives us a clear understanding of how rulers constantly had to negotiate between what would ensure stability in the colony, what morality commanded, and what their perception of races suggested. -- Nathalie Dessens Journal of American History An impressive study of the role played by race and sex in creating the familiar racial hierarchy of early New Orleans. Among Spear's many contributions is her detailed uncovering of the competing definitions of race as well as arguments about just what relationships between the various races should look like. -- Jeffrey E. Anderson Journal of American Ethnic History Spear opens a window into New Orleanians' legal affairs regarding race under different regimes with distinct legal traditions. -- Anthony J. Stanonis Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Anthropology A wonderful survey of race relations in colonial Louisiana... Bringing things down to an individual level she manages to fuse the micro and macro, creating a layered portrait of colonial society. Her focus on women, their avenues for freedom, and the different responses to their prescribed social role make this interesting for scholars of the regulation of human sexuality, not just race history. -- Katrina Gulliver Itinerario
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments
Introduction
1. Indian Women, French Women, and the Regulation of Sex
2. Legislating Slavery in French New Orleans
3. Affranchis and Sang-Mêlé
4. Slavery and Freedom in Spanish New Orleans
5. Limpieza de Sangre and Family Formation
6. Negotiating Racial Identities in the 1790s
7. Codification of a Tripartite Racial System in Anglo-Louisiana
Epilogue
Notes
Glossary
Essay on Sources
Index
