François Janis, Jean Ribault, and Clarisse, a Free Woman of Color: A Discussion of Exclusion, Structural Violence, and Privilege in Ste. Genevieve

Summary

            In the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, the town of Ste. Genevieve (in present-day Missouri) was supported by agriculture, salt production, and fur-trading, all of which were dependent on enslaved African American and Native American laborers.  French emigrants and New World French descendants made up the majority of Euro-American settlers and French cultural traditions structured daily life in the community.  The built environment included architectural barriers, a town plan that embraced a segregation of households of different classes, and architectural forms and archaeological remains symbolizing privileged owner and enslaved worker.  Marriage and inheritance customs and the practice of plaçage defended as well as challenged structural inequalities of gender, race, and class.  Although overall architectural style (vertical log construction) and the general plan of houses (tripartite room placement and lack of an entry hall or Georgian symmetry) might mask social divisions, inequalities were evident in other aspects of daily life.    

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Archaeologies Of Violence And Privilege   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2016

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Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 610