In this Book
- Nassau Plantation: The Evolution of a Texas German Slave Plantation
- Book
- 2010
- Published by: University of North Texas Press
summary
In the 1840s an organization of German noblemen, the Mainzner Adelsverein, attempted to settle thousands of German emigrants on the Texas frontier. Nassau Plantation, located near modern-day Round Top, Texas, in northern Fayette County, was a significant part of this story. James C. Kearney has studied a wealth of original source material (much of it in German) to illuminate the history of the plantation and the larger goals and motivation of the Adelsverein. This new study highlights the problematic relationship of German emigrants to slavery. Few today realize that the society’s original colonization plan included ownership and operation of slave plantations. Ironically, the German settlements the society later established became hotbeds of anti-slavery and anti-secessionist sentiment. Several notable personalities graced the plantation, including Carl Prince of Solms-Braunfels, Johann Otto Freiherr von Meusebach, botanist F. Lindheimer, and the renowned naturalist Dr. Ferdinand Roemer. Dramatic events also occurred at the plantation, including a deadly shootout, a successful escape by two slaves (documented in an unprecedented way), and litigation over ownership that wound its way to both the Texas Supreme Court and the U.S. Supreme Court.
Table of Contents
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- List of Illustrations
- pp. ix-x
- Acknowledgments
- pp. xi-xii
- Introduction
- pp. 1-10
- Chapter 1. The Adelsverein
- pp. 11-23
- Chapter 3. The Plantation
- pp. 39-52
- Chapter 5. The Runaways
- pp. 63-74
- Chapter 7. Friedrich von Wrede
- pp. 93-102
- Chapter 8. Das Herrenhaus
- pp. 103-108
- Chapter 10. Die Katastrophe
- pp. 123-152
- Chapter 11. Otto von Roeder
- pp. 153-164
- Chapter 12. Nassau-Rosenberg
- pp. 165-182
- Chapter 14. A Clouded Title
- pp. 207-218
- Postscript
- pp. 219-232
- Appendix A. Boos-Waldeck Purchases
- pp. 233-236
- Appendix C. Inventory, December 1847
- pp. 243-244
- Appendix D. Slave Inventories
- pp. 245-246
- Appendix E. Proclamation Concerning Slavery
- pp. 247-248
- Appendix F. Descriptions of the Herrenhaus
- pp. 249-254
- A Note on Sources and Abbreviations
- pp. 255-262
- Select Bibliography
- pp. 319-336
Additional Information
ISBN
9781574413434
Related ISBN(s)
9781574412864
MARC Record
OCLC
692327519
Pages
368
Launched on MUSE
2011-07-21
Language
English
Open Access
No