Nassau Plantation: The Evolution of a Texas German Slave Plantation - Hardcover

Kearney, James C.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1574412868 ISBN 13: 9781574412864

Publisher: University of North Texas Press,U.S., 2010

Synopsis

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.

About this title

About the Author

JAMES C. KEARNEY has a degree in German and history from the University of Texas. He teaches German at Katy High School and has been a featured speaker at numerous conventions and symposia on Texas-German subjects.

Edition details

• Publisher: University of North Texas Press,U.S.
• Publication date: 2010
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1574412868
• ISBN 13: 9781574412864
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 353