This fascinating history set in the Reconstruction South is a testament to African-American resilience; fortitude; and independence. It tells of three attempts to create an ideal community on the river bottom lands at Davis Bend south of Vicksburg. There Joseph Davis's effort to establish a cooperative community among the slaves on his plantation was doomed to fail as long as they remained in bondage. During the Civil War the Yankees tried with limited success to organize the freedmen into a model community without trusting them to manage their own affairs. After the war the intrepid Benjamin Montgomery and his family bought the land from Davis and established a very prosperous colony of their fellow freedmen. Their success at Davis Bend occurred when blacks were accorded the opportunity to pursue the American dream relatively free from the discrimination that prevailed in most of society. It is a story worthy of celebration. Janet Hermann writes here of two men--Joseph Davis; the slaveholder and brother of the president of the Confederacy; and Benjamin Montgomery; an educated freedman. In 1866 Montgomery began the experiment at Davis Bend. The Pursuit of a Dream; published in 1981; received the Robert F. Kennedy Award; the McLemore Prize of the Mississippi Historical Society; and the Silver Medal of the Commonwealth Club of California. "Historical writing at its best . . . her research is impressive and is presented in balanced; ironic prose." --David Bradley; New York Times Book Review "A marvelous story for all readers with a taste for the ironies; the ambiguities; and the surprises of history." --C. Vann Woodward Janet Sharp Hermann; a freelance writer and historian; is the author of Joseph E. Davis: Pioneer Patriarch (University Press of Mississippi).
#1974234 in Books 2011-09-26Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.02 x .82 x 5.98l; 1.19 #File Name: 1574413260368 pages
Review
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Five StarsBy CustomerIt's great history. I always wanted to know what things were important back then.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Texas historyBy auntiebooLoved this history of early german immigration to Texas. Very well written and interesting. The author's drawings add a lot.8 of 8 people found the following review helpful. The Definitive Work on the SubjectBy Matt TippensJames C. Kearney has written an original and insightful work on an often-overlooked aspect of the Society for the Protection of German Emigrants in Texas (Adelsverein); the Nassau Plantation - an attempt to set up a slave plantation by German noblemen in the 1840s near present-day Round Top. Drawing heavily on the reports; letters; and documents contained in the Solms-Braunfels Archives; Kearney traces the development of the plantation from the formation of the Adelsverein in Germany to its beginnings in Texas; the rise of the plantation as a valuable asset to the Society; and; finally; to the eventual demise of the plantation. The result is a wealth of new information on German-Texan history.Kearney's first chapter on the formation of the Adelsverein and its conception for the society to promote German emigration to Texas is outstanding. The society believed the best approach would be to invest in a slave plantation based on an almost feudalistic system where the plantation replaced the castle. In an effort to accomplish this; the Society sent Joseph Count of Boos-Waldeck to Texas in 1842. Despite the Count's misgivings about a large-scale immigration project; he preoccupied himself with the task of establishing Nassau Plantation; the centerpiece of his program and vision. Boos-Waldeck purchased seventeen slaves in New Orleans and Houston and began work on the plantation in March 1843; the preeminent building of which would be a "dog trot" called the Herrenhaus. The Count completely underestimated the difficulties of setting up a plantation on the Texas frontier and returned to Germany in December 1843; leaving a German Texan; Charles Fordtran; in temporary charge of the plantation. Three slaves soon ran away; two of which were never recovered.Prince Solms-Braunfels arrived to replace Boos-Waldeck in July 1844. Upon arriving at Nassau; the colorful and pompous prince was disgusted that the Adelsverein was now associated with slavery; remarking that slavery "is a true stain on human society; and something completely unworthy of our Society." Despite his condemnation; the plantation served Prince Solms well as a convenient and comfortable home base from which to conduct the business of the Society; preparing for the first boatloads of settlers who began arriving in the winter of 1844-1845. The Prince stayed at the plantation on three separate occasions before returning to Germany in June 1845. The same year; responding to criticism in Germany; the Adelsverein declared its new colonies "slave free zones." Ironically; the German settlements the society later established became hotbeds of anti-slavery and anti-secessionist sentiment.John O. Meusebach succeeded Solms-Braunfels as commissioner-general and he too spent time at Nassau during the first months of 1846 before attempting to move colonists onto the Fischer-Miller grant. At this point; the plantation was essentially leaderless and; in an improbable twist; a slave rose to become overseer of Nassau Plantation for a good part of the year 1847. By fall of the same year it had become painfully clear to the leadership in Germany that plans in Texas had not worked out; but had taken a disastrous turn when a shootout at the Herrenhaus left two dead. The shootout at the plantation set into motion the series of events that culminated in the dismemberment of the plantation. The revolution of 1848 in Germany created further turmoil.Into the leadership void at the plantation stepped Otto von Roeder; who by the Civil War became the largest German-Texan slaveholder in the state. As a gristmill owner; he organized shipments and supplied grain to desperate colonists in New Braunfels and Friedrichsburg in 1846; 1847; and part of 1848. By the summer of 1848; the Society's debt to Otto von Roeder had risen to $6000. In 1850; von Roeder gained control of the Nassau Plantation in exchange for the assistance he had provided. He began parceling off the plantation and selling it to fresh immigrants from Germany transforming the region into one of the most exclusively Germanic areas of the state.One small criticism of the book is that the notes for chapter 13 are missing; although this is most like the fault of the University of North Texas Press and not the author's.Kearney deftly illuminates the importance of the Nassau Plantation. It had historical significance as the first and most important possession of the Adelsverein from beginning to end. The plantation served above all as a reservoir of value that could be parlayed into food and other desperately needed supplies. Although it failed miserably as an experiment in slavery; the plantation's supportive role gave newcomers from Germany a chance to get established in Texas. "Nassau Plantation" is a welcomed addition to German-Texan history and should remain the definitive work on the subject for decades to come.
