Document Type
Honors Project
Abstract
This thesis analyzes the life of Pierre Soulé (1801-1870), a US Senator representing Louisiana and Minister to Spain who began his political life as a liberal political exile from Restoration-era France. It argues that Pierre Soulé’s fights for slavery and US expansion were in fact not as contradictory with his radically democratic liberalism as they appear to contemporary observers. The particular social, economic, cultural, and political conditions of the 19th century Atlantic World created an environment where liberals such as Soulé engaged in a transnational struggle for increasingly democratic governance which did not necessarily draw them into conflict with the institution of slavery, especially in cases such as Soulé’s when they directly benefited from it. This thesis will also argue that his positions and political identities were reinforced by his participation in concrete political networks which allowed him to gain political power.
Recommended Citation
Kollmer-Dorsey, Caedmon P., ""A Secessionist and French Red": The Life of Pierre Soulé in Transatlantic Context" (2024). History Honors Projects. 34.
https://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/history_honors/34
Included in
European History Commons, Latin American History Commons, Political History Commons, United States History Commons
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