Sons of the Soil: The Maingots and French Creoles in Trinidad

Sons of the Soil: The Maingots and French Creoles in Trinidad History

In 1776 Joseph Ã‰tienne Maingot, a young bourgeois boy from Bordeaux, traveled to the French island of Martinique to join his father. In 1786 he left for Trinidad, a Spanish island (barely) governed from Caracas. What brought him to this â€œisla inutilâ€ (useless island) ignored for over 200 years while other European powers battled continuously to possess even the smallest island in the Caribbean?A Royal CÃ©dula in 1783 had signaled a change in Spainâ€™s colonization policy offering generous land grants to White and Free Colored Catholics. Led by Roume de St. Laurent, a visionary Grenadian creole, Joseph Ã‰tienne Maingot and many other French settlers with their slaves began to develop the formerly abandoned island. They were enormously successful. In 1797 the English conquered and struggled to deal with a polyglot population, originally growing sugar and then cocoa, and a French culture tinged with West African influences. The many clashes over language, religion and education, gave rise to a French Creole identity known for its congenial life style, its music, cuisine and piquant sense of humor. So was Carnival and Calypso born. The permanence and love of the Island by the many male and female descendants of Joseph Etienne Maingot, through the best and worst of times, has earned them the honorific: â€œsons of the soil.â€
Country USA
Brand CREATESPACE
Manufacturer CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
Binding Paperback
ItemPartNumber 9781719543743
UnitCount 1
Format Illustrated
EANs 9781719543743
ReleaseDate 0000-00-00

Country	USA
Brand	CREATESPACE
Manufacturer	CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
Binding	Paperback
ItemPartNumber	9781719543743
UnitCount	1
Format	Illustrated
EANs	9781719543743
ReleaseDate	0000-00-00

Sons of the Soil: The Maingots and French Creoles in Trinidad History