My Bourbon Prince Ancestor Who Bought Slaves to Free Them
I trace my great-great-great-uncle Charles de France Sr., a descendant of the House of Bourbon, who led the free People of Color in Natchez, Mississippi. He used his royal wealth to buy enslaved family, friends, and neighbors and set them legally free. In antebellum Natchez, free Black elites faced hostile laws. White supremacist lawmakers imposed a $1,000 bond per person to block emancipation. Charles refused to be deterred. He fought the financial blockade and used Southern capitalism’s own tools to undermine the slave market. This radical abolitionist spirit carried our family from Mississippi to Forrest City, Arkansas. Today, his legacy of courage and justice lives on in our bloodline and in my father’s dedication to honouring this proud heritage.
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