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The Delage-Sumter Family In The Nineteenth Century Atlantic World, Mitchell Oxford

Theses and Dissertations

Thomas Sumter Jr. (1768-1840) and Natalie Delage's (1782-1841) marriage in 1802 joined prominent families from the United States and France. Although both families enjoyed an elite status in their societies, they had sharply divergent political ideologies and commitments in a revolutionary era shaped by ideological conflict. The South Carolinian Sumter family was as steadfastly republican as the French de Lage family was royalist. Despite holding to these dichotomous ideologies, this emergent Atlantic family pursued vigorous transatlantic and transnational strategies in the effort to uphold their status, and ensure the financial and social stability of future generations. This essay examines these …