Freedom for Marriage: Paris Prisoners, Prostitutes, and the Louisiana Plan (1719)
Date: 1719
Location: Paris, France → Louisiana Territory
Key Figures: John Law (economist), Philippe II (Duke of Orléans), French colonial officials
The Scandalous Deal That Shaped a Colony
In 1719, amidst the cobblestone streets and overcrowded prisons of Paris, a desperate and bizarre offer was made:
“Marry a prostitute, sail to Louisiana, and you’ll be free.”
This was no romantic tale. It was part of France’s colonization strategy to populate its struggling American territory, Louisiana. The colony lacked settlers and women, while Paris overflowed with prisoners, debtors, and “undesirable” women. So the French government devised a bold plan—export vice to build a future.
Why Louisiana? Why Prisoners?
Louisiana, claimed by France in the 17th century, was sparsely populated, dangerous, and largely undeveloped.
But in the 1710s, John Law, a Scottish economist working for the French Crown, promoted Louisiana as a land of gold and opportunity through the infamous Mississippi Company.
To support this illusion, France needed people. Not just soldiers or merchants—but settlers, workers, and most importantly, women to start families.
The Marriages of Convenience
With the streets of Paris full of prostitutes, vagrants, and jailed men, officials hatched a solution.
Male prisoners were promised freedom—on the condition that they marry a woman (often from the brothels) and agree to relocate to Louisiana.
These forced couples were rounded up, shackled, and marched to the ports of embarkation. They boarded ships under military guard, with marriage documents forged or signed under duress.
It was a social experiment that mixed hope, punishment, and cruelty—a second chance for some, and exile for others.
A Harsh New World
Upon arrival, life in Louisiana was brutal. Many of these couples faced disease, hunger, Native resistance, and unbearable heat.
Some adapted and eventually built families that seeded the Cajun and Creole cultures. Others deserted, died, or disappeared into the wilds of the American frontier.
French officials viewed it as a success—numbers were rising, and Louisiana seemed more “civilized.” But the people sent there often saw it as a sentence worse than prison.
Legacy of a Colonial Gamble
This bizarre policy has mostly been forgotten in popular history, overshadowed by grander colonial tales. But it reveals the dark mechanics of empire-building—where human lives were shuffled like playing cards for economic and national ambition.
In the end, France’s effort to populate Louisiana with forced marriages between prisoners and prostitutes left a lasting, if shadowy, legacy in American colonial history.
References:
- “France and the Louisiana Colony: Population Strategies” – French Colonial Archives
- John Law and the Mississippi Bubble – BBC History Extra
- Colonial Scandals: Europe’s Export of the Undesirable – National Geographic (Special Edition, 2021)
- Women in Louisiana History – University of Louisiana Press
Reviewed by Sagar B
on
June 29, 2025
Rating:
No comments: