text:
Talk:Frances Wright

Untitled
Moved the following:

SEE ALSO

 * Robert Dale Owen
 * New Harmony
 * Fanny Wright
 * Guillayme D'Arusmont
 * Popular Health Movement
 * Sons of Liberty
 * Working Men's Party

to here, until someone can explain in the article what their relevance is to the subject page. Could someone also explain what the negative publicity was which destroyed the commune? -- Zoe

 * I think the article now explains why all the above (except the Sons of Liberty, and the redundant inclusion of Fanny Wright) should be listed under "See also" in the article. Fanny Wright spent time in New Harmony, Indiana, and was influenced by Robert Owen (the guy who started that community).  Guillayme D'Arusmont was Fanny's husband.  The Popular Health Movement of 1830 to 1840 was something she spoke out about, when she advocated that women be more involved in health and medicine.  The Working Men's Party was one of the first labor unions in the United States, if not the first labor union in the United States, and these ideas were also discussed by Robert Owen in New Harmony (the Working Men's Institute is located in that town.)  I just added these "See also" items back into the article.  Oh, and the "negative publicity which destroyed" Fanny's Nashoba Commune seems to revolve around the fact that it was a racially integrated community, and some people at that time no doubt found that to be both frightening and offensive (around the year 1830). Geneisner (talk) 08:46, 16 May 2008 (UTC)

Frances Wright's Husband
Shouldn't Guillayme be Guillaume?

Substantive changes
I have made some substantive changes to the article after noticing some of facts were incorrect/missing. (Wright was born in Scotland, not England. She died in Cincinnati. The original purpose of Nashoba was not to send the slaves to Haiti; that was a result of the community's failure.) I would like to expand/organize the article at a later date, using Celia Morris's excellent biography of Wright -R.S. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Stowitzky (talk • contribs) 13 May 12 2006.
 * May we assume, then, that this very substantive, uncommented, anonymous edit was actually yours? - Jmabel | Talk 17:36, 15 June 2006 (UTC)

Francis Wright
Someone added a long article on Frances to the top of the Francis article. I've copied and pasted it here in case somoene who knows about the woman wants to add anything from here:

THE WOMAN

A Brief Biography of Frances Wright, With Particular Emphasis on Nashoba

A Scottish (upper middle class) born radical free thinker who visited America in 1818-1820, became a passionate friend of Lafayette starting September 1821. Followed him to America in 1824, and stayed, making the U.S. her main home thereafter (she and her sister Camilla got U.S. citizenship in 1825). Frances Wright was a British-born radical reformer–adventurer who became an American citizen, and considered the United States her home after 1824. Born in 1795, she and her younger sister Camila were orphaned very early, and sent to live in London with a grandfather, and an aunt whom she came to despise; she also came to despise their Tory politics. The death of an uncle gave the two Wright sisters a sizeable fortune, and resulted in her foster family (also heirs of the uncle) setting up an estate in Devonshire. She then spent her adolescence (ages 11-18) in the very milieu described in Jane Austen's novels. At 18 Fanny, with her sister, fled their legal guardian, and were welcomed in Glasgow by an uncle, James Mylne, a successor to Adam Smith's professorship of Moral Philosophy. In this great university town, in the bosom of a learned and liberal family, Wright accomplished much of her impressive self-education. Wright's childhood was spent in the early days of industrialization, during which the landless poor were also being deprived of the use of common lands, and the French Revolution followed by the Napoleonic wars helped generate a violent reaction against liberal ideas by the party in power, which made the U.S.' Alien and Sedition Laws look very pale by comparison. In this period, America looked to her like the Promised Land, and as soon as she came of age, in 1818, she sailed for New York, with Camilla in tow. During these first years in America, she wrote a very successful play, which flattered the American self-image. Though the sisters filed for U.S. citizenship in late 1820, the two sisters were on their way back to England in early 1821. Back in England, Frances Wright published Views of Society and Manners in America, which most Americans welcomed as fair and accurate, and which James Fennimore Cooper called "nauseous flattery". She became something of a disciple of the radical-thinking Jeremy Bentham, and then on a visit to France sought out Lafayette, and became his passionate friend for life, spending much of her time at the Lafayette estate. In 1824, Wright followed Lafayette to the U.S. when he came to see the almost 50 year old nation he had helped liberate. There was much awkwardness with Lafayette's family, so the Wright sisters were kept at arms-length, and they eventually struck out on their own. Since their application for citizenship, the necessary five years had elapsed, and despite their having been out of the country most of that time, citizenship was granted. Fanny Wright (Eckhardt, Celia Morris, Fanny Wright - Rebel in America (Harvard U. Press, 1984)) had always abhored American slavery, though it took her a long time to see just how deeply embedded it was in the nation's life. In late 1825, she decided on a scheme to demonstrate just how the U.S. could extricate itself from the "misfortune" of slavery. She would gather a group of slaves (purchase them, in fact), and with them she would break a tract of virgin land on the Wolf River in the wilds of south-western Tennessee. Meanwhile she would educate them morally and intellectually in preparation for freedom. The slaves, understanding her good intent, would work much harder than slaves normally worked. Out of the procedes their purchase cost would be defrayed, with a nicely growing profit so that the venture could not only continue, but expand rapidly. Others, seeing that this sort of enterprise was more profitable than slavery itself, would copy it, which would lead, before very long to the end of slavery in America. The community was called Nashoba. What happenned to Nashoba? It was a well-intended and in some ways ingenious plan, but revealed Wright's problem dealing with or even perceiving human factors, and her lack of grasp of the fragility of human processes. Under Wright's immediate guidance, and that of George Flower, a true soul-mate to Fanny (and probable lover), the enterprise did look promising. William Maclure, (Maclure, William 1763 - 1840 :Scottish born merchant, who made his fortune by age 40; then a geologist and philanthropist in league for a while with Robert Owen and New Harmony. Settled in U.S. about 1796; became a citizen about 1803 or earlier. Produced a geological map of America, on an unprecedented scale, published in Volume I. of Transactions of the American Philosophical Society. President of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia from 1817 - 1840. Brought Pestalozzian methods of education to the U.S. In January 1826, he brought a number of scientists to New Harmony (Trollope, Frances, Domestic Manners of the Americans (originally London, 1832); also "edited with a history of Mrs. Trollopes Adventures in America, by Donald Smalley (New York 1949): One of the best of the travel accounts of Jacksonian America. Mark Twain said of her writing: "Mrs. Trollope was so handsomely cursed and reviled by this nation [for] telling the truth... She was painting a state of things which did not disappear at once. ... I remember it. ...She found a 'civilization' here which you, reader, could not have endured; and which you would not have regarded as a civilization at all. [she spoke] in plain terms ... but honest and without malice... She lived three years in this civilization of ours; in the body of it -- not on the surface of it, as was the case with most of the foreign tourists of her day. She knew her subject well, and she set it forth fairly and squarely, without any weak ifs ands and buts. She deserved gratitude ... Nearly all the tourists were honest and fair; nearly all felt a sincere kindness for us; nearly all of them glossed us over a little too anxiously ... but Mrs. Trollope, alone of them all, dealt what the gamblers call a strictly 'square game.' She did not gild us; and neither did she whitewash us." I have the Smalley edition which has a very informative 70 page partial biography of Mrs. Trollope, and the misadventures of the Trollopes in America.) in a keelboat which New Harmonists called the "boatload of knowledge". New Harmony failed as a commune, and he spent most of the rest his life in Mexico.)who clearly saw the failure of New Harmony, was "astonished that everything proceeded so smoothly. ... The slaves worked hard without coercion—even without apparent direction". But by this time, George Flower was already gone (having returned to his wife), and Fanny's health was nearly wrecked by the chronic illnesses, including malaria, suffered by nearly all American pioneers. To overcome decades of being lied to and abused; to convince slaves of the improbable notion that one who held ownership papers on them was planning their liberation, and, with all this, to lead them through a transformation of their culture from that of slaves to that of free and independent educated people—without the two tremendously gifted organizers, the process would founder. Wright decided that to recover her health she would need to travel to a different climate. Thus for most of 1827, she traveled back to Europe. While she was gone, the managers of Nashoba used sometimes terrible judgement in dealing with their charges, and even resorted, on occasion, to whipping. They also informed the world at large of their disdain for the marriage institution, and that one of the men was openly living with a free "mulatto" woman. In England and France, Wright reenvisioned the enterprise as a communal place of work and education, in which the marriage contract would be invalid (the Rubicon having been crossed), and the two races would learn to live in peace and harmony. From henceforth, they would receive only free blacks, and would educate them for colonization in a land where they would be safe from the viciousness (towards blacks) of white culture in America. It was thought that they could be colonized in Haiti, as a few indeed were at the time of the dissolution of the Nashoba experiment. Unfortunately for Wrights plans, there were no large numbers of free blacks wanting to be sent to a strange new country, much less would the mostly urban free blacks want to serve an apprenticeship in a pestillential swamp in western Tennessee. They rightly doubted that this would be an improvement, even over their current oppressed lives. Meanwhile, Wright tried to recruit enlightened Europeans to take part in the building of a new world. She found one taker, another Frances, or "Fanny", the mother of Anthony Trollope, who would write a book on the Domestic Manners of the Americans at wide variance from the "nauseous flattery" of Wright's views of the U.S. Frances Trollope was a lively, open-hearted woman (though a caustic observer), by no means radical in politics, though having some share of liberal optimisim, and able to be dazzled, for a while, as people were, by the brilliant Wright. Mrs Trollope, two of her children, and her artist protege Auguste Hervieau (Hervieu, Auguste ? - ? : Accompanied Frances Trollope on her journeys in America, and drew illustrations for her book based on those travels. Painted a picture of Lafayette landing in Cincinnati (which he wasn't around to see), and took it around the country charging people a quarter to see it (a typical practice of the Jacksonian era).) accompanied Wright to America, expecting to spend considerable time in America, away from English creditors, in brilliant company, getting a fine education for her children, and with the artist participating in the experimental educational institute of Nashoba. As Wright composed a sort of manifesto to be presented to the newpaper of another communal venture in the American west, (Robert Owen's New Harmony), (Owen, Robert 1771–1858 : Industrialist, anti-religion crusader, and promoter of communistic communities in Britain and the U.S. Born in Newtown, Wales. He quickly amassed a fortune, and bought the New Lanark mills at Manchester, converting it (with later partnership of the Quaker William Allen and the philosopher-activist Jeremy Bentham) into a showplace of liberal caring for workers. Took extreme environmentalist position in A New View of Society (1813). Founded several cooperative communities in Britain and one called New Harmony in the U.S. After 1834, he confined his efforts to writing and lecturing.) Mrs. Trollope "watched, while Fanny sat on a coiled rope in steerage and read parts to a sailor patching his trousers" the composing of her "Explanatory Notes on Nashoba" (See Jacksonian Miscellanies, 3/25/97, 4/8/97). Frances Trollope described Nashoba, and the Frances Wright of Nashoba, as follows: Desolation was the only only feeling -- the only word that presented itself; but it was not spoken. I think, however, that Miss Wright was aware of the painful impression the sight of her forest home produced on me, and I doubt not that the conviction reached us both at the same moment, that we had erred in thinking that a few months passed together at this spot could be productive of pleasure to either**. But to do her justice, I believe her mind was so exclusively occupied by the object she had then in view, that all things else were worthless, or indifferent to her. ... It must have been some feeling equally powerful which enabled Miss Wright, accustomed to all the comfort and refinement of Europe, to imagine not only that she herself could exist in this wilderness, but that her European friends could enter there, and not feel dismayed at the savage aspect of the scene. ... Each building consisted of two large rooms furnished in the most simple manner ... I shared her bedroom; it had no ceiling, ... The rain had access through the wooden roof, and the chimney, which was of logs, slightly plaistered with mud, caught fire, at least a dozen times in a day; but Frances Wright stood in the midst of all this desolation, with the air of a conqueror ... Source: pp 27-29, Trollope, Frances, Domestic Manners of the Americans (originally London, 1832); also "edited with a history of Mrs. Trollopes Adventures in America, by Donald Smalley (New York 1949): The Trollope family and their artist-in-tow soon fled Nashoba, and within a few months Nashoba was no more. Neither the self-supporting institution for buying(!), educating and freeing the slaves, nor the cultivated interracial commune was forthcoming, and Wright had dangerously compromised her modest fortune. Wright subsequently became co-editor of the New Harmony Gazette, (New Harmony Gazette Propaganda organ of the New Harmony community, in the late 1820s, edited by Robert Dale Owen with (from 1828-1829?) Frances Wright. Her "Explanatory Notes on Nashoba", which ran from 1/30 - 2/13, 1828 (before she helped edit the paper) was said to be the "most powerful statement Fanny ever made, and the most revealing." (source: p154 Eckhardt, Fanny Wright, and related footnote #35).) which was renamed the Free Enquirer. (Free Enquirer New York based publication by Frances Wright and Robert Dale Owen of socialistic and anti-religious tendencies.) She lectured all over the United States (the first woman to so address mixed audiences -- "promiscuous audiences", as they said back then ) promoting strict equality of the sexes, a strong universal education system, free love (and, more or less, abolition of marriage), atheism and communalism. She relocated the Free Enquirer to New York, and there purchased a former Baptist church, rechristening it a "temple of science" - a combination lecture hall with seating for 3000, museum, bookstore, and headquarters. Walt Whitman described her in this period as a brilliant woman, of beauty and estate, who was never satisfied unless she was busy doing good -- public good, private good. [much of the public criticized her morals but] "we all loved her; fell down before her; her very appearance seemed to enthrall us. [she was] the noblest Roman of them all ... a woman of the noblest make-up whose orbit was a great deal larger than theirs -- to large to be tolerated long by them: a most maligned, lied-about character -- one of the best in history though also one of the least understood. From Eckhardt, Fanny Wright, p189 Two years later, Wright chartered the brig John Quincy Adams (John Quincy Adams A "163 ton brig" which Frances Wright chartered to sail from New Orleans to take the Nashoba slaves to freedom in Haiti. (Eckhardt, Wright, p211)) to take the former slaves to Haiti. She was accompanied by William Phiquepal D'Arusmont, (D'Arusmont, William Phiquepal ? - ?: Married Frances Wright after she became pregnant by him while taking the Nashoba ex-slaves to Haiti. The marriage had a very destructive affect on her life. "Years later, Robert Dale Owen described [him] as suspicious and headstrong—'a man well informed on many points, full of original ideas, some of practical value, but, withal, a wrong-headed genius whose extravagance and wilfulness and inordinate self-conceit destroyed his usefulness' [and for Wright] an unwise, hasty, fanciful counselor'. ... A Quaker friend said that Fanny, who was not in the ordinary sense a man's woman, would never have married and become a mother had she not been "under the influence of a species of hallucination." ) an unfortunate traveling companion. She must have felt drawn to him during the difficulties of this trip, for sometime on the voyage she became pregnant by him. She became, for almost five years a recluse, and married D'Arusmont after the child was born. She was so hidden from view that the press did not get to make hay over her illegitimate baby, as much as they delighted in attacking her. The marriage to D'Arusmont was an empty affair and worse, he gained control of much of her remaining fortune. Late in 1835 she returned to America and tried to stage a comeback as a lecturer. The rest is anticlimactic until her death in 1852, in Cincinnati. She did lecture and write, but no longer reached a large audience. She and D'Arusmont eventually divorced. Her daughter became an ardent Christian and a conservative, and in 1874 testified against woman's suffrage before an American congressional committee. Principal Source: Eckhardt, Celia Morris Fanny Wright - Rebel in America (Harvard U. Press, 1984). See also Jacksonian Miscellanies, 3/25/97, 4/8/97. The following appeared in the New Harmony Gazette, February 6, 1828. It was part 2 of a three-part series written by Frances, or "Fannie", Wright. For part 1, and a good bit of background on Miss Wright and what she was writing about, the new subscriber may want to request issue #11, or view it on the Web Site (see above). This in one of Frances Wright's most radical statements. The first half (of this, part 2) is mostly an attack on the current state of the marriage institution; to exerpt a few passages: •  	Concerning the experimental community of Nashoba, she wrote "The marriage law existing without the pale of the institution, is of no force within that pale. No woman can forfeit her individual rights of independent existence, and no man assert over her any rights or power whatsoever, beyond what he may exercise over her free and voluntary affections; nor, on the other hand, may any woman assert claims to the society or peculiar protection of any individual of the other sex, beyond what mutual inclination dictates and sanctions, while to every individual member of either sex is secured the protection and friendly aid of all. •   	She speaks of "The tyranny usurped by the matrimonial law over the over ... the strongest and at the same time, if refined by mental cultivation, the noblest of the human passions". •   	The laws of marriage and of legitimacy, she says, "condemn one portion of the female sex to vicious excess, another to vicious restraint, and all to defenceless helplessness and slavery, and generally the whole of the male sex to debasing licentiousness, if not to loathsome brutality". •  	She characterizes "the cultivated, talented and independent women" of England as "devoted victims to unnatural restraints" who "shrink equally from the servitude of matrimony, and from the opprobrium stamped upon unlegalized connexions." •  	Finally, in the second part, after describing the racial problem in America, she makes the claim (often attributed, incorrectly to abolitionists in general) that "racial amalgamation" is the best way out of the dilemma, or rather the legitimizing and civilizing of racial amalgamation, since it already exists.
 * [Frances Trollope's footnote]: The Frances Wright of Nashoba, in dress, looks, and manner, bore no more resemblance to the Miss Wright I had known and admired in London and Paris than did her log cabin to the Tuileries or Buckingham Palace. But, to do her justice, I believe her imagination was so exclusively occupied on the scheme sh then had in view that all her other faculties were in a manner suspended, for she appeared perfectly unconscious that her existence was deprived of all that makes life desirable. I never saw, I never heard or read, of any enthusiasm approaching hers, except in some few instances, in ages past, of religious fanatacism. When we arrived at Nashoba, they were without milk, without beverage of any kind except rain water; the river Wolf being too distant to send to constantly. Wheat bread they used but sparingly, and to us the Indian corn bread was uneatable. ... She herself made her meals on a bit of Indian corn bread, and a cup of very indifferent cold water, and while doing so, smiled with the sort of complacency that we may conceive Peter the Hermit felt when eating his acorns in the wilderness.

Part 2, "Explanatory Notes, respecting the Nature and Objects of the Institution of Nashoba, and of the Principles upon which it is founded. Addressed to the Friends of Human Improvement, in all Countries and of all Nations", by Frances Wright, from the New Harmony Gazette, Feb. 6, 1828. The limits of the present address will not admit of a detailed defence of the principle, and explanation of the practice of cooperative labor. And however great their advantages, the founder of Nashoba views them as entirely subordinate to the one great principle of human liberty, which she believes them calculated to further and secure. She sees in the cooperative system, as it has been termed, the means -- not the end. But after mature consideration of its theory and some observation of its practice, believing it the best means yet discovered for securing the one great end, that of human liberty, and equality, -- she has for that reaons and that reason only, made it the base of the experiment at Nashoba. The Institution of Nashoba being thus founded on the broad basis of human liberty and equality, as well as the subsequent regulations of the trustees are shaped in accordance with it. It will be seen by a reference to that public record, of which it is recommended to attach a copy to this address, that the personal independence of each individual member of the society is effectually secured, and that without disputing the established laws of the country, the institution recognizes only within its bosom the force of its own principles. It is declared in the deed of the founder, that no individual can be received as member, but after a noviciate of six months, and then only by a unanimous vote of the resident proprietors. It is also provided that the admission of a husband shall not involve that of a wife, nor the admission of a wife that of a husband, nor the admission of either or both the parents that of the children above the age of fourteen. Each individual must pass through a separate trial, and be received or rejected on the strength of his or her merits or demerits. Ans, as, in the reception of members, the individual character is the only one recognized, so, by the principles of the society that character can never be forfeited. The marriage law existing without the pale of the institution, is of no force within that pale. No woman can forfeit her individual rights of independent existence, and no man assert over her any rights or power whatsoever, beyond what he may exercise over her free and voluntary affections; nor, on the other hand, may any woman assert claims to the society or peculiar protection of any individual of the other sex, beyond what mutual inclination dictates and sanctions, while to every individual member of either sex is secured the protection and friendly aid of all.

The tyranny usurped by the matrimonial law over the most sacred of the human affections, can perhaps only be equalled by that of the unjust opinion, which so frequently stamps with infamy, or condemns to martyrdom the best-grounded and most generous attachments, which ever did honor to the human heart, simply because unlegalized by human ceremonies, equally idle and offensive in the form and mischievous in the tendency. This tyranny, as now exercised over  the strongest and at the same time, if refined by mental cultivation, the noblest of the human passions, had probably its source in religious prejudice, or priestly rapacity, while it has found its plausible and more philosophical apology in the apparent dependence of children on the union of their parents. To this plea it might, perhaps, be replied, that the end, how important soever, is not secured by the means. That the forcible union of unsuitable and unsuited parents can little promote the happiness of the offspring; and supposing the protection of children to be the real source and object of our code of morals and of our matrimonial laws, what shall we say of the effects of these humane provisions on the fate and fortunes of one large family of helpless innocents, born into the world in spite of all prohibitions and persecutions, and whom a cruel law, and yet more cruel opinion, disown and stigmatize. But how wide a field does this topic embrace! How much cruelty -- how much oppression of the weak and the helpless does it not involve! The children denominated illegitimate, or natural, (as if in contradiction of others who should be out of nature because under law) may be multiplied to any number by the unprincipled father, easily exonerated by law and custom from duties or paternity, while these duties, and their accompanying shame, are left to a mother but too often rendered desperate by misfortune! And should we follow out our review of the law of civilized countries, we shall find the offspring termed legitimate, with whom honor and power and possession are associated, adjudged, in case of matrimonial dissentions to the father, who by means of this legal claim, has, not unfrequently, bowed to servitude the spirit of a fond mother, and held her, as a galley slave, to the oar. But it is not here that this subject can be discussed in all its bearings. The writer of this article will, however, challenge all the advocates of existing institutions and existing opinions to test them by the secret feelings of their bosoms, and then to pronounce on their justice. She will challenge them to consider the wide field of human society as now existing, to examine its practice and to weigh its theory, and to pronounce on the consistency of the one and the virtue of the other. She will challenge them to determine how many of the moral evils and numerous family of physical diseases, which now torture the human species, have not their source in the false opinion and vicious institutions which have perverted the best source of human happiness—the intercourse of the sexes—into the deepest source of human misery. Let us look into our streets, our hospitals, our asylums; let us look into the secret thoughts of the anxious parent trembling for the minds and bodies of sons strating into life, or mourning over the dying health of daughters condemned to the unnatural repression of feelings and desires inherent in their very organization and necessary alike to their moral and physical well-being. Or let us look to the victims—not of pleasure, not of love, nor yet of their own depravity, but of those ignorant laws, ignorant prejudices, ignorant code of morals, which condemn one portion of the female sex to vicious excess, another to vicious restraint, and all to defenceless helplessness and slavery, and generally the whole of the male sex to debasing licentiousness, if not to loathsome brutality. And must we be told that private vices are public benefits, that the units of individual misery make the sum of the general good? or that the immolation of some and suffering of all are requisite to secure public order and to moderate human population to the supplies yielded for its support? As if living creatures, could ever, for any space of time, positively exceed the means of subsistence, or as if their tendency to increase beyond a healthy sufficiency of these means could ever be repressed save by the increase and spread of real knowledge, which should teach human beings to consider the creation of other human beings as the most important of actions, and the securing to the beings of their creation a sound and healthy organization and equally a sound and healthy education, with all the means of a happy existence, as the most important of all duties. In the moral, intellectual and physical cultivation of both sexes should we seek, as we can only find, the source ans security of human happiness and human virtue. Prejudice and fear are weak barriers against passions, which, inherent in our nature and demanding only judicious training to form the ornament, and supply the best joys of our existence, are maddened into violence by pernicious example and pernicious restraint, varied with as pernicious indulgence. Let us correct our views of right and wrong, correct our moral lessons, and so correct the practice of rising generations! Let us not teach that virtue consists in the crucifying of the affections and appetites, but in their judicious government. Let us not attach ideas of purity to monastic chastity, impossible to man or woman without consequences fraught with evil, nor ideas of vice to connections formed under the auspices of kind feelings. Let us enquire, not if a mother be a wife, or a father a husband, but if parents can supply to the creatures they have brought into being, all things requisite to render existence a blessing! Let the force of public opinion be brought against the thoughtless ignorance, or cruel selfishness, which, either with or without the sanction of a legal or religious permit, so frequently multiplies offspring beyond the resources of the parents. Let us check the force of passions, as well as their precocity, not by the idle terror of imaginary crime in the desire itself, but by the just and benevolent apprehension of bringing into existence, unhappy or imperfect beings. Let us teach the young mind to reason, and the young heart to feel, and instead of shrouding our bodies, wants, desire, senses, affections and faculties in mystery, let us court enquiry, and show that acquaintance with our own nature can alone guide us to judicious practice, and that in the consequence of human actions, exists the only true test of their virtue or their vice. We need only observe the effects of the present system to be convinced of its error. Where is the repressive force of public opinion perceived? Whom does it affright? The poor, the ignorant, the unhappy pauper, the diseased profligate, the licentious hypocrite? Is it they who feel the force either of just or unjust censure, or who hesitate to call into existence sentient beings born to ignorance, want and disease. No; is it not rather upon that class whose feelings and intellects have been most cultivated, and who, consequently, are best fitted to give life to a healthy and intellectual race, upon whom the weight of coercive prejudice falls? Let us advert to the far more important half of the human species -- whether we consider their share in the first formation and rearing of the infant, or their moral influence on society. -- Let us consider the effects of existing institutions and opinions as exemplified among women. In what class do we find the largest proportion of childless females and  devoted victims to unnatural restraints? Certainly among the cultivated, talented and independent women, who (in England most especially) shrink equally from the servitude of matrimony, and from the opprobrium stamped upon unlegalized connexions. But again the writer of this address must observe that she can here only touch upon subjects which she feels herself prepared to examine in detail, but which she must defer until a suitable medium be supplied in the periodical publication which it will be her object to issue so soon as it can be done consistently with the interests of the institution. It is considered that the peculiar object of the founder, the benefit of the negro race, may best be consulted by the admission and incorporation of suitable individuals of that and the mixed race on the same principles of equality which guide the admission of all members; and further, that such individuals may best be found, among the free citizens of color who form no inconsiderable, and frequently, a very respectable body in the American population, more especially in that of the southern cities. As it was the object of the founder to attempt the peaceful influence of example, and silently to correct the practice, and reach the laws through the feelings and the reason of the American people, she carefully forbore from outraging any of the legal provisions in the slave state in which she ventured to attempt her experiment, or those of any of the slave states with which she is acquainted, and trusted confidently to the national good sense, and to the liberality fostered by the national institutions for the safety of any experiment however opposed to the national prejudices, which should be undertaken in a spirit of kindliness to all men, and conducted within the limits of private, or, as in the present case, of associate property. It is not supposed that (with some rare exceptions) human beings raised under the benumbing influence of brutal slavery can be elevated to the level of a society based upon the principles of moral liberty and voluntary cooperation. The experiment therefore as respects the slave population, it is intended to limit, at Nashoba, to the first purchase of the founder, excepting in cases where planters becoming members, may wish to place their negroes under the protection of the institution. And looking to effect the more especial object of the Institution through the present free race of color, and, more especially, by the education of colored children, the founder judged that she should best conciliate the laws of the southern states and the popular feeling of the whole union, as well as the interests of the emancipated negro, by providing for the colonization of all slaves emancipated by the Society in a free country without the limits of the United States. Personal observation had taught her the danger of launching a freed slave into the midst of an inimical population. And if unfit, as he must of necessity be, for incorporation into the society as a free proprietor, it appeared consistent with justice and humanity to enforce his being sent to a country of safety for his color when ejected from the protection of the Institution. While fondly looking to the regeneration of America's citizens of color, the writer of this address believes that slavery may safely be left to work its own ruin. The falling price of cotton must soon reduce to zero the profits of the upland planter, and unfortunately the growth of sugar is restricted by climate to a small portion of the American slave territory. But when the bankrupt fortunes of the southern planters shall have put an end to the internal slave trade of the United States; and Maryland, Virginia, and Kentucky, the Guinea of the states farther south, shal have lost their last staple commodity of profit, the principles avowed at Nashoba may then attract the national attention, and the olive of peace and brotherhood be embraced by the white man and the black, and their children, approached in feeling and education, gradually blend into one their blood and their hue. The writer of this address is fully aware that the topic most offensive to the American public is that under consideration. But so to that public is it more peculiarly addressed; not, it will be believed, with a view to offend, but with the single view of exposing the principles of Nashoba to the American people, and calling their attention to the cool investigation of a subject, unhappily seldom approached but with the anger of sectional, or the pride of national feeling. The strength of the prejudice of color as existing in the United States and in the Eurpoean colonies can in general be little conceived and less understood in the old continent. Yet however whimsical it may there appear, is it in fact more ridiculous than the European prejudice of birth? The superior excellence which the one supposes in a peculiar descent or merely in a peculiar name, the other imagines in a peculiar complexion or set of features. And perhaps it is only by considering man in many countries and observing all his varying and contradictory prejudices that we can discover the equal absurdity of all. Those to whom the American institutions and American character are familiar, and who have considered the question of American negro slavery in all its bearings, will probably be disposed to pronounce with the writer of this address that the emancipation of the colored population cannot be progressive through the laws. It must and can only be progressive through the feelings; and, through that medium, be finally complete and entire, involving at once political equality and the amalgamation of the races. And has nature (as slave apologists would tell us) drawn a Rubicon between the human varieties of physiognomy and complexion, or must we enter into details to prove that no natural antipathy blinds the white Louisianian to the charms of the graceful quadroon -- however the force of prejudice or the fear of public censure makes of her his mistress, and of the white-skinned, but often not more accomplished or more attractive female, his wife? Or must we point to the intercourse in its most degraded form - where the child is the marketable slave of its father? Idle indeed is the assertion that the mixture of the races is not in nature. If not in nature, it could not happen, and, being in nature, since it does happen, the only question is whether it shall take place in good taste and good feeling and be made at once the means of sealing the tranquility, and perfecting the liberty of the country, and of peopling it with a race more suited to its southern climate than the pure European, -- or whether it shall proceed, as it now does, viciously and degradingly, mingling hatred and fear with the ties of blood -- denied indeed, but stamped by nature herself upon the skin. The education of the race of color would doubtless make the amalgamation more rapid as well as more creditable; and so far from considering the physical amalgamation of the two colors, when accompanied by a moral approximation, as an evil, it must surely be viewed as a good equally desirable for both. In this belief the most especial object of the founder of Nashoba is to raise the man of color to the level of the white. Where fitted by habits of industry and suitable dispositions to receive him as a brother and equal, and, after due trial, as proprietor trustee of the property; to educate his children with white children, and thus approaching their minds, tastes and occupations, to leave the affections of future generations to the dictates of free choice.

Cooper, James Fenimore 1789 - 1851. Immensely popular novelist and travel writer.

Flower, George 1788 - 1862. Born in Hertford England, son of Richard Flower, he joined his father and Morris Birkbeck in the founding and promoting of Albion. Fought against the establishment of slavery in Illinois. Initially he was very actively engaged with Frances Wright in Nashoba but he dropped the enterprise abruptly, leaving Wright in a difficult position. It is a plausible speculation that they might have had an affair and that the jealousy of Flower's wife may have wrecked Flower's intention of working with Wright. (source for this: p132 Eckhardt, Fanny Wright; also see picture of George Flower on p 125).)

(http://home.onthenet.com.au/~gmylne/mylne/francisawright_m.htm)

Views of Society and Manners in America, and A Plan for the Gradual Abolition of Slavery in the United States Without a Danger of Loss of the Citizens of the South
These two sections a) lack citations and b) are written in awkward (sometimes unintelligible) English. I am minded to delete both sections, but as an inexperienced editor I do not want to be overly bold and I especially do not want to disrespect someone's hard work. Perhaps I should leave it for now and hope someone can add citations? I will try to fix the English if I can understand the meaning. 79.103.247.106 (talk) 15:38, 10 April 2015 (UTC)
 * I agree with the suggestion for removing the lengthy, uncited section on Views of Society. Since it deals specifically with the content of the book, It may be better as a separate article instead. I'll copy it here on the talk pages to it could be further discussed rather than deleting this particular content. The Plan for Gradual Abolition of Slavery could be combined into a separate section on Nashoba. Ok to proceed? Rosalina523 (talk) 21:15, 3 June 2019 (UTC)

 * Moved the uncited content on Views of Society and Manners in Americafrom the article here to the talk page. It may be better in an article on the book, instead of a biography of the author. Rosalina523 (talk) 17:59, 20 June 2019 (UTC)

Views of Society and Manners in America was one of Wright's first well-circulated and controversial pieces. She wrote it following her 1818 trip to the United States, her first trip to North America. In Views of Society and Manners, she pondered the treatment of slaves and discussed her time as a foreigner.

Wright began the letter with a greeting and acknowledges her foreign status. She admitted having unique outlooks because of her position as an outlander. Indeed, her propositions were striking. She claimed that the Constitution was made for the benefit of its creators but admired the American people. She described their calmness, rationality, and general civility. She claimed that they seldom called names but dealt with issues in an organized manner. She stressed the importance of the newspaper to foreigners, touting it as a roadmap to navigate the new land.

Wright also discussed Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson. She praised them and noted that every household possessed copies of one or both of their works. She expressed general positivity toward Americans. She also praised their love for their Founding Fathers. She respected their work ethic and sociability. She noticed their participation in government elections, as well as the newspaper's rigorous attempts to report everything about the ongoing elections. She also discussed women's rights and suggested how women should attain knowledge and be treated.

She also wrote about other travelers' differing views on American religion. She said one might think that America did not have a religion and someone else might say that the American religion was too stern and dogmatic. She clearly stated that she did not long for the American religion. She expressed that her goal was to analyze the religion, not to conform to it. Based on her time in America, she proposed that there were many different denominations of religion. She referred to them as fraternities. She was very open-minded during her travels to America. She withheld judgment and recorded the various things that stood out to her.

Wright also expressed a strong desire to aid marginalized people. In Views of Society and Manners, she examined the American society in terms of the manners of the wealthy and the poorer classes alike. She spoke out against slavery. She was an advocate for citizen health in the South and for assisting the less fortunate. She realized that differences between the majority and minority were made not only on the country but in the small communities as well. She was aware that blacks were uneducated and insisted that education was the way to equality.

Substantive changes
In reviewing this article for improvement, it needs more content on her career, and subheading related to her major trips to the U.S. and her later work. I'll add the contents section-by-section. Rosalina523 (talk) 21:15, 3 June 2019 (UTC)

title: Talk:Frances Wright


text:
Rafael Hernández Colón

Rafael Hernández Colón (October 24, 1936 – May 2, 2019) was a Puerto Rican politician who served as the governor of Puerto Rico from 1973 to 1977 and 1985 to 1993 for a total of three terms. An experienced politician, Hernández held the record for having been the youngest Governor of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico to date, having won his first term at the age of 36. Hernández was also the person to have run for governor the most times, a total of five. During his terms as governor, Hernández Colón's administrations were known for trying to invigorate the Puerto Rican economy as well as for defending the political status quo of the island. He is also the second longest-serving Puerto Rico Governor with 12 years of service due to his three terms.

Early years and education
Hernández Colón was born October 24, 1937, in Ponce, Puerto Rico, to Rafael Hernández Matos and Doraldina “Dora” Colón Clavell. Rafael and Dora married in 1934 and had three children. Rafael was the oldest. Rafael had two brothers José A. (born 1939) and César A. (1942). Hernández Colón graduated from Valley Forge Military Academy and College in Wayne, Pennsylvania, then obtained a bachelor's degree in political science from Johns Hopkins University in 1956 where he graduated with honors. In 1959, he obtained his degree in law from the University of Puerto Rico at Rio Piedras, graduating magna cum laude and as valedictorian of his class. Between 1961 and 1965 he was a lecturer on civil procedure at the Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico in Ponce.

Political career
Hernández Colón affiliated himself with the Popular Democratic Party of Puerto Rico (Partido Popular Democrático, PPD). He served as Associate Commissioner of Public Service under the governorship of Roberto Sánchez Vilella. In 1965 he was named Secretary of the Department of Justice.

President of the Senate
Hernández Colón was elected to the Senate of Puerto Rico in the 1968 elections, in which his party retained control of the Senate but lost the governorship and House of Representatives. As President of the Senate, Hernández Colón became the Popular Democratic Party's president and main opposition leader. As a Senator, he proposed a constitutional amendment to lower the minimum voting age to 18, which passed in 1970. He also spearheaded efforts to persuade Congress to stop bombing practices on the island of Culebra. On the issue of political status, he opposed Governor Ferré's creation of an Ad Hoc Committee for the Presidential Vote, alleging that it was a misleading effort to enhance the island's current Commonwealth status in accordance with the results of the 1967 status plebiscite. In 1972, he successfully ran for Governor of Puerto Rico, defeating the incumbent by approximately 95,000 votes, or 7.3%. He remains the last PDP gubernatorial candidate to have achieved victory with over 50% of votes.

First term (1973–1977)
During his first term, the island was wracked by recession, induced by the 1973 oil crisis, which hit Puerto Rico particularly hard because of the many businesses that were directly related to petroleum processing in Puerto Rico. After enacting austerity measures and tax increases, the economy recovered by 1976.

In 1973, he appointed, alongside President Richard Nixon, an Ad Hoc Committee for Puerto Rico to enhance Puerto Rico's Commonwealth status pursuant to the people's mandate in the 1967 elections. The Committee rendered a report and proposal for a Compact of Permanent Union Between Puerto Rico and the United States that expanded Puerto Rico's autonomy over local affairs, expanded its right to participate in international matters, created a mechanism to object to the automatic application of federal laws, and allowed for the election of a delegate to the U.S. Senate. President Gerald Ford, who replaced Nixon, did not react to the report until after the 1976 elections, when he proposed statehood for the island. According to Hernández Colón, his delayed response was due to political pressure by island Republicans, who supported Ford in his primary against Ronald Reagan. Nevertheless, the Compact was approved by the House Subcommittee on Insular Affairs.

In 1974, Time magazine recognized Rafael Hernández Colón as one of the world's young leaders.

Hernández Colón, Treasury Secretary Salvador Casellas, and Resident Commissioner Jaime Benítez successfully lobbied Congress for Section 936, which created a tax incentive for U.S. corporations that established in Puerto Rico. The incentive remained active until 1996, when Congress enacted a phase-out which ended in 2006. Its elimination is often credited as one of the main causes for Puerto Rico's current fiscal and economic crisis.

Hernández Colón also signed Law No. 80 of 1976, which required just cause for terminating employment. In 2018, Law 80 became a hotly debated issue when the governor proposed its elimination.

Hernández Colón lost the 1976 race for Governor to then Mayor of San Juan, Carlos Romero Barceló, by 3%. He then lost again to Romero Barceló in 1980, in this second matchup by a slim margin of approximately 3,000 votes, or 0.2%.

Second and third terms (1985–1993)
Hernández Colón ran again against Romero Barceló in the November 1984 elections and was victorious by about 54,000 votes (48 to 45% respectively). He won re-election in the 1988 election, besting his main rival Baltasar Corrada del Río by 49 to 46%.

As part of his 1984 electoral campaign, Hernández Colón released a musical album with Puerto Rican country music titled Ahora Es Que Vamos ("Here We Go Now").

During this time Puerto Rico experienced an economic boom with GDP growth at 5% during the years 1987–1989 the highest since Operation Bootstrap and the Economic Boom in the United States. Unemployment dropped drastically in his term from an all-time high 25% in 1983 to 12.0% in 1990. He lost popularity with the controversial Pabellón de Sevilla that was an attempt of a representation of Puerto Rico at the Universal Exposition of Seville in 1992. In January 1992 Hernández announced that he would not seek re-election. On January 11, he resigned as President of the Popular Democratic Party, a post he had held for 23 years. Senator Victoria Muñoz Mendoza succeeded him as president of the party and later became a gubernatorial candidate herself.

Personal life
On October 24, 1959, Hernández Colón married Lila Mayoral Wirshing, daughter of the industrialist Juan Eugenio Mayoral Renovales (1906-1967), founder of Ponce Candy Industries. Rafael Hernández Colón and Lila Mayoral had four children: Rafael, Jose Alfredo, Dora Mercedes and Juan Eugenio. The latter was elected to Puerto Rico's Senate. In early 2003, Lila Mayoral Wirshing died of cancer. Hernández Colón subsequently married attorney Nelsa López in late 2004. He had his main residence in his hometown of Ponce, in the historic downtown district.

Retirement
Hernández Colón published various works specializing in law. Among his works are Procedimiento Civil: Trayectoria Histórica de la Autonomía Política Puertorriqueña and Nueva Tesis which discusses the Puerto Rican Commonwealth's political relationship with the United States.

In later years, Hernández Colón maintained his distance from public political engagement, but continued to be involved in Puerto Rico's political affairs assisting active politicians. He occasionally appeared at official events. For example, in December 2011, he publicly admitted before the Senate of Puerto Rico that "the U.S. Congress can do as it wishes with Puerto Rico."

Some political analysts speculated that Hernández exerted sizeable control over the PDP's party structure during his retirement from office, which may have rivaled the PDP president's.

Illness and death

On December 6, 2018, Hernández Colón announced he had been diagnosed with leukemia in November of that year. Hernández Colón died on May 2, 2019, at the age of 82. He was interred at Cementerio Católico San Vicente de Paul. Flags were flown at half-mast by the municipalities after his death.

Accolades
Hernández Colón was granted honoris causa degrees from Johns Hopkins University and Seton Hall University. He also had an honorary degree from the Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico, where he served as a law professor in the university's Law School.

In 1985, Hernández Colón was awarded the Order of Merit of Duarte, Sánchez and Mella by the government of the Dominican Republic. In 1987 he was awarded the Cross of Isabella the Catholic by King Juan Carlos I and the government of Spain. That same year he was awarded the "Grand Cordón del Libertador" by the government of Venezuela, the Harvard Foundation Award, and the Spirit of the Caribbean Award. In 1989 he was awarded the Olympic Order Award.

On October 18, 1991, at the Campoamor Theater in Oviedo, Spain, Hernández Colón received the Prince of Asturias Award for Literature that was granted to the people of Puerto Rico by Felipe de Borbón.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Rafael Hernández Colón


text:
2/1 game forcing

2/1 game forcing (Two-over-one game forcing) is a bidding system in modern contract bridge structured around the following responses to a one-level opening bid:
 * 1) a non-jump response in a new suit at the one-level is constructive and forcing for one round,
 * 2) a non-jump response in a new suit at the two-level is forcing to game, and
 * 3) a 1NT response to a major opening is forcing for one round and indicates insufficient values to immediately commit to game or bid a suit at the one-level.

The 2/1 game force does not apply to responses by a passed hand, or if there is an intervening by an opponent. Other responses are per Standard American methods in accordance with.

Game forcing auctions
The 2/1 auctions are: 1–2, 1–2, 1–2, 1–2, 1–2, and 1–2.

Variations
The following variations may be made by :
 * Some play that 1–2 is not game forcing
 * Some play that 2/1 is not absolutely game forcing and the pair can stop below game when responder rebids his suit. For example, 1–2; 2–3 may be treated as nonforcing.

1NT response to major suit opening
Because the two-level responses are stronger than in Standard American bidding, the response of 1NT is forcing for one round and is used (among other things) for weaker hands containing low-ranking suits. Since the 1NT response is forcing, hands with a three-card limit raise can start with 1NT and later jump-support partner. See Forcing notrump for additional details. Some pairs play a variant in which the 1NT response to 1 or 1 is semi-forcing.

Since opener has been forced to rebid on hands which he might otherwise have passed, he may have to rebid in a new suit with only three or even two cards.

Other features
Use of the 2/1 system usually implies (at least) the following additional agreements:
 * Five card majors, i.e. major suit openings require at least a five-card suit;
 * Either limit raises of major suit openings (i.e. the jump raise 1 – 3 or 1 – 3 shows a game-invitational hand with at least four-card support) or Bergen raises;
 * Inverted minor raises, in which a jump raise of a minor suit opening is a weak preemptive bid, while a single raise is strong and forcing for one round;
 * Jacoby 2NT, showing strong support with 4 or more cards;
 * Splinter bids;
 * New minor forcing;
 * Fourth suit forcing and artificial.

Examples
1 – 2 2 – 2 Forcing to game, with original spade support and good club suit. This is different from standard bidding, in which such a sequence would show about 10 points, and club suit could be semi-fake.

1 – 2 2 – 2NT. Forcing to game, with balanced hand and a good club suit.

1 – 2 2 – 3 Forcing, unless the partnership has agreed that this is an exception to the "2/1 rule."

1 – 2 Forcing for one round only (as in Standard American), except in the variant of 2/1 where this sequence is game forcing as well.

1 – 2 Forcing for one round; 10 points or more with at least four clubs.

1 – 3 Weak; 9 points or less—sometimes much less—with at least five clubs.

1 – 2 Weak; 6-9 points with at least 3 hearts (unless Bergen raises are in use, in which case it shows precisely 3 hearts)

1 – 1NT; 2 – 2 Shows a weak hand, 6-9 points, with precisely two spades. Some also use this for an extremely weak hand (0-5) with three spades.

1 – 1NT; 2 – Pass Shows a very weak hand, perhaps 5-7 points, with at least four clubs.

1 – 1NT; 2 – 2 Shows a weak hand, 5-9 points, with a long diamond suit.

1 – 1NT; 2 – 2 Shows a weak hand, 5-9 points, with a long heart suit.

1 – 1NT; 2 – 3 Shows a weak hand, 5-9 points, with a long club suit.

1 – 1NT; 2 – 2NT; Shows 10-11 points without support for spades.

1 – 1NT; 2 – 3 Shows 10-11 points with 3-card support for spades.

1 – 3 Shows 10-11 points with at least 4-card support for spades.

1 – 1NT; 2 – 3 Shows 10-11 points with a long heart suit.

1 – 2 This is a jump response, and there are different ways of handling it. In Standard American, such a "jump shift" shows a very strong hand and is unequivocally forcing. However, since such hands do not occur with great frequency, it is more common today to use such a bid to show a weak hand with a long suit, unsuitable for defense. Another possibility is to play it as a "fit-showing jump", showing 8-10 points, a decent heart suit, and good diamond support.

title: 2/1 game forcing


text:
Committee of Fifty

Committee of Fifty could refer to one of the following:

 * Committee of Fifty (1829), met in New York City and advocated redistribution of property between the poor and rich
 * Committee of Fifty (1893), formed by scholars to investigate problems associated with the use and abuse of alcoholic beverages
 * Committee of Fifty (1906), called into existence by Mayor Eugene Schmitz during the 1906 San Francisco earthquake

title: Committee of Fifty


text:
General Trades Union

The General Trades' Union was formed in New York City in 1833 with the purpose of uniting all of the trade societies of New York. The goal of this central union was to better coordinate the various trade unions in the New York City area, to provide assistance during conflicts with employers, and to maintain a fund for striking laborers. The GTU formed the National Trades Union, the first attempt at a nationwide union movement. The GTU of New York organised one the first strikes in the United States and initiated the system now known as collective bargaining.

History
The first large trade union, the General Trades' Union (GTU), was organized in New York City on 14 August 1833 by delegates from nine craft trades. It celebrated with a public parade displaying its new emblem, a banner bearing a likeness of Archimedes lifting a mountain with a lever. Ely Moore, a journeyman printer, was elected its first president. He left soon after, and with the backing of the newly formed National Trades’ Union won a seat in Congress as a Democrat. Later he helped generate Congressional support for the 10-hour workday.

John Commerford, a cabinet and chair maker, replaced Moore, and asserted that skilled artisans were only seen as commodities by their employers. Commerford did not have the benefit of experience, and thus much of what he accomplished was ad hoc. Commerford stressed education as necessary for empowering workers. True reform would come when workers knew the value of their own worth and the truth about the economic and political system. Commerford later ran for Congress on several third party tickets.

The Union was affiliated with the Locofocos, who were against the Second Bank of the United States, but refrained from political activity so as to avoid the kind of demise suffered by the Working Men's Party in 1829–30. They staged over 40 strikes and by 1836 had a membership including 66% of New York City's Journeyman labourers.

The GTU spread across many cities along the eastern seaboard, including Baltimore, Boston, Cincinnati, Newark, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C. By 1835 a network of trade unions developed in New York City and Philadelphia. One year later the number of unions in the network had grown to 13, with 52 local societies in New York, 53 in Philadelphia, 23 in Baltimore, and 16 in Boston.

The labor movement of the 1830s was wiped out by the financial panic of 1837. An even larger labor movement in the 1860s collapsed in the Depression of 1873. It was only in the 1880s that a labor movement was established for good.

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
The GTU of the City and County of Philadelphia was formed in 1834.

title: General Trades Union


text:
Charles Boyer

Charles Boyer (28 August 1899 – 26 August 1978) was a French-American actor who appeared in more than 80 films between 1920 and 1976. After receiving an education in drama, Boyer started on the stage, but he found his success in American films during the 1930s. His memorable performances were among the era's most highly praised, in romantic dramas such as The Garden of Allah (1936), Algiers (1938), and Love Affair (1939), as well as the mystery-thriller Gaslight (1944). He received four Oscar nominations for Best Actor. He also appeared as himself on the CBS sitcom I Love Lucy.

Early years
Boyer was born in Figeac, Lot, France, the son of Augustine Louise Durand and Maurice Boyer, a merchant. Boyer (whose surname comes from boièr, the Occitan word for "cowherd") was a shy small-town boy who discovered the movies and theatre at the age of eleven.

Early acting career
Boyer performed comic sketches for soldiers while working as a hospital orderly during World War I. He began studies briefly at the Sorbonne, and was waiting for a chance to study acting at the Paris Conservatory.

He went to the capital city to finish his education, but spent most of his time pursuing a theatrical career. In 1920, his quick memory won him a chance to replace the leading man in a stage production, Aux jardins de Murcie. He was successful. Then he appeared in a play La Bataille and Boyer became a theatre star overnight.

In the 1920s, he played charming and charismatic characters on both stage and in silent films.

Early French films
Boyer's first film was L'homme du large (1920), directed by Marcel L'Herbier. He had roles in Chantelouve (1921), Le grillon du foyer (1922), and Esclave (1922).

At first, he performed film roles only for the money and found that supporting roles were unsatisfying. However, with the coming of sound, his deep voice made him a romantic star.

Boyer focused on theatre work for a number of years. He returned to the screen with Infernal Circle (1928), Captain Fracasse (1929), and La barcarolle d'amour (1930).

Early trips to Hollywood
Boyer was first brought to Hollywood by MGM who wanted him to play the Chester Morris part in a French version of The Big House (1930), Révolte dans la prison (1931).

Boyer had an offer from Paramount to appear in a small role in The Magnificent Lie (1931) with Ruth Chatterton, directed by Berthold Viertel. It was his first English speaking role.

He went back to MGM to make Le procès de Mary Dugan (1931), the French version of The Trial of Mary Dugan (1929). He did Tumultes (1932) for director Robert Siodmak.

Then he did the English-language The Man from Yesterday (1932) with Claudette Colbert at Paramount again directed by Viertel. He had a choice small role in Jean Harlow's Red-Headed Woman (1932) at MGM.

Return to France
Boyer went back to France where he starred in F.P.1 Doesn't Answer (1932), Moi et l'impératrice (1933), Les Amoureux (1933) (The Sparrowhawk), and La bataille (1933) with Annabella. The last was also filmed in an English-language version called The Battle, with Merle Oberon replacing Annabella and Boyer reprising his role.

He did The Only Girl (1933) with Lilian Harvey and performed on the Paris stage in Le Bonheur which was another success. It would be the last time he appeared on the Parisian stage.

He returned to Hollywood for Caravan (1934) with Loretta Young at Fox. He was also in the French-language version Caravane, again with Annabella.

Then in France he starred in Liliom (1934), directed by Fritz Lang, his first classic.

Boyer starred in some English language movies: Thunder in the East (1934).

In France he was in Le bonheur (1934), reprising his stage performance for director Marcel L'Herbier.

Walter Wanger
Boyer co-starred with Claudette Colbert in the psychiatric drama Private Worlds (1935) for Walter Wanger at Paramount. He signed a five-year contract with Wanger.

Then he romanced Katharine Hepburn in Break of Hearts (1935) for RKO, and Loretta Young in Shanghai (1935) for Wanger.

Boyer became an international star with Mayerling (1936), co-starring Danielle Darrieux and directed by Anatole Litvak. Boyer played Rudolf, Crown Prince of Austria.

Back in Hollywood he was teamed with Marlene Dietrich in The Garden of Allah (1936) for David O. Selznick. He and Dietrich were reunited on I Loved a Soldier (1936) for director Henry Hathaway at Paramount but the film was abandoned.

Boyer paired with Jean Arthur in History Is Made at Night (1937) for Wanger, and Greta Garbo in Conquest (1937) at MGM (where he played Napoleon Bonaparte). Boyer's fee for the latter was $150,000 but with all the re-takes he wound up earning $450,000.

Boyer returned to France briefly to make Orage (1938), opposite Michèle Morgan for director Marc Allégret.

Back in Hollywood he had the lead in Tovarich (1937) with Claudette Colbert, directed by Litvak.

In 1938, he landed his famous role as Pepe le Moko, the thief on the run in Algiers, an English-language remake of the classic French film Pepe le Moko with Jean Gabin, produced by Wanger. Although in the movie Boyer never said to costar Hedy Lamarr "Come with me to the Casbah," this line was in the movie trailer. The line would stick with him, thanks to generations of impressionists and Looney Tunes parodies. Boyer's role as Pepe Le Moko was already world-famous when animator Chuck Jones based the character of Pepé Le Pew, the romantic skunk introduced in 1945, on Boyer and his best-known performance. Boyer's vocal style was also parodied on the Tom and Jerry cartoons, most notably when Tom was trying to woo a female cat. (See The Zoot Cat).

Boyer made three films with Irene Dunne: Love Affair (1939) at RKO, When Tomorrow Comes (1939) at Universal and Together Again (1944) at Columbia.

World War II
He went back to France to make Le corsaire (1939) for Marc Allégret. He was making the movie in Nice when France declared war on Germany in September 1939. Production ceased on the declaration of war. Boyer joined the French army. The film was never completed, although some footage of it was later released.

By November, Boyer was discharged from the army and back in Hollywood as the French government thought he would be of more service making films.

Boyer played in three classic film love stories: All This, and Heaven Too (1940) with Bette Davis, directed by Litvak at Warners; as the ruthless cad in Back Street (1941) with Margaret Sullavan, at Universal; and Hold Back the Dawn (1941) with Olivia de Havilland and Paulette Goddard, at Paramount.

In contrast to his glamorous image, Boyer began losing his hair early, had a pronounced paunch, and was noticeably shorter than leading ladies like Ingrid Bergman. When Bette Davis first saw him on the set of All This, and Heaven Too, she did not recognize him and tried to have him removed.

Universal
In January 1942 Boyer signed a three-year contract with Universal to act and produce. The contract would cover nine films.

Before he started the contract he finished a film at Warners, The Constant Nymph (1943) with Joan Fontaine.

Boyer was reunited with Sullavan in Appointment for Love (1942) at Universal and was one of many stars in Tales of Manhattan (1942), directed by Julien Duvivier and Immortal France (1942). He became a US citizen in 1942.

He was one of many stars in Flesh and Fantasy (1943) which he also produced with Julien Duvivier at Universal. He was an uncredited producer on Duvivier's Destiny (1944).

In 1943, he was awarded an Honorary Oscar Certificate for "progressive cultural achievement" in establishing the French Research Foundation in Los Angeles as a source of reference (certificate).

Boyer had one of his biggest hits with Gaslight (1944) with Ingrid Bergman and Joseph Cotten. He followed it with Together Again (1944) re-uniting with Irene Dunne; Congo (1944), a short; and Confidential Agent (1945) with Lauren Bacall, at Warners.

Boyer began his post war career with Cluny Brown (1946) with Jennifer Jones directed by Ernst Lubitsch. He was Warners highest paid actor at this stage earning $205,000 in 1945.

In 1947, he was the voice of Capt. Daniel Gregg in the Lux Radio Theater's presentation of The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, played in the film by Rex Harrison. In 1948, he was made a chevalier of the French Légion d'honneur. That year he did a thriller A Woman's Vengeance (1948).

Another film he did with Bergman, Arch of Triumph (1948), failed at the box office and Boyer was no longer the box office star he had been. "If you are in a big flop, nobody wants you," he said later.

Broadway
Boyer went to Broadway, where he made his first appearance in Red Gloves (1948–49), based on Dirty Hands by Jean-Paul Sartre, which went for 113 performances.

In 1951, he appeared on the Broadway stage in one of his most notable roles, that of Don Juan, in a dramatic reading of the third act of George Bernard Shaw's Man and Superman. This is the act popularly known as Don Juan in Hell. In 1952, he won Broadway's 1951 Special Tony Award for Don Juan in Hell. It was directed by actor Charles Laughton. Laughton co-starred as the Devil, with Cedric Hardwicke as the statue of the military commander slain by Don Juan, and Agnes Moorehead as Dona Anna, the commander's daughter, one of Juan's former conquests. The production was a critical success, and was subsequently recorded complete by Columbia Masterworks, one of the first complete recordings of a non-musical stage production ever made. As of 2006, however, it has never been released on CD, but in 2009 it became available as an MP3 download.

Boyer did not abandon cinema: he had leading roles in The 13th Letter (1951), The First Legion (1952), and The Happy Time (1952). He had a character role in Thunder in the East (filmed 1951, released 1953) an Alan Ladd film.

Four Star Playhouse
Boyer moved into television as one of the pioneering producers and stars of the anthology show Four Star Playhouse (1952–56). It was made by Four Star Productions which would make Boyer and partners David Niven and Dick Powell rich.

Boyer returned to France to star in The Earrings of Madame de... (1953) for Max Ophüls alongside Darrieux. While there he was one of many names in Boum sur Paris (1953).

He returned to Broadway for Norman Krasna's Kind Sir (1953–54) directed by Joshua Logan which ran for 166 performances. (In the film version, Indiscreet (1958), Cary Grant was cast in Boyer's role.)

Back in Hollywood, Boyer had a support role in MGM's The Cobweb (1955).

He went back to France to star in Nana (1955) with Martine Carol and then to Italy for What a Woman! (1956) with Sophia Loren.

In 1956, Boyer was a guest star on I Love Lucy and had a cameo in Around the World in 80 Days (1956). In France he had the lead in Paris, Palace Hotel (1956).

He appeared as the mystery guest on the 10 March 1957 episode of What's My Line?

On 17 March 1957, Boyer starred in an adaptation for TV of the Pulitzer Prize-winning play, There Shall Be No Night, by Robert E. Sherwood. The performance starred Katharine Cornell, and was broadcast on NBC as part of the Hallmark Hall of Fame.

He appeared several times in Goodyear Theatre and Alcoa Theatre on TV.

In France, Boyer was one of several stars in It Happened on the 36 Candles (1957) and he co-starred with Brigitte Bardot in La Parisienne (1957) and Michele Morgan in Maxime (1958), the latter directed by Henri Verneuil.

In Hollywood Boyer had a strong supporting role as real life privateer Dominique You alongside Yul Brynner's Jean LaFitte in The Buccaneer (1958).

Boyer co-starred again with Claudette Colbert in the Broadway comedy The Marriage-Go-Round (1958–1960), but said to the producer, "Keep that woman away from me". The production was a hit and ran for 431 performances. Boyer did not reprise his performance in the film version. He kept busy doing work for Four Star.

1960s
Onscreen, he continued in older roles: in Fanny (1961) starring Leslie Caron; Demons at Midnight (1961), in France, the lead; MGM's remake of The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1962); Adorable Julia (1962) with Lilli Palmer; several episodes of The Dick Powell Theatre; and Love Is a Ball (1963).

He was nominated for the Tony Award as Best Actor (Dramatic) in the 1963 Broadway production of Lord Pengo, which ran for 175 performances.

Later that same year Boyer performed in Man and Boy on the London and New York stage. The Broadway run only went for 54 performances.

Boyer was reunited with David Niven in The Rogues (1964–65), a television series also starring Gig Young. Niven, Boyer and Young revolved from week to week as the episode's leading man, sometimes appearing together, although most episodes wound up being helmed by Young since both Niven and Boyer had flourishing movie careers.

He had good support roles in A Very Special Favor (1965) with Rock Hudson; How to Steal a Million (1966) with Audrey Hepburn and Peter O'Toole; Barefoot in the Park (1967) with Robert Redford and Jane Fonda. He had cameos in Is Paris Burning? (1966) and Casino Royale (1967) and was top billed in The Day the Hot Line Got Hot (1968).

His career had lasted longer than that of other romantic actors, winning him the nickname "the last of the cinema's great lovers." He recorded a laid-back album called Where Does Love Go in 1966. The album consisted of famous love songs sung (or rather spoken) with Boyer's distinctive deep voice and French accent. The record was reportedly Elvis Presley's favorite album for the last 11 years of his life, the one he most listened to.

Boyer supported in The April Fools (1969) and The Madwoman of Chaillot (1969) and guest starred on The Name of the Game.

1970s
Boyer's son had died in 1965 and Boyer was finding it traumatic to continue living in Los Angeles so in March 1970 he decided to relocate to Europe.

Boyer's final credits included the musical remake of Lost Horizon (1973) and the French film Stavisky (1974), starring Jean-Paul Belmondo, the latter winning him the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actor, and also received the Special Tribute at Cannes Film Festival.

Boyer's final performance was in A Matter of Time (1976) with Liza Minnelli and Ingrid Bergman, directed by Vincente Minnelli.

Radio
Boyer was the star of Hollywood Playhouse on NBC in the 1930s, but he left in 1939 "for war service in France," returning on the 3 January 1940, broadcast. When he went on vacation in the summer of 1940, an item in a trade publication reported: "It is an open secret that he doesn't like the present policy of a different story and characters each week. Boyer would prefer a program in which he could develop a permanent characterization." Boyer would later star in his own radio show entitled "Presenting Charles Boyer" during 1950 over NBC.

Personal life
Boyer became a naturalized citizen of the United States on June 15, 1942, in Los Angeles.

In addition to French and English, Boyer spoke Italian, German, and Spanish.

Boyer was the husband of British actress Pat Paterson, whom he met at a dinner party in 1934. The two became engaged after two weeks of courtship and were married three months later. Later, they moved from Hollywood to Paradise Valley, Arizona. The marriage lasted 44 years until her death.

Boyer's only child, Michael Charles Boyer (9 December 1943 – 23 September 1965), died by suicide at age 21. He was playing Russian roulette after separating from his girlfriend.

Suicide
On 26 August 1978, Boyer died by suicide with an overdose of Seconal while at a friend's home in Scottsdale, Arizona. He was taken to the hospital in Phoenix, Arizona, where he died, two days after his wife's death from cancer, and two days before his own 79th birthday. He was interred in Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City, California, alongside his wife and son.

Awards
Boyer never won an Oscar, though he was nominated for Best Actor four times in Conquest (1937), Algiers (1938), Gaslight (1944) and Fanny (1961), the latter also winning him a nomination for the Laurel Awards for Top Male Dramatic Performance. He is particularly well known for Gaslight in which he played a thief/murderer who tries to convince his newlywed wife that she is going insane.

He was nominated for the Golden Globe as Best Actor for the 1952 film The Happy Time; and also nominated for the Emmy for Best Continuing Performance by an Actor in a Dramatic Series for his work in Four Star Playhouse (1952–1956).

In 1960, Boyer was inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame with a motion pictures star and a television star. Both stars are located at 6300 Hollywood Boulevard.

Short subjects

 * The Candid Camera Story (Very Candid) of the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures 1937 Convention (1937) as himself (uncredited)
 * Hollywood Goes to Town (1938) as himself
 * Les îles de la liberté (1943) as narrator
 * Congo (1945) as voice
 * On Stage! (1949) as himself
 * 1955 Motion Picture Theatre Celebration (1955) as himself (uncredited)

Television

 * Four Star Playhouse (29 episodes, 1952–1956) as Various characters
 * Toast of the Town (2 episodes, 1953) as himself
 * Charles Boyer Theater (1953) as himself / host
 * The Jackie Gleason Show (1 episode, 1953) as himself
 * I Love Lucy (1 episode, 1956) as himself
 * Climax! (1 episode, 1956) as himself
 * Hallmark Hall of Fame (1 episode, 1957)
 * Playhouse 90 (1 episode, 1957) as himself
 * A Private Little Party for a Few Chums (1957) as himself
 * Goodyear Theatre (unknown episodes, 1957–1958) as Alternate Lead Player (1957–1958)
 * Alcoa Theatre (3 episodes, 1957–1958) as man / Lemerrier / Dr. Jacques Roland
 * What's My Line? (4 episodes, 1957–1958, 1962–1963) as himself – Mystery Guest
 * The Dinah Shore Chevy Show (1 episode, 1960) as himself
 * The Dick Powell Show (4 episodes, 1962–1963) as Carlos Morell / Andreas
 * A Golden Prison: The Louvre (1964, presenter) as narrator
 * The Rogues (8 episodes, 1964–1965) as Marcel St. Clair
 * The Bell Telephone Hour (1 episode, 1966) as himself
 * The Name of the Game (1 episode, 1969) as Henri Jarnoux
 * Film '72 (1 episode, 1976) as himself

Broadway

 * Red Gloves (1948–1949)
 * Don Juan in Hell (1951–1952)
 * Kind Sir (1953–1954)
 * The Marriage-Go-Round (1958–1960)
 * Lord Pengo (1962–1963)
 * Man and Boy (1963)

title: Charles Boyer