Quadroon
Encyclopedia
Quadroon, and the associated words octoroon and quintroon are terms that, historically, were applied to define the ancestry of people of mixed-race, generally of African and Caucasian
ancestry, but also, within Australia
, to those of Aboriginal and Caucasian ancestry. The terms were used in law and government to provide a precise code of discrimination and the determination of rights. The use of such terminology is a characteristic of hypodescent, which is the practice within a society of assigning children of mixed union to the ethnic group which is perceived by the dominant group within the society as being "subordinate". The racial designations refer specifically to the number of full-blooded African ancestors, emphasizing the quantitative least, with quadroon signifying that a person has one-quarter black ancestry, etc.
The term quadroon was used to designate a person of one-quarter African/Aboriginal ancestry, that is one biracial parent (African/Aboriginal and Caucasian) and one Caucasian parent; in other words, one African/Aboriginal grandparent
and three Caucasian grandparents.
The term mulatto
was used to designate a person who was biracial, with one black parent and one white parent.
The term octoroon referred to a person with one-eighth African ancestry; that is, someone with family heritage of one biracial grandparent, in other words, one African great-grandparent and seven Caucasian great-grandparents. As with the use of "quadroon", this word was applied to a limited extent in Australia for those of one-eighth Aboriginal ancestry, in the putting in place of government assimilation policies
.
Terceron was a term synonymous with "octoroon," derived from being three generations of descent from an African ancestor (great-grandparent). The term mustee was also used to refer to a person with one-eighth African ancestry with mustefino refers to a person with one-sixteenth African ancestry. The terms "quintroon" or "hexadecaroon" were also applied.
The term griffe or sambo
has been used for someone of three-quarters African heritage, or the child of a biracial parent and a fully black parent.
of abolitionist literature: a light-brown-skinned woman raised as if a white woman in her father's household, until his bankruptcy or death has her reduced to a menial position She may even be unaware of her status before being reduced to victimization. The first character of this type was the heroine of Lydia Maria Child's "The Quadroons". This character allowed abolitionists to draw attention to the sexual exploitation in slavery, and unlike the suffering of the field hands, did not allow slaveholders to retort that the sufferings of Northern mill hands were no easier, since the Northern mill owner would not sell his own children into slavery.
Mulattos, as with abducted white people, were often used to arouse sentiments against slavery by showing Northerners slaves who were visually indistinguishable from them.
Caucasian race
The term Caucasian race has been used to denote the general physical type of some or all of the populations of Europe, North Africa, the Horn of Africa, Western Asia , Central Asia and South Asia...
ancestry, but also, within Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, to those of Aboriginal and Caucasian ancestry. The terms were used in law and government to provide a precise code of discrimination and the determination of rights. The use of such terminology is a characteristic of hypodescent, which is the practice within a society of assigning children of mixed union to the ethnic group which is perceived by the dominant group within the society as being "subordinate". The racial designations refer specifically to the number of full-blooded African ancestors, emphasizing the quantitative least, with quadroon signifying that a person has one-quarter black ancestry, etc.
Definitions
The word "quadroon" was borrowed from the Spanish cuarterón which has its roots in the Latin quartus, which means "fourth". The word octoroon is based on quadroon, and rooted in the Latin octo, which means "eight".The term quadroon was used to designate a person of one-quarter African/Aboriginal ancestry, that is one biracial parent (African/Aboriginal and Caucasian) and one Caucasian parent; in other words, one African/Aboriginal grandparent
Grandparent
Grandparents are the parents of a person's own parent, whether that be a father or a mother. Every sexually-reproducing creature who is not a genetic chimera has a maximum of four genetic grandparents, eight genetic great-grandparents, sixteen genetic great-great-grandparents, etc...
and three Caucasian grandparents.
The term mulatto
Mulatto
Mulatto denotes a person with one white parent and one black parent, or more broadly, a person of mixed black and white ancestry. Contemporary usage of the term varies greatly, and the broader sense of the term makes its application rather subjective, as not all people of mixed white and black...
was used to designate a person who was biracial, with one black parent and one white parent.
The term octoroon referred to a person with one-eighth African ancestry; that is, someone with family heritage of one biracial grandparent, in other words, one African great-grandparent and seven Caucasian great-grandparents. As with the use of "quadroon", this word was applied to a limited extent in Australia for those of one-eighth Aboriginal ancestry, in the putting in place of government assimilation policies
Stolen Generation
The Stolen Generations were the children of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent who were removed from their families by the Australian Federal and State government agencies and church missions, under acts of their respective parliaments...
.
Terceron was a term synonymous with "octoroon," derived from being three generations of descent from an African ancestor (great-grandparent). The term mustee was also used to refer to a person with one-eighth African ancestry with mustefino refers to a person with one-sixteenth African ancestry. The terms "quintroon" or "hexadecaroon" were also applied.
The term griffe or sambo
Sambo
Sambo may refer to:*Sambo , a racial term for a person with mixed African and Native American heritage * Sambo , a martial art developed in the USSR* Sambo from The Story of Little Black Sambo, a book...
has been used for someone of three-quarters African heritage, or the child of a biracial parent and a fully black parent.
In literature
The figure of the "tragic octoroon" was a stock characterStock character
A Stock character is a fictional character based on a common literary or social stereotype. Stock characters rely heavily on cultural types or names for their personality, manner of speech, and other characteristics. In their most general form, stock characters are related to literary archetypes,...
of abolitionist literature: a light-brown-skinned woman raised as if a white woman in her father's household, until his bankruptcy or death has her reduced to a menial position She may even be unaware of her status before being reduced to victimization. The first character of this type was the heroine of Lydia Maria Child's "The Quadroons". This character allowed abolitionists to draw attention to the sexual exploitation in slavery, and unlike the suffering of the field hands, did not allow slaveholders to retort that the sufferings of Northern mill hands were no easier, since the Northern mill owner would not sell his own children into slavery.
Mulattos, as with abducted white people, were often used to arouse sentiments against slavery by showing Northerners slaves who were visually indistinguishable from them.
- In The Last of the MohicansThe Last of the MohicansThe Last of the Mohicans: A Narrative of 1757 is a historical novel by James Fenimore Cooper, first published in February 1826. It is the second book of the Leatherstocking Tales pentalogy and the best known...
by James Fenimore CooperJames Fenimore CooperJames Fenimore Cooper was a prolific and popular American writer of the early 19th century. He is best remembered as a novelist who wrote numerous sea-stories and the historical novels known as the Leatherstocking Tales, featuring frontiersman Natty Bumppo...
, the major character Cora Munro is a quadroon - Henry Wadsworth LongfellowHenry Wadsworth LongfellowHenry Wadsworth Longfellow was an American poet and educator whose works include "Paul Revere's Ride", The Song of Hiawatha, and Evangeline...
's 1842 poem "The Quadroon Girl" has a planter, tempted by the slaver's gold, selling his quadroon daughter to a slaver to be his paramour. - Walt WhitmanWalt WhitmanWalter "Walt" Whitman was an American poet, essayist and journalist. A humanist, he was a part of the transition between transcendentalism and realism, incorporating both views in his works. Whitman is among the most influential poets in the American canon, often called the father of free verse...
's 1855 poem "Song of MyselfSong of Myself"Song of Myself" is a poem by Walt Whitman that is included in his work Leaves of Grass. It has been credited as “representing the core of Whitman’s poetic vision.”-Publication history:...
" refers to a "quadroon girl" who is sold at a slave auction. - The Quadroon – a novel by Thomas Mayne ReidThomas Mayne ReidThomas Mayne Reid , was an Irish-American novelist. "Captain" Reid wrote many adventure novels akin to those written by Frederick Marryat and Robert Louis Stevenson. He was a great admirer of Lord Byron...
, written in 1856. - The OctoroonThe OctoroonThe Octoroon is a play by Dion Boucicault, which opened in 1859 at The Winter Garden Theatre. Boucicault adapted the play from the novel The Quadroon by Thomas Mayne Reid . It concerns the residents of a Louisiana plantation called Terrebonne. The play was very popular in its day, and sparked...
, a play by Dion BoucicaultDion BoucicaultDionysius Lardner Boursiquot , commonly known as Dion Boucicault, was an Irish actor and playwright famed for his melodramas. By the later part of the 19th century, Boucicault had become known on both sides of the Atlantic as one of the most successful actor-playwright-managers then in the...
adapted from Reid's The Quadroon, was first performed at New York City’s Winter Garden on December 12, 1859. The play describes the turmoil that is brought upon Zoe, the octoroon, as her dreams are torn away due to the discovery of an African lineage. - In The AwakeningThe Awakening (novel)The Awakening is a novel by Kate Chopin, first published in 1899 . Set in New Orleans and the Southern Louisiana coast at the end of the nineteenth century, the plot centers around Edna Pontellier and her struggle to reconcile her increasingly unorthodox views on femininity and motherhood with the...
by Kate ChopinKate ChopinKate Chopin, born Katherine O'Flaherty , was an American author of short stories and novels. She is now considered by some to have been a forerunner of feminist authors of the 20th century....
, Pontellier's nurse is described as a quadroon. - In The Désirée's Baby by Kate Chopin, the baby was quadroon.
- Uncle Tom's CabinUncle Tom's CabinUncle Tom's Cabin; or, Life Among the Lowly is an anti-slavery novel by American author Harriet Beecher Stowe. Published in 1852, the novel "helped lay the groundwork for the Civil War", according to Will Kaufman....
, a novel by Harriet Beecher StoweHarriet Beecher StoweHarriet Beecher Stowe was an American abolitionist and author. Her novel Uncle Tom's Cabin was a depiction of life for African-Americans under slavery; it reached millions as a novel and play, and became influential in the United States and United Kingdom...
published in 1852, described Eliza and her son Harry as quadroons. Harry's father was described as a mulattoMulattoMulatto denotes a person with one white parent and one black parent, or more broadly, a person of mixed black and white ancestry. Contemporary usage of the term varies greatly, and the broader sense of the term makes its application rather subjective, as not all people of mixed white and black...
. - In Little WomenLittle WomenLittle Women is a novel by American author Louisa May Alcott . The book was written and set in the Alcott family home, Orchard House, in Concord, Massachusetts. It was published in two volumes in 1868 and 1869...
by Louisa May AlcottLouisa May AlcottLouisa May Alcott was an American novelist. She is best known for the novel Little Women and its sequels Little Men and Jo's Boys. Little Women was set in the Alcott family home, Orchard House in Concord, Massachusetts, and published in 1868...
, one of Jo's boys at Plumfield is described as a merry little quadroon. - In William FaulknerWilliam FaulknerWilliam Cuthbert Faulkner was an American writer from Oxford, Mississippi. Faulkner worked in a variety of media; he wrote novels, short stories, a play, poetry, essays and screenplays during his career...
's novel "Absalom, Absalom", Charles Bon has a son by his octoroon mistress. - In Love in the Time of CholeraLove in the Time of CholeraLove in the Time of Cholera is a novel by Nobel Prize winning Colombian author Gabriel García Márquez first published in the Spanish language during 1985. Alfred A. Knopf published the English translation during 1988...
by Gabriel Garcia MarquezGabriel García MárquezGabriel José de la Concordia García Márquez is a Colombian novelist, short-story writer, screenwriter and journalist, known affectionately as Gabo throughout Latin America. He is considered one of the most significant authors of the 20th century. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in...
, Florentino Ariza's mother Transito is described as a "freed quadroon". - Anne RiceAnne RiceAnne Rice is a best-selling Southern American author of metaphysical gothic fiction, Christian literature and erotica from New Orleans, Louisiana. Her books have sold nearly 100 million copies, making her one of the most widely read authors in modern history...
's novel The Feast of All SaintsThe Feast of All SaintsThe Feast of All Saints is a novel by Anne Rice.-Plot summary:This novel is about the gens de couleur libres, or free people of color, who lived in New Orleans before the Civil War. The gens de couleur libres were the descendants of European settlers of Louisiana, particularly the French and...
features the gens de couleur libres, which is the Creole French term for "free people of color" such as quadroons, octoroons and other mulattos. Her novel The Mayfair WitchesThe Mayfair WitchesThe Lives of the Mayfair Witches is a series of novels written by the horror author Anne Rice. They feature the Mayfairs, a New Orleans family of witches and their connection to a spirit named Lasher, spanning several generations...
also talks of mulatto and quadroon people in late 19th century, early 20th century New Orleans. - The book The Turner DiariesThe Turner DiariesThe Turner Diaries is a novel written in 1978 by William Luther Pierce under the pseudonym "Andrew Macdonald"...
makes mention of forced relocation for Quadroons and Octoroons after whites prevail in a race war against "The System", a minority-controlled government. - In The Island Beneath the SeaThe Island Beneath the SeaThe Island Beneath the Sea is a 2010 novel by Chilean author Isabel Allende. It was first published in the United States by HarperCollins. The book was issued in 2009 in Spanish as La Isla Bajo el Mar, and was translated into English by Margaret Sayers Peden, who has translated all of Allende's...
, a novel by Isabel AllendeIsabel AllendeIsabel Allende Llona is a Chilean writer with American citizenship. Allende, whose works sometimes contain aspects of the "magic realist" tradition, is famous for novels such as The House of the Spirits and City of the Beasts , which have been commercially successful...
, the main character's daughter, Rosette, is a quadroon. Her mother is a freed mulatta slave and her father is a white French man. - In the book Passion and Proud Hearts, a novel by Lydia Lancaster, a personal servant named Rebecca is describes as being an octaroon, the daughter of a wealthy white man and a freed quadroon mistress.
- In the book ZorroZorro (novel)Zorro is a 2005 mock biography and the first origin story of the pulp hero Zorro, written by Chilean author Isabel Allende. It is a prequel to the events of the original Zorro story, Johnston McCulley's 1919 novella The Curse of Capistrano...
, a novel by Isabel AllendeIsabel AllendeIsabel Allende Llona is a Chilean writer with American citizenship. Allende, whose works sometimes contain aspects of the "magic realist" tradition, is famous for novels such as The House of the Spirits and City of the Beasts , which have been commercially successful...
, the fictional hero Diego De La Vega repeatedly admires the quadroons of New Orleans, while a captive of the privateer Jean Lafitte. - The titular character of James Weldon JohnsonJames Weldon JohnsonJames Weldon Johnson was an American author, politician, diplomat, critic, journalist, poet, anthologist, educator, lawyer, songwriter, and early civil rights activist. Johnson is remembered best for his leadership within the NAACP, as well as for his writing, which includes novels, poems, and...
's The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored ManThe Autobiography of an Ex-Colored ManThe Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man by James Weldon Johnson is the fictional telling of the story of a young biracial man, referred to only as the “Ex-Colored Man", living in post Reconstruction era America in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century...
is a quadroon or octaroon who can passPassing (racial identity)Racial passing refers to a person classified as a member of one racial group attempting to be accepted as a member of a different racial group...
for white.
In popular culture
- In FX (TV network)'s animated series Archer (TV series)Archer (TV series)Archer is an American animated television series created by Adam Reed for the FX network. A preview of the series aired on September 17, 2009. The first season premiered on January 14, 2010. The show carries a TV-MA-LSV rating....
, Agent Sterling Archer mentions referring to Agent Lana Kane as a quadroon. This is after she got upset at him calling her 'black...ish'. - In Randy Newman'sRandy NewmanRandall Stuart "Randy" Newman is an American singer-songwriter, arranger, composer, and pianist who is known for his mordant pop songs and for film scores....
song "New Orleans Wins The War" his mother points out an octoroon. - In the Everybody Hates ChrisEverybody Hates ChrisEverybody Hates Chris is an African American television period sitcom inspired by the teenage experiences of comedian Chris Rock , while growing up in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York . The show is set from 1982 to 1987; however, Rock himself was a teenager during years...
episode Everybody Hates Cutting School, when a ticket booth operator asked why Greg wasn't in school on a black holiday, he replies he is an octoroon. - In a skit on the third season episode of Saturday Night LiveSaturday Night LiveSaturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
hosted by Madeline Kahn, when John Belushi is confronted by black men after previously claiming to be a "brother," he states he is an octoroon. - In an episode of "StellaStella-People:*Stella , a feminine given name** Stella McCartney, English fashion designer** Stella , Singaporean-Taiwanese singer** Stella Maessen, Dutch singer, sometimes going under the singular name of Stella-Fictional characters:...
" Season 1, Episode 7 "Camping", Michael Ian BlackMichael Ian BlackMichael Ian Black is an American comedian, actor, writer and director. He has starred in several TV comedy series, including The State, Ed, Viva Variety, Stella and Michael & Michael Have Issues. He is also a prominent poker player, appearing on Celebrity Poker Showdown several times...
points out to David WainDavid WainDavid Benjamin Wain is an American comedian, writer, actor and director. He is most widely known for the feature films Role Models and Wet Hot American Summer, the 1990s' sketch comedy series The State and for producing/directing/writing the Adult Swim series Childrens Hospital...
that he is not white, but "quite obviously" an octoroon. - The Firesign Theater's Everything You Know Is WrongEverything You Know Is WrongEverything You Know Is Wrong is a comedy album by the Firesign Theatre released in October 1974 on Columbia Records.-Detailed track information and commentary:...
includes a recording of a stage play about how the South won the Civil WarCivil warA civil war is a war between organized groups within the same nation state or republic, or, less commonly, between two countries created from a formerly-united nation state....
, with repartee between a Southern belle and her former slave Uncle Tom, who introduces himself as Uncle Field Marshall Thomas Legree Quadroon. - Harry Warren'sHarry WarrenHarry Warren was an American composer and lyricist. Warren was the first major American songwriter to write primarily for film. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Song eleven times and won three Oscars for composing "Lullaby of Broadway", "You'll Never Know" and "On the Atchison,...
song "Octoroon" where in Jack Teagarden'sJack TeagardenWeldon Leo "Jack" Teagarden , known as "Big T" and "The Swingin' Gate", was an influential jazz trombonist, bandleader, composer, and vocalist, regarded as the "Father of Jazz Trombone".-Early life:...
version "Octoroon is singin' the blues". Also performed by Artie ShawArtie ShawArthur Jacob Arshawsky , better known as Artie Shaw, was an American jazz clarinetist, composer, and bandleader. He was also the author of both fiction and non-fiction writings....
. - In The World According to GarpThe World According to GarpThe World According to Garp is John Irving's fourth novel. Published in 1978, the book was a bestseller for several years.A movie adaptation of the novel starring Robin Williams was released in 1982, with a screenplay written by Steve Tesich....
by John Irving, Garp's editor's cleaner and greatest predictor of literary success is an octoroon.
See also
- Racial hygieneRacial hygieneRacial hygiene was a set of early twentieth century state sanctioned policies by which certain groups of individuals were allowed to procreate and others not, with the expressed purpose of promoting certain characteristics deemed to be particularly desirable...
- Passing (racial identity)Passing (racial identity)Racial passing refers to a person classified as a member of one racial group attempting to be accepted as a member of a different racial group...
- MultiracialMultiracialThe terms multiracial and mixed-race describe people whose ancestries come from multiple races. Unlike the term biracial, which often is only used to refer to having parents or grandparents of two different races, the term multiracial may encompass biracial people but can also include people with...
- MulattoMulattoMulatto denotes a person with one white parent and one black parent, or more broadly, a person of mixed black and white ancestry. Contemporary usage of the term varies greatly, and the broader sense of the term makes its application rather subjective, as not all people of mixed white and black...
- Discrimination based on skin color
- Afro Argentine: Colonial racial categories
- Afro-Latin AmericanAfro-Latin AmericanAn Afro-Latin American is a Latin American person of at least partial Black African ancestry; the term may also refer to historical or cultural elements in Latin America thought to emanate from this community...
- MiscegenationMiscegenationMiscegenation is the mixing of different racial groups through marriage, cohabitation, sexual relations, and procreation....
- MischlingMischlingMischling was the German term used during the Third Reich to denote persons deemed to have only partial Aryan ancestry. The word has essentially the same origin as mestee in English, mestizo in Spanish and métis in French...