Date of Award
5-2008
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Legacy Department
History
Committee Chair/Advisor
Anderson, Paul C
Committee Member
Andrew , Rod
Committee Member
Grubb , Alan
Abstract
In 1685, a large group of Huguenots, or French Calvinist Protestants, migrated to South Carolina seeking economic opportunity and religious toleration. By the outbreak of the Civil War, the descendants of these French immigrants had transformed into bastions of Southern identity and society. But how had this transformation taken place?
This study attempts to answer that question. It aims to trace the journey of Huguenot assimilation from French Protestant refugees to British Colonists, from Colonists into Americans, and finally from Americans into Southerners. Focusing on the experiences of a single lineage, the Huger family, it hopes to add to existing scholarship on the South Carolina Huguenot experience in two specific ways. First, this research seeks to extend the study of Huguenot identity beyond the Colonial period, on which other works have retained an almost exclusive focus. Second, it tries to add a personal character to the story of Huguenot transformation, giving a name and persona to the individuals involved in this larger process of identity redefinition.
Recommended Citation
Hollis, Jason, "Je Suis Huger: Shaping Identity in South Carolina, 1685-1885" (2008). All Theses. 353.
https://open.clemson.edu/all_theses/353