Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2005-2006 - (Page 100)

BOOKSTAND book review by Thomas Uskali Pirates of panache Romanticized and reviled, the Brothers Laffite played pivotal roles along the Gulf Coast In his poetic preface to The Pirates Laffite, William C. Davis writes: “In the virtues and crimes of [the brothers Laffite] lay not just the stuff of romance, but zephyrs to fill the sails of the nascent American character.” Davis formally acknowledges the pirate’s deep romantic lure, and then spends the rest of this remarkable volume deconstructing his myth with clear and compelling evidence. First, a primer of basic terms: Piracy is “highway robbery at sea.” It contrasts with privateering, the taking of merchant trade during war. A privateering vessel carries letters of marque from a sponsoring government, with whom the captain shares a percentage of his profit. Of course, a letter of marque’s illegitimacy, or that of its sponsoring government, can turn a privateer into a pirate. And vice versa. The Laffite brothers’ ancestors came from the “lawless” margin of the Pyrenees between France and Spain, in Pauillac. Pierre and Jean were born (probably) in 1770 and 1782 to a middle-class family. They grew up when the power of the merchant class was growing, as were the French Revolution’s democratizing effects. The first 20 years of their lives is mostly undocumented, and exact timing is sketchy, but at some point, elder brother Pierre went to the Caribbean and traveled back to France at least once. Pierre witnessed the 1793 slave rebellion in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, and may have helped privateers move refugees to New Orleans in 1803. This occupation is only a side step away from the slave trade that Pierre would later become involved in. New Orleans was in flux yet again, taking in waves of immigrants, including free blacks from Haiti. The city was changing its government, and it is likely that Pierre was in the city on December 3, 1803 for the formal ceremony turning over jurisdiction from France to the United States at Place d’Armes. To maintain a base in foreign territory, The Pirates Laffite: The Treacherous World of the Corsairs of the Gulf by William C. Davis Harcourt: New York 2005 Pierre moved to Baton Rouge, still a part of Spanish-held West Florida. He kept a home in New Orleans, and began a plaçage (arranged) relationship with Marie Villard, a woman of mixed race. Ironically, he had also begun actively dealing in the illegal slave trade at Point Coupée. This he accomplished with the help of his brother Jean, who had recently arrived in New Orleans. Jean Laffite’s early background is equally murky, but fascinating. He was likely the captain of La Soeur Cherie, an American ship that had been stolen in Jamaica. Slaves that had been aboard were reported to have been “lost” along the way to the port of New Orleans, and its cargo was probably unloaded downriver of the city. When inspectors discovered that they had been deceived, the ship and captain were already gone. Davis explains, “domestic affairs in America encouraged privateering” — the goods and slaves acquired by privateers found a strong market. The newly-independent Haiti commissioned privateers, which “spawned their heydey,” and the Laffites were well-placed to take advantage of the situation, particularly since importation of African slaves was declared illegal in 1808. He summarizes: “The ingredients were all in place: a market starving for slaves and luxury goods regardless of the source; a district attorney and court system [in New Orleans] inclined to cast blind eyes on malefactors who provided consumer goods; a large population primarily of French origin who felt hostility toward their new American masters a Gulf teeming with newly made privateers and Spain’s New World colonies on the verge of widespread revolt.” Grand Terre Island (barely solid marsh in Barataria Bay) and Grand Isle became the base for Jean and Pierre Laffite’s trade. They served as middlemen for other privateers, and by 1809 their operation was well-founded. “Baratarian” goods were dutyfree, and therefore very profitable for everyone in this black market. In short: “The French regarded them as colorful heroes who brought them bargains while thumbing a nose at Spain, Washington, and the resented local Americans at the same time.” Pierre likely suffered a stroke in late 1810, making him less able to travel and keeping him in New Orleans most of the time. This put younger brother Jean in charge of most of their operations, although Pierre remained remarkably active despite his physical disabilities. For the Laffites, the War of 1812 was an opportunity to control the entire supply chain, from confiscated raw material to fin- 100 LOUISIANA ENDOWMENT FOR THE HUMANITIES\Winter 2005-06

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2005-2006

Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2005 Contents Letters Editor’s Column Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities Louisiana State Museum After Katrina: “It’s time somebody woke us us up.” Missing New Orleans On Perilous Ground The Buildings of Louisiana (Architectural History by Karen Kingsley) Historic New Orleans Collection Louisiana Association of Museums Back to New Orleans Diary of a Displaced Person Jazz Notes (Music History by Bruce Raeburn) Cradle of the Stars The Terrible and the Brave Bookstand (Book Review by Thomas Uskali) Sound Advice (Music Review by Ben Sandmel) Forum (Commentary by James Lee Burke)

Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2005-2006

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