Houmas House | University of Edinburgh Moodle

A short drive west from New Orleans along the historic River Road in Louisiana brings the visitor to Houmas House, one of a number of historic plantations along the lower Mississippi dating from the antebellum period. It is the centerpiece of a number of historic sugar plantations that are open for tours.

In its day, the mansion on a plantation was known as the "big house." The Big House was more than just a building: it represented the values, attitudes and ideas characteristic of the plantation owning class. As John Michael Vlach writes in Back of the Big House, "The mansions at the larger plantation estates instantly conveyed an image of greatness, authority, and success with their impressive facades, gardens, and formal white columns.

But Vlach notes that "the great houses were only a small part of any plantation. The most important elements of any planter's domain actually lay beyond his residence.";

At its peak, there were between 800 and 1,000 slaves at Houmas, then called the Burnside Plantation. Look at the website for the plantation. How many references to slaves. >>click here<<

Activity: The argument could be made that Houmas House makes no claim to present the history of slavery, and concentrates on the lifestyle of the sugar baron who owned the plantation. The owner writes in response to a complaint about the lack of information about slavery:

"Houmas House gives the story of the wealthy Sugar Baron, and only Houmas House gives that story. We do not feel we need to be redundant and tell a story that other [plantations] offer, and do it very well. Please remember, we do not say that we tell the story of slavery. http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g40102-d258967-r167500461-Houmas_House_Plantation_and_Gardens-Darrow_Louisiana.html#

Do you agree? Post your response below.

There are no discussion topics yet in this forum