Quadroon

Quadroon is a term derived from the Spanish language word cuarter?n, from cuarto, "quarter", from Latin quartus. It refers to a person with 3 European grandparents and one African; being 1/4 "black" ancestry. This term is considered obsolete and is no longer in general use.

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This was part of a race classification used in the Spanish and French colonies in the New World, and to some extent also used in the Southern United States in the 19th century.

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Quadroons were considered "colored" and often subject to slavery in the colonial era.

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The French writer Alexandre Dumas, p?re was a quadroon and, in spite of his talent and popularity had to endure racism.

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In Kate Chopin's D?sir?e's Baby a quadroon boy is fanning D?sir?e's baby when suddenly she realizes that he is the same color as her child. Although her skin is whiter than her husband's, he accuses her of not being white.

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The term quadroon is also used in several of Anne Rice's novels that are set in New Orleans. She uses the term to refer to the mixed ancestry of several characters; these include a family branch of the Mayfair Witches and the various prostitutes, barmaids or evildoers taken as victims by some of the vampires in The Vampire Chronicles.

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Spanish language: :This article is about the international language known as Spanish or Castilian. For other languages spoken in Spain see Languages of Spain....

Latin: Latin is an Indo-European language originally spoken in the region around Rome called Latium. It gained great importance as the formal language of the Roman Empire. All Romance languages are descended from Latin, and many words based on Latin are found in other modern languages such as English. The ...

Europe: :This article is about the continent. For other meanings, see Europe (disambiguation)....