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The Burden. Daumier
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"You see I cannot take my child into the
country. Work forbids it. With a child I could not find a place
there...it will not be long before I come back. Will you keep my
child for me?"
-Fantine ( Les Misérables. Fantine, Book Fourth,
Ch. 1)
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click on image to see full picture.
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Abandoned children, such as Cosette and Gavroche, played a significant
role in Victor Hugo's Les Misérables. However,
these character's situations were not typical in France during the
19th century.
Background: Abandoned children of pre-Revolutionary France
became wards of a religious charity group. Here their religious
education was placed ahead of their secular education. So, when
the children were released at age 25, they were often illiterate
and unskilled. They commonly became prostitutes,
vagabonds, or criminals
in order to survive. The professions were the worst fear of the
bourgeoisie who believed the children inherited their mothers
immoral and sinful values, and thus to cycle continued. However,
to deal with this overwhelming problem, in 1801,
abandoned children became wards of the state. (5-16, Fuchs)
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Oh, To be Abandoned
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| From Le Boulevard. Gustave
Doré. 1862-1863. A couple abandoning their child at a
hospice, where unwanted children were cared for by the state.
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Hospices: Mothers who could either
not care for or did not want their children abandoned them at a
hospice. As many as one-fourth to one-half of the illegitimate babies
born in Paris each year were taken to a hospice. There was one in
each arrondissement(section) in Paris
due to the high number of abandoned children. Most women either
left their babies at the actual hospice, or gave birth at the hospital
and when the police and hospice authorities could not deter the
mother from abandoning the child,they signed a form stating they
were abandoning their child. From here, the authorities took the
baby to the hospice. This was primarily done because abandoning
children on the street was illegal. Also, at this time, there was
no adoption program established.
A Rise in Numbers and the Truth of the Stereotypes: The
number of abandoned children grew throughout the nineteenth century,
which lead to more hospices, and a growth in the fear the Bourgeoisie
had that their stereotypes were accurate. However, the reason for
the increase in the number of abandoned children, in actuality had
little to do with the "immoral and sinful" nature of the
poor. It was really a result of the economics of the time. Until
1864 the Orleanist monarchy enjoyed economic stability, and a steady
growth.
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However, at the end of the reign the was a severe depression,
one of the worstin a generation. Bad weather brought a series of
crop failures between 1845 and 1847. The agrarian crisis and the
rapid increase in food prices produced a paralysis on the business
world that greatly reduced production in the Nation's factories
and mines. This caused bankrupted several railway companies, small
local banks, and led to widespread unemployment. The Revolution
on 1848 only made the situation worse because the political upheaval
added to the business uncertainties and it intensified the depression.
Due to the rise in unemployment and the lose of crops, many of France's
poor were left without money, a job, food, or a means to acquire
any. So when a child came along, they had to way to provide for
it and abandonment was one of the only choices available to them
(Wright 151).
Admitting Procedure: Outside the hospice,women placed their
babies in a tour, a wooden cylindrical cradle-like turntable
about 55cm, and rang the bell to notify the nurse of a new baby.
This anonymity was necessary to prevent abortion and infanticide,
which whereas illegal at the time. Once taken in, the newborns were
washed, changed, warmed, given an ID necklace, and their names(which
were usually kept secret until 1831), date and place of birth, mode
of admissions,and date and time of admissions were recorded in the
Registre d'Admission. The names were kept secret for two
reasons; one to protect the family name of the mother. Secondly,
to prevent mothers who abandoned their children to try to take
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From A. Dupoux, Sur les pas de Monsieur
Vincent.
Identification necklace worn by the infants.
It consisted of silk and a silver medal.
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jobs as wet nurse in order to see them. They were then taken into
the nursery. Older children were admitted in the same manner to
the hospices. The only difference was that these children were taken
to dormitories instead of nurseries, where they stayed, generally
for a couple of days, until foster parents were found for them.
En Dépot: The term given to older children who were
believed to be provisionally abandoned. These children were generally
picked up off the streets by the police. After several days, their
parents could not been found and the child was not reclaimed, their
status changed from provisionally abandoned to definitely abandoned.
Once this happened, they went through the same procedures as the
other older children.
To learn about the care given in the Hospices click
here
To read about the conditions, click here
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This page created and maintained by Devon
Hill, © 2001
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