Wowsers. I thought this was gonna be a bullshit meme but it appears to be true. And pretty fucked up.
Slight correction though, they went to modern day Biloxi, Mississippi which back then was part of the Louisiana territory.
this post was submitted on 16 Oct 2025
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We're not sending the best
Did we ever send the best to new places?
Recently I went to a protest because a spokesperson of the IDF was invited by a Jewish parish. Turns out said spokesperson was a petty criminal here in Germany before he embraced his Jewish heritage to move to Israel. We always send our best to new places.
Australians:
“We are, how you say, not zending ze best!”
So what's the catch?
You have to move to Louisiana 🤢
Increased risk of syphilis?
Increased by how much? 🤔
Well, if you're shacking up with an illegal prostitute pre-modern-medicine... By my math, a lot.
Was it really, though? You'd think that would curb prostitution a lot. Yet, history is littered with notorious "bohemian bachelors" that lived long lives in the company of prostitutes before acquiring the disease.
Edit: never mind that. In looking up what I thought were examples, it seems I grossly overestimated their lifespans.
They were here for a good time, not a long time.
To my understanding, a lot of earlier French attempts at colonies in North America had fallen apart or seen a significant percentage of colonists killed off by disease and such, so there'd have been a significant risk that you wouldn't survive.
“We’ve got a problem over there with disease. How about we send over a bunch of prostitutes.”
I’m guessing nobody asked the prostitutes how they felt about being married to a convicted criminal and sent into exile
I wouldn't assume that, because they were in the same offer-you-can't-refuse type of situation as the prisoners. Just like the man's choice was this vs. prison and no future prospects, the woman's choice was also this vs. prison and no future prospects. No reason not to pose it as an offer since 99% will say yes
I assume the idea is to 1. Get rid of criminals and 2. Populate the new territory.
But wouldn’t you just end up with a new territory populated by criminals? And then have the same problem you originally had?
You should ask Australia.
I would guess no one wanted to give up their entire life just to settle in some new land that might as well have been on mars.
And even back then many people knew that if someone had a reasonable place in society then that person would want to continue having a good place in society, because most people only turn to crime when they aren't able to have a decent life otherwise.
They were probably given a similar deal "marry a prisoner and elope to the new world, or go to jail"
While John Law’s bargain to French prisoners might have seemed like a good deal at the time, it is unclear whether or not the prisoners would have preferred to just stay in prison after their ordeal on the Mississippi coast. As far as John Law went he tried desperately to prove that his Louisiana territory was profitable. The bank forged paperwork and printed off paper notes to investors. However, it was eventually discovered that the paper notes being printed and handed to investors exceeded the amount of metal coinage that was held by the bank. Investors rushed to cash in their paper notes in 1720 but the bank was forced to stop payment on paper notes when it became clear they did not have the funds to pay off everyone.
John Law was relieved of his position and forced to flee to Brussels. He later moved to Venice and made a living off of gambling until his death.
Presidential Timber!
Cajun pride!
Huh, now that's a different kind of arranged marriage.
Damn I did that for free.
surely nothing can go wrong with that
I mean . . There’s some . . very attractive people there. That could be a factor.