Napoleon and Josephine
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Marie-Josephe-Rose Tascher was born to Joseph and Rose-Marie Tascher on June 23, 1763 on the family sugar plantation in the French colony of Martinique in the West Indies, and was known as Rose or Yeyette as a child. Her family owned the plantation Trois-Ilets, but hurricanes destroyed their estate in 1766 and left them struggling financially. Rose's birth was also a disappointment to both her parents. Her father had hoped for a son who would follow in his footsteps in Paris; her mother, believed that a son might help mend her ailing marriage to Joseph. She was the first of 3 daughters born to the Tascher family, and it was hoped that they might make successful marriages to help their family's financial situation, since their were no son's to help with their predicament. The girl's however, were hampered by both a limited dowry, and a lack of sophisticated Paris education. Despite her family's financial difficulties, Josephine was a peace-maker and lover of peace all her life. Sweetness, goodness and generosity were qualities that began to emerge as definite characteristics when she was a young child. She could not bear to see the slaves punished and she regarded the ones she knew best as her friends. The slaves returned this friendship with love and loyalty to her throughout her life...