User:Morgan.corum/Elizabeth Patterson Bonaparte

What I want to change:

1.) Add more about her relationship AFTER Jerome

2.) How her motherhood was affected

3.) How this divorce doesn't define her.

Patterson was born in Baltimore, Maryland on February 6, 1785 and ^^^^^died on April 4, 1879.===== She was the daughter of Dorcas (née Spear) Patterson (1761–1814) and William Patterson (1752&#x2013;1835), the oldest daughter of thirteen children. Her mother was the daughter of a Baltimore flour merchant and her father, an Irish-born Presbyterian who came to North America from Donegal prior to the Revolutionary War, was the second wealthiest man in Maryland after Charles Carroll of Carrollton, the last surviving signatory of the Declaration of Independence of the United States. Although writers and journalists refer to her as "Betsy," Patterson never used that name herself, only her father with whom she had a contentious relationship; she always signed her name as Elizabeth, and Jérôme Bonaparte referred to her in all his letters with the French Élisabeth, Élisa or Elsa. Patterson was considered one of the most beautiful women in Baltimore and became known for her risqué and French taste in fashion. ^^^^^Elizabeth Patterson was also known for being an American celebrity; gaining the title of the "Belle of Baltimore".===== ^^^^^ This "Belle of Baltimore" did not allow a marriage or divorce to define her and she maintained a sophisticated woman until the very end of her days.=====

Elizabeth's brother, Robert Patterson, married Carroll's granddaughter, Marianne Caton. After Robert's death, his widow Marianne married Richard Wellesley, 1st Marquess Wellesley, the older brother of Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington. Her other brothers, Joseph and Edward Patterson, were the owners of Joppa Iron Works in Eastern Baltimore County on the Gunpowder River.

In 1803, Patterson met Jérôme Bonaparte on his visit to the United States; he had delayed his return to France to postpone facing the wrath of his brother Napoleon for a military incident in the Caribbean between his ship and a British ship. Several stories of their first meeting circulated, although Patterson herself later said that they met over dinner at a friend's house. A romance soon blossomed between them. Despite an anonymous letter to Patterson's father which claimed that Bonaparte only planned to marry her in order to waste time until he returned to France, Patterson insisted on the marriage, going so far as to threaten to elope if she did not have her father's blessing. On Christmas Eve, December 24, 1803, Patterson was married to Jérôme Bonaparte (1784–1860) in a ceremony presided over by John Carroll, the first Roman Catholic Bishop of Baltimore. ^^^^^ Patterson was not like most women during this time period because she did not center herself around the idea of motherhood, "She never tried or sought to embrace, even in part, the civic and domestic roles of republican wife and mother, as other elite and middling women did at the time".======

Jérôme's brother Napoleon ordered his brother back to France and demanded that the marriage be annulled. ^^^^^ Napoleon strongly opposed the marriage between "Betsy" and his brother Jérôme because of her American heritage; thus, making tension during this time extremely high.===== He ignored Napoleon's initial demand that he return to France without his wife. In the fall of 1804, Jérôme and a pregnant Elizabeth attempted to travel to France in time for his brother's coronation, but a number of false starts delayed them. When they finally arrived, Elizabeth was denied permission to set foot in continental Europe by order of Napoleon. Jérôme traveled to Italy in an attempt to reason with his brother, writing to his wife, "My dearest Elsa, I will do everything that must be done," but she would never see him again, except for a brief eye-to-eye contact in 1822 in a chance encounter at Pitti Palace in Florence (although, like many stories of her life, historians cannot prove this meeting took place).

After being prevented upon Napoleon's orders from disembarking in either France or the Netherlands, she gave birth to a son, Jérôme Napoleon Bonaparte (1805–1870), on July 5, 1805 at 95 Camberwell Grove in Camberwell, London. Despite letters to his wife that he would remain steadfast and not abandon her, Jérôme gave in to his brother and was rewarded by being made an admiral in the French navy and later a general in the army, made an imperial prince and eventually King of Westphalia, and married the German princess Catharina of Württemberg on August 22, 1807, in the Royal Palace at Fontainebleau, France. ^^^^^Jérôme always remained in love with his Betsy and it was apparent in his marriage to Princess Catharina.===== ^^^^^While Elizabeth returned to a place she could not recognize as home, never truly feeling like an American after her divorce. .Patterson desired to be in a world that rejected her mere existence; therefore, Elizabeth decided that she would take charge of her own fate.===== ^^^^^One of Patterson's biographers, Carol Berkin, describes her lack of interest in the idea of domesticity and motherhood common among "other elite and middling women" in Baltimore. She was instead interested in investing in properties, building a life for both her and her child, and spreading the message that women do not need men in order to thrive during this era.=====

His marriage to Patterson had been annulled in France by machinations carried out by Napoleon in October 1806 and despite the Pope's unwillingness to annul the marriage.

After her son was born, whom she called "Bo," Patterson returned to Baltimore with him and lived with her father while she continued to use her royal connection to support herself and her son. She wrote to Napoleon and convinced him to grant her an allowance, which she used to support herself after her father claimed what little money and goods Jerome had sent her from Europe before their marriage was annulled. After the Battle of Waterloo, she returned to Europe, where she reportedly was well received in the most exclusive circles and much admired for her beauty and wit. . ^^^^^ Elizabeth Bonaparte not only challenged the way of societal life, but Patterson " testing of the limits of civil and polite society, her role as a critic of America".===== ^^^^^"Elizabeth's life as an independent woman, encompassing the roles of businesswoman, social leader, female friend, mother, and undutiful daughter. Because the role of women in US culture and gender roles in the Western world underwent great changes during the decades of Elizabeth's adulthood, Boyer Lewis explores modern questions about identities—both culturally and self-created".===== ^^^^^One of Patterson's biographers, Carol Berkin, describes her lack of interest in the idea of domesticity and motherhood common among "other elite and middling women" in Baltimore. She was instead interested in investing in properties, building a life for both her and her child, and spreading the message that women do not need men in order to thrive during this era.=====

^^^^^Carol Berkin, an American author and historian, wrote a compelling piece on Elizabeth Patterson Bonaparte known as Wondrous Beauty: The life and Adventures of Elizabeth Patterson Bonaparte. Carol Ruth Berkin, born on October 4th, 1942, is an American author and historian who specializes in Colonial American women. She obtained her Ph.D. from the University of Colombia, and her dissertation won the Bancroft Award in 1972. She has published several other works that goes into detail about our country's early founding. The works include topic such as; "women's history, the American Revolution, the creation of the Constitution, and the politics of the early Republic" (National Women's History Museum). ​Berkin made it a point to bring about the idea that this Baltimore social lite would not be defined or remembered in history as the woman who faded away after her very public and famous divorce. Berkin also defeats the stigma that Bonaparte was only in love with Jérôme for his money and the idea of becoming a French princess, she was only interested because she was in love with Bonaparte. Not only does Berkin address the gossip and slander that ensued from both the marriage and divorce that was taken place. =====