Gros-blancs

***Gros-blancs*** (Ditrovian: *"big whites"*) were a Eurean ethnic group in Tahare. The *gros-blancs* formed during the beginning of Maronan colonization in Tahare, and existed until between the abolition of slavery in 1820 and the end of the colonial period in 1956, after which they largely merged with the *petits-blancs* to become the *Grebs*. While the *gros-blancs* were a minority for almost all of Taharian history, they controlled nearly all of the Taharian economy for most of their existence.

## History

### Origins

In Tahare, *gros-blancs* referred to landowning residents of predominantly Eurean descent. The *gros-blancs* were the first ethnic groups to appear in Tahare, and are responsible for much of the colonization and settlement of the island. Following the beginning of colonization, the Maronan male settlers brought wives from Northern Tiria and Papagusca to settle the island and establish plantations, which were staffed with slaves from East Tarfica. As the initial Maronan settlers brought wives from Northern Tiria and Papagusca, after several generations the *gros-blancs* were nearly entirely ethnically mixed, but still possessed predominantly lighter features associated with Eureans, which separated them from the Tarfican slaves who worked on plantations.

As they were the owners and managers of plantations, the *gros-blancs* were wealthy and controlled nearly the entire Taharian economy while slavery was legal. As Saint-Philippe was the then-capital of the island and the center of Taharian agriculture, the overwhelming majority of *gros-blancs* resided in large plantation houses in the city. However, following the diversification of the Taharian economy amidst the growth of its shipping and manufacturing industries in the 19th century, some *gros-blancs* relocated north to Sainte-Anne to involve themselves in its growing industries. Unlike in some other states which practiced slavery, Taharian slavery was not centralized and was instead practiced on a localized level. As a result, children born to one *gros-blanc* parent and one enslaved parent would be raised as either a *gros-blanc* or a slave at the discretion of the slave's *gros-blanc* owners. With this rule, the *gros-blanc* community became even more ethnically diverse despite its origins as the descendants of Maronan settlers and slave-owners, and the *gros-blancs* were primarily distinguished from the slaves not by their skin color, but by their manner of dress and their names.

### Demise

Following the abolition of slavery in 1820, the *gros-blancs* suffered economic setbacks due to the freedom of their slaves which required them to rethink their divisions of labor. However, they were largely able to quickly repopulate their workforce with indentured servants, who arrived from predominantly East Tarfica and Tiria between 1820 and the early-20th century. These indentured servants signed employment contracts with *gros-blanc* plantation owners for unpaid work, and after the completion of their contract, most went on to settle permanently on the island of Tahare and pursue other lines of work. Indentured servitude was not used solely for agricultural work, as by this time many *gros-blanc* families had moved away from agriculture in order to capitalize on the shipping and manufacturing industries, although the majority of the workers in these industries at the time were free Taharians.

With the gradual decline of indentured servitude in the early-20th century and its eventual abolition in 1906, many *gros-blanc* families were no longer able to maintain their high cost of life with agricultural work alone. This led many *gros-blanc* families to sell their plantations to the most successful agricultural families, and pursue other work ventures. The fall of the *gros-blanc* agricultural industry coincided with the continued urbanization and economic development of the island. By the end of colonial Tahare in 1956, the *gros-blancs* and *petits-blancs* were nearly indistinguishable from each other. Many former *gros-blancs* had begun living in modest or even impoverished conditions and working more ordinary jobs, while many former *petits-blancs* had either left their farms for more profitable work in the cities, or had been able to develop comfortable livings for themselves on their farms. This demographic change led to the merger of the two groups as the *Grebs*.

In present-day Tahare, many residents descend from *gros-blanc* families, including those who do not identify as *Grebs*. Additionally, some *Grebs* may descend wholly or predominantly from *gros-blancs*, wholly or predominantly from *petits-blancs*, or from a mixture of the two former communities. These descendants belong to a variety of socioeconomic classes, although some former *gros-blanc* families have managed to maintain their socioeconomic status as some of the most economically prosperous families in Tahare, largely the families who shifted to the shipping and manufacturing industries following the abolition of slavery in 1820, and the agricultural families who were able to create monopolies on the Taharian agricultural industry through the purchase of struggling families' plantations following the abolition of indentured servitude in 1906.

## *Petits-blancs*

The term *gros-blancs* refers exclusively to landowning Taharians of Eurean ancestry, as their landless counterparts were known as the *petits-blancs*. The overwhelming majority of *petits-blancs* descended from *gros-blancs*, but as most *gros-blanc* families were large, with families that had over 10 children being common, after several generations the youngest sons in *gros-blanc* families grew to receive little-to-no inheritance from their parents and ancestors. This led to *petit-blanc* families developing. The *petits-blancs* had little association with the *gros-blancs*, instead being permitted to lease land owned by the *gros-blancs* in order to begin their own agricultural farming communities, primarily in inland areas and especially the Lumatile region.