Youth of Napoleon
The Youth of Napoleon Bonaparte The young life of Napoleon Bonaparte shows how he gained a large aspect of his motivation to excel. Growing up in financial trouble he learned to work diligently. Napoleon 's homeland traditions instilled within him an absolutely incredible sense of pride. It became a prime goal to advance his family through the social ranks and towards success. During his education he had to undergo debasing treatment from Frenchmen, the people who had conquered his homeland of Corsica. The island of Corsica had been revolting against the Genoese Italian government that eventually left the island and sold it to the French (Marrin 8). After fighting between the Corsicans and the newly arrived French, Napoleon Bonaparte was born on the 15th of August 1769 (Dwyer 25). The Corsican culture relied on large, strong families to survive against the persecution of foreign rule. It was considered honorable to have a large family in Corsica and the honor of family was exceedingly important. How others spoke of Napoleon’s family mattered immensely to him.
In general the inhabitants of the island had little manners. They were famous for their serious attitude but they had little talent in etiquette. Other Europeans would mock them for being savage. Corsica was not rich either, the nobles were more like first class peasants than wealthy families; one could hardly tell the nobles from the peasants (Seward 5-6). The Bonaparte’s lived in their house, the Casa Buonaparte. It was a large home situated in the poorest and oldest area of town. Carlo 's mother lived in the basement and other relatives stayed with them in the house in order to lighten the financial strain (Seward 7). Napoleon 's family owned an orchard and it was their primary source of income, however meager. The family 's primary source of expense was the upkeep of an ostentatious appearance. Carlo would throw parties that set them back years financially and would buy the finest clothes with which
In general the inhabitants of the island had little manners. They were famous for their serious attitude but they had little talent in etiquette. Other Europeans would mock them for being savage. Corsica was not rich either, the nobles were more like first class peasants than wealthy families; one could hardly tell the nobles from the peasants (Seward 5-6). The Bonaparte’s lived in their house, the Casa Buonaparte. It was a large home situated in the poorest and oldest area of town. Carlo 's mother lived in the basement and other relatives stayed with them in the house in order to lighten the financial strain (Seward 7). Napoleon 's family owned an orchard and it was their primary source of income, however meager. The family 's primary source of expense was the upkeep of an ostentatious appearance. Carlo would throw parties that set them back years financially and would buy the finest clothes with which
Cited: Vol. 1. New York: Charles Scribner 's Sons, 1891. 1-12. MEMOIRS OF NAPOLEON BONAPARTE University, 2005. Web. 21 June 2012. <http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/etcbin/toccer- new2?id=BouNape.xml&images=images/modeng&data=/texts/english/modeng/parsed&t Dwyer, Philip. Napoleon: The Path to Power. New Haven: Yale, 2008. Print Ludwig, Emil Marrin, Albert. Napoleon: and the Napoleonic Wars. New York: Penguin, 1991. Print. Seward, Desmond. Napoleon 's Family. New York: Penguin, 1986. Print.