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The political exile of the Stiers: A Belgian family weighs the cost of American democracy (1794–1803)

Abstract In 1794, the Stiers, a wealthy Belgian family, fled Antwerp to escape the invasion of their hometown by the French revolutionary army. Attracted by America's political principles and economic climate, they emigrated to the United States. Although they had considered settling there permanently, all but one were persuaded to return to Antwerp in 1803. Their story is told in extensive family correspondence that covers their years in the United States (1794–1803). This correspondence illuminates how the Stiers came to terms, each in his or her own way, with this new and completely different social, cultural, and political landscape; and why, despite the obvious attraction of democracy, all the members of the family, except the youngest daughter, chose to return to their native Antwerp.