A Louisiana Ante-Be
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DOCUMENT RESUME ED 260 005 SO 016 730 AUTHOR Allain, Mather Comp.; TITLE Brasseaux, Carl A.,Comp. A Franco-American Overview.Volume 6. Louisiana. INSTITUTION National Assessmentand DisseminationCenter for Bilingual Education,Cambridge, Ma.s.; National Materials DevelopmentCenter for French and Portuguese, Bedford, N.H. SPONS AGENCY Department of Education,Washington, DC. REPORT NO ISBN-0-89857-220-7 PUB DATE Mar 81 NOTE 226p.; For the otherrelated volumes in this see SO 016 725-729. series, PUB TYPE Historical Materials (060)-- Viewpoints (120) Collected Works- General (020) EDRS PRICE MF01/PC10 PlusPostage. DESCRIPTORS Biculturalism; Black History;Blacks; Civil War (United States);Colonial History (UnitedStates); *Cultural Influences;Cultural Pluralism;Culture; Education; Ethnic Groups;Immigrants; Land Settlement; Peace; Politics;Slavery; Social History; Social Studies; Subcultures; IDENTIFIERS United States History Acadians; *Franco Americans;Freedom; French Creole; French Culture; *Louisiana;Louisiana (New Orleans); United States (South) ABSTRACT Intended to help readersdevelop an appreciationof the contributions ofFranco-Americans to the United States, this cultural heritage of the book, the sixth of sixvolumes, presents 26 chapters representing many perspectives--from thehistorical to the sociological--illustrating thethinking and feelings forefront of Franco-American of those in the studies. This volumefocuses on Franco-Americans in Louisiana.The following readingsare presented: "From Subjects to Citizens"(George. W. Cable); "Ball (William C. C. Claiborne); Room Brawls" "Peace and Harmony?"(William C. C. Claiborne); "NewOrleans in 1838" (HarrietMartineau); "French Immigration and theBattle of New Orleans"(George W. Cable); "Political Reinforcementsof Ethnic Dominance inLouisiana, 1812-1845" (Joseph C.Tregle, Jr.); "The RuralFrench: Acadians, Creole, and Blacks" (W. H. Sparks); "Whoare the Creoles?" (GeorgeW. Cable); "Alexis deTocqueville in New Orleans W. Pierson); "A Louisiana January 1-3, 1832" (G. Sugar Plantation" (CharlesGayarre); "Madame Lalaurie: AContemporary French Account" State of Slavery" (Major (L. Souvestre); "The Amos Stoddard); "TheFree Men of Color of Louisiana" (P. F. de Gournay);"The Free People of and St. Domingue: Color in Louisiana A Comparative Portraitof Two Three-CasteSlave Societies" (Laura Foner);"The Free Negro inthe New Orleans Economy, 1850-1860" (Robert C. Reinders);"The Free Negro inAnte-Bellum Louisiana" (Annie Lee West Stahl); "Free Blacks,New Orleans, and P. L. Desdunes" (CharlesE. O'Neil); "Some Effectsof Acadian Settlement on the Pattern of Land Occupancein Lafayette Parish" Williams); "The Forbidding (Lyle Givens Atchafalaya Basin" (LouiseCallan); "The Battle of Bayou Queue-Tortue"(Alexandre Barde); Cause" and "Secession "Rebels withouta from the Confederacy?" (twocontemporary news items); "Ozeme Carriereand the St. Landry (Carl A. Brasseaux); Jayhawkers,'1863-1865" "Prince Camille de Polignacand the American Civil War. 1863-1865" (Roy0. Hatton); "The Battleof Bull Run" (P. G. T. Beauregard); and"The Battle of Pleasant Dorsey). (LH) Hill" (Sarah A. I S.. t' 4 Aiv 1 f..\' s t I is 1 ,,s.41.. , .4 . A SO' 5 Vb.. ..t I ..e. ; t. 1.4 ei .' I .9 '!ett /1 AI I 44:,t, ji ..; ii. - ,..... 8,- t.,..:..x, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION ..:r it" -"4' iz.'.. ..... v NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION : ,hi Ale. 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BEST COPY AVAILABLE "A; 'IV 4414511,1'511:Etit.4444140 Volgm, A FRANCO-AMERICAN OVERVIEW Volume 6 LOUISIANA Compiled by Mathi Allah! and Carl A. Brasseaux Staff Consilltant: Renaud S. Albert ytx)r k y A.Sx's-ort it y x IA 4 '.110 E44 k).4 itt I%). ,, It.,4 eV 1 I 3 Published by Evaluation, Dissemination and Assessment Center, ESEA Title VII Lesley College, 49 Washington Avenue, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02140 Developed by National Materials Development Center for French 168 South River Road, Bedford, New Hampshire 03102 International Standard Book Number 0-89857-220-7 Published March 1981 Printed in the United States of America The actft ity which is the subject of this publication was supported in whole or in part by the U.S. Department of Education However, the opinions eaprsed herein do not necessarily reflect the position or policy of the Department of Education, and no officialndorsement by the Department of Education should be inferred The Evaluation. Dissemination and Asses ent Censer for Bilingual Education is a special ESEA. Title Vil project funded by the U S Department of Ecation through Lesley College, Cambridge, Massachusetts. and the Fall River Public School System-- This publication was developed and printed tth funds provided by Title VII of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amende4 TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Page Introduction vii I From Subjects to Citizens George W. Cable 1 II Ball Room Brawls William C.C. Claiborne 9 III Peace and Harmony? William C.C. Claiborne 11 IV New Orleans in 1838 Harriet Martineau 13 V French Immigration and the Battle of New Orleans George W. Cable 15 VI Political Reinforcement of Ethnic Dominance in Louisiana, 1812-1845 Joseph G. Tregle, Jr. 29 VII The Rural French: Acadians, Creoles, and Blacks W.H. Sparks 37 VIII Who are the Creoles? George W. Cable 51 IX Alexis de Tocqueville in New Orleans January 1-3, 1832 G.W. Pierson 55 X A Louisiana Sugar Plantation Charles Gayarre 69 XI Madame Lalaurie: A Contemporary French Account L. Souvestre 87 XII The State of Slavery Major Amos Stoddard 97 XIII The Free Men of Color of Louisiana P.F. de Gournay '05 XIV The Free People of Color in Louisiana and St. Domingue: A Comparative Portrait of Two Three-Caste Slave Societies Laura Foner 113 XV The Free Negro in the New Orleans Economy, 1850-1860 Robert C. Reinders 135 XVI The Free Negro in Ante-Bellum Louisiana Annie Lee West Stahl 147 vi XVIIFree Blacks, New Orleans, and R.L. Desdunes Charles E. O'Neil, S.J. 159 XVIII Some Effects of Acadian Settlement on the Pattern of Land Occupance in Lafayette Parish Lyle Givens Williams 167 XIX The Forbidding Atchafalaya Basin Louise Callan 173 XX The Battle of Bayou Queue-Tortue Alexandre Barde 175 XXI Rebels Without a Cause 189 XXIISecession from the Confederacy? 191 XXIII Ozeine Carriere and the St. Landry Jayhawkers, 1863-1865 Carl A. Brasseaux 193 XXIV Prince Camille de Polignac and the American Civil War, 1863-1865 Roy 0. Hatton 201 XXV The Battle of Bull Run P.G.T. Beauregard 215 XXVI The Battle of Pleasant Hill Sarah A. Dorsey 227 6 INTRODUCTION FRENCH LOUISIANA: THE ANTEBELLUM PERIOD The antebellum period is an important Despite significant cultural differences, transitional stage in the history of French however, French Louisianians closed ranks Louisiana. Although subjected to the pres- against the incoming Americans and against sures of large-scale Anglo-American immigra- the foreign domination which the newcomers tion, new political structures, a developing represented. In his essay, «From Subjects to plantation economy, .and improved transpor- Citizens» George W. Cable examines the re- tation, Louisiana's French community main- action of the Creoles to the establishment of tained its cultural identity. Its resistance to American rule. As he notes, the confronta- the Americanization of society was bolstered tions which had marred the festivities sur- by the influx of French immigrants and Santo rounding the cession did not abate when the Domingo exiles. French Louisianians, never- French representative left. W.C.C. Claiborne, theless, generally shared the developing South- the first American territorial governor, be- ern mores and adopted prevailing regional wailed the French. officers' «disorderly dis- attitudes toward slavery, though they tem- position» which led to the ballroom brawls pered them with the casual acceptance of mis- he describes in a letter. He pointed out the cegenation which led to the emergence of an political implication of these clashes, which important French-speaking group, the Free were apparently quite frequent during the People of Color. The Louisiana French com- early years of American rule, though by the munity,therefore,was never monolithic, end of 1804 the harrassed governor affirmed composed as it was, not only of urban and the existence of a «friendly understanding ruralCreoles,whoseinterests frequently between the Modern and Ancient Louisia- diverged,and of French-speaking blacks, nians.» Claiborne's optimism notwithstand- whose position was ambiguous, to say the ing, the rift between French Louisianians and least, but also of rural Acadiaas whose rapidly Anglo-Americans persisted through the ante- expanding population was also divided into bellum period, as Harriet Martineau records social and economic subgroups. The divisions in «New Orleans in 1838.» which had appeared by the 'nd of the Spanish regime persistedthroughthe antebellum Despite the influx of Anglo-Americans in period and surfaced forcefully during the Civil the early nineteenth century, the French com- War which found Creoles, Acadian, and munity resisted absorption into American so- French-speaking blacks on both sides of the ciety, in part because its ranks were swollen conflict. by a steady French immigration which contin- vii viii ued throughout the century.