Louisiana: A History

Louisiana: A History PDF Author: Joe Gray Taylor
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
ISBN: 0393243745
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 229

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Book Description
From the earliest colonists through the latest Mardi Gras, Louisiana has had a history as exotic as that of any state. Even its political corruption--extending from French governors for whom office was exploitable property through the "Louisiana Hayride" following the death of Huey Long--seems to have had a glamorous side. Handing the colony of Louisiana back and forth between their empires, the French and Spanish left a legacy that lives in such forms as the architecture of the Vieux Carre and a civil law deriving from the Napoleonic Code. Acadian refugees, German farmers, black slaves and free blacks, along with Italians, Irish, and the "Kaintucks" who helped Andrew Jackson win the Battle of New Orleans added to the state's distinctiveness. Made rich by sugar cane, cotton, and Mississippi River commerce before the Civil War, Louisiana faced poverty afterward. Battles between Bourbon Democrats and Reconstruction Republicans followed, ultimately involving the Custom House Ring and the Knights of the White Camelia. By methods that remain controversial, Huey Long ended "government by gentlemen" with economic transformations other had sought. Gas, oil, and industrialization have additionally "Americanized" the state. Something of Louisiana's historic joie de vivre remains, however, to the gratification of residents and visitors alike; both will enjoy Joe Gray Taylor's telling of the story.

The Louisiana Purchase

The Louisiana Purchase PDF Author: Robert D. Bush
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 113507772X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 225

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Book Description
In 1803, the United States purchased 828,000 square miles of land from France at a price of approximately three cents per acre, dramatically altering the young nation’s geography and its political future. President Thomas Jefferson had struggled for three years over the purchase, which many believed to be unconstitutional, during which time the land changed hands between the French and the Spanish. In perhaps the nation's most formative development since the Revolutionary War, the deal secured the U.S. territory that would become fifteen new states, sparked intense public argument about the American Frontier, and ensured Jefferson a complicated legacy in American history. With special attention to the diplomatic and constitutional background of the purchase, The Louisiana Purchase examines the event in the context of the Atlantic world, including the impact of the French Revolution and Napoleonic wars in Europe, colonial revolutions in the Caribbean, and the westward expansion of the U.S. population. In five concise chapters bolstered by primary documents including treaties, letters, and first-hand observations, Robert D. Bush introduces students to the political history of this momentous land acquisition.

Notes on the State of Virginia

Notes on the State of Virginia PDF Author: Thomas Jefferson
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Indians of North America
Languages : en
Pages : 400

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Book Description


The Louisiana Purchase

The Louisiana Purchase PDF Author: Thomas Fleming
Publisher: Wiley
ISBN: 0471484407
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 192

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Book Description
From The Louisiana Purchase Like many other major events in world history, the Louisiana Purchase is a fascinating mix of destiny and individual energy and creativity. . . . Thomas Jefferson would have been less than human had he not claimed a major share of the credit. In a private letter . . . the president, reviving a favorite metaphor, said he "very early saw" Louisiana was a "speck" that could turn into a "tornado." He added that the public never knew how near "this catastrophe was." But he decided to calm the hotheads of the west and "endure" Napoleon's aggression, betting that a war with England would force Bonaparte to sell. This policy "saved us from the storm." Omitted almost entirely from this account is the melodrama of the purchase, so crowded with "what ifs" that might have changed the outcome-and the history of the world. The reports of the Lewis and Clark expedition . . . electrified the nation with their descriptions of a region of broad rivers and rich soil, of immense herds of buffalo and other game, of grassy prairies seemingly as illimitable as the ocean. . . . From the Louisiana Purchase would come, in future decades, the states of Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota, and large portions of what is now North Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, Minnesota, Colorado, and Louisiana. For the immediate future, the purchase, by doubling the size of the United States, transformed it from a minor to a major world power. The emboldened Americans soon absorbed West and East Florida and fought mighty England to a bloody stalemate in the War of 1812. Looking westward, the orators of the 1840s who preached the "Manifest Destiny" of the United States to preside from sea to shining sea based their oratorical logic on the Louisiana Purchase. TURNING POINTS features preeminent writers offering fresh, personal perspectives on the defining events of our time.

A Wilderness So Immense

A Wilderness So Immense PDF Author: Jon Kukla
Publisher: Anchor
ISBN: 0307493237
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 444

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Book Description
In A Wilderness so Immense, historian Jon Kukla recounts the fascinating tale of the personal maneuverings, political posturing, and international intrigue that culminated in the greatest land deal in history. Spanning nearly two decades, Kukla’s book brings to life a pageant of characters from Thomas Jefferson, James Monroe, and John Jay, to Napoleon and Carlos III of Spain and other colorful figures. Employing letters, memoirs, contemporary documents, and a host of other sources, Kukla creates a complete and compelling account of the Louisiana Purchase. From the hinterlands in Kentucky to the courts of Spain, France, and England to the halls of Congress, he re-creates the forces and personalities that turned a struggle for navigation rights on the Mississippi into an event that doubled the size of the country and altered the destiny of the United States forever.

Louisiana Rocks!

Louisiana Rocks! PDF Author: Tom Aswell
Publisher: Pelican Publishing
ISBN: 1455607835
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 502

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Book Description
An in-depth history of rock and roll's Louisiana roots. Taking the position that rock and roll started in New Orleans in 1947 when Roy Brown recorded "Good Rockin' Tonight," Aswell provides an expansive history of this beloved American music form. By looking at the Louisianan influences of swamp pop, Cajun, zydeco, R&B, rockabilly, country, and blues music, the author explores the way these musical forms gave birth to rock and roll as we know it today.

Jefferson's America & Napoleon's France

Jefferson's America & Napoleon's France PDF Author: Gail Feigenbaum
Publisher: University of Washington Press
ISBN:
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 312

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Book Description
Featuring a wealth of high quality color photographs, this catalogue describes the materials displayed in a 2003 exhibition organized by the New Orleans Museum of Art in commemoration of the bicentennial of the Louisiana Purchase. The cultural politics and special relationship between Thomas Jefferson's America and Napoleon Bonaparte's France are explored through paintings, sculptures, prints, documents, furniture, and decorative arts. Ten essays address such topics as Jefferson's Monticello and the indigenous cultures of the southeast. Oversize: 9.25x12.25". Distributed by the U. of Washington Press. Annotation (c)2003 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com).

Legal Traditions in Louisiana and the Floridas 1763-1848

Legal Traditions in Louisiana and the Floridas 1763-1848 PDF Author: Seán Patrick Donlan
Publisher: Talbot Publishing
ISBN: 9781616195847
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Through a mix of different historiographical methods, a broad understanding of legal and social history, and the lens of plural comparative contexts, this collection tells us much about continuity and change in a critical transition period (1763-1848) for Louisiana and the Floridas, as well as for the modern era.

The Road to Louisiana

The Road to Louisiana PDF Author: Carl A. Brasseaux
Publisher: University of Louisiana
ISBN: 9781935754602
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 326

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Book Description
This anthology constitutes the first attempt to fill comprehensively one of the most enduring lacunae in Louisiana historiography--the French-Antillian migration to the lower Mississippi Valley. Generations of Louisiana historians have neglected this influx, involving more than 10,000 Saint-Domingue refugees between 1792 and 1810. These newcomers were subsequently joined by far smaller numbers of French citizens from Guadeloupe and Martinique. Not only were these immigrants largely responsible for the establishment and success of the state's sugar industry, but they also gave New Orleans many of its most notable early institutions--the French opera, newspapers, schools, and colleges--and ultimately its antebellum French flavor. The refugees also contributed Creole cuisine, Creole language, okra, and voodoo to their adopted homeland. Despite their significance, the refugees have attracted remarkably little scholarly attention. Louisiana's pioneer historians--FranCois Xavier Martin, Charles E. A. GayarrE, and AlcEe Fortier--and their successors have generally accorded them only passing mention. The articles assembled in this anthology are the first to document the migrations and resettlement of these unfortunate people and to assess their impact upon New Orleans. Three of the four articles have appeared earlier in various scholarly journals, some of which are now defunct. Two of the articles have been translated from the original French by David Cheramie to make them accessible to English-speaking historians and genealogists, who had previously been unable to extract and utilize the wealth of information presented by the authors. The authors, widely recognized for their lasting contributions to the field of Saint-Domingue studies, trace the refugees' long, hard road to Louisiana. Thomas Fiehrer, an expert on the French Antilles, provides an overview of Louisiana's historical Caribbean connection. Gabriel Debien, dean of the French-Antillian historians, investigates the temporary relocation of the Saint-Domingue refugees in Cuba (1793-1815). Debien and the late New Orleans historian and genealogist RenE LeGardeur recount the small-scale migration of refugees into southern Louisiana preceding the massive, early nineteenth-century influx, analyzed by noted Canadian historian Paul Lachance. Finally, the editors' introduction puts the foregoing essays into historical perspective and examines the impact of the refugees on Louisiana's rural parishes.

The French Quarter of New Orleans

The French Quarter of New Orleans PDF Author:
Publisher: Univ. Press of Mississippi
ISBN: 9781617034978
Category : Architecture
Languages : en
Pages : 256

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Book Description
The author, a native of New Orleans, displays his passion for the "French Quarter" of the city in 106 color photographs highlighting Old World architecture, style, and history that has made this section of the city famous throughout the world.

The Pelican Guide to Plantation Homes of Louisiana

The Pelican Guide to Plantation Homes of Louisiana PDF Author: Anne Butler
Publisher: Pelican Publishing
ISBN: 9781589807099
Category : Travel
Languages : en
Pages : 148

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Book Description
The plantation homes of Louisiana were built by wealthy cotton and sugar planters, who vied with one another to create the most splendid residences in the years before the Civil War. This edition of the guide features descriptions of more than 250 significant houses in Louisiana, many dating from the days of French and Spanish rule. Seventy-one photographs highlight the finest structures.