Chapter 9 La's Antebellum Politics

Introduction

• In 1853, the first world’s fair opened in New York City

• A few Antebellum homes built or remodeled during this time are: Oak Alley, Rosedown

• Nottoway was finished in 1859 and is the largest Antebellum mansion in the South

• in 1844, Samuel Morse developed the first telegraph system

  • he created morse code

Antebellum Politics

• Antebellum means time before the Civil War

• Creoles and Americans competed for political power during this time

• Americans and Creoles would alternate between governors in La to resolve the tension

  • This did not last long

• because of the power struggles in la, the state capital would be moved from New Orleans to Donaldsonville

• Then it was moved back to Baton Rouge because the city was too small

• In 1847, the capital would move to Baton Rouge

Spotlight

• Samuel Clemens wrote several books under the name of Mark Twain

• These books include Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn

• 3 separate municipalities in New Orleans:

  • municipalities is a city or town that has corporate status and local government

• A) 1^st district settled by the Creoles was in the French Quarter

• B) 2^nd district was settled by Americans above Canal Street

• C) 3^rd district was settled downriver from the French Quarter by working class people

Political Parties

• Jackson’s supporters became known as the Democratic-Republics

• Overtime the name became just the Democrats

• these people supported a small government and the interest of common people rather than business

• Suffrage is the right to vote

• universal manhood suffrage is the right to vote for any free white male who was 21 years old

• in the 1830’s the Whig Party came to oppose the Democratic party

• they backed business and banking rather than the common person

• sugar planters in La supported the Whig party because of the support of sugar tariffs

• the issue over slavery ended the Whig party years later

• the american party opposed immigrants and catholics

• this party became the “know nothings” because the people used that slogan when asked about their party

• by 1850, the germans and irish made up half the population in new orleans

• this party lasted up until the civil war

Zachary Taylor

• He was the only La resident to become president of the US

• He owned at least 300 slaves at one time

• He helped annex Texas and it became a state in 1845

• in 1849, Taylor became the 12^th president of the US

2 State Constitutions

• In 1845, the La constitution allowed the seats in the House to be based on registered voters

• the senate seats would be based on total population including slaves

• In 1852, a new constitution was written to improve the 1845 one

• It helped businesses, banking and internal improvements like roads and railroads

The Antebellum Economy

• New Orleans was one of the largest cities and most important port in the South

• a factor is someone who oversees and advises the planter on shopping and sales

• a factor also is able to loan people money for seeds and supplies

• banking also helped with capital resources for business

• best form of transportation was by water

• steamboats helped with water travel also

• railroads were being built during this time period

• a 6 mile track was built between new orleans and lake pontchartrain

• most of the US railroads were destroyed by the Union or Confederate forces during the Civil War

Agriculture

• sugar and cotton made many people in Louisiana very rich

• 1860 La produced 1/6 of the nation’s cotton

• only about 25% of southern farmers owned salves

• a bale of cotton weighs around 500 pounds

• slaves were considered property

• only 1% of farmers owned 100 or more slaves

• slaves did all kinds of jobs on farms and in the city

• slaves were sold and bought in new orleans

• new orleans would be the slave trade in the south

• owners could sell slaves and not land if they needed money

• antislavery movements started in the North

• the market for slaves grew more in the south

People and Culture

• kitchens were never built in plantation homes because of the risk of fires

• overseers were white men who supervised slaves and farms for the plantation owner

• slaves lived near their owners in small houses called slave quarters

• teachings slaves to read was illegal, so their life history was passed along orally

• by 1840, free people of color’s population reached 25,000

• their rights fell between free whites and slaves’ rights

• some free people of color owned slaves also

• large numbers of germans and irish settled in La during this time

• the irish took jobs that slave owners did not want their slaves to do because of danger

• disease was a big part of life in la

• la’s standing water brought mosquitos which in turn brought yellow fever

• because of the mississippi river, cotton, and sugar industries, new orleans was one of the nation’s largest and wealthiest cities

• the napoleon house is one of the oldest buildings in the french quarter