Louisiana History: Second Semester Final Review
Louisiana Purchase and Early Territorial Period
Pinckney's Treaty: A agreement between the United States and Spain that granted Americans the right to navigate the Mississippi River and use the port of New Orleans to deposit goods for transfer to ocean-going vessels (the "right of deposit").
Treaty of San Ildefenso: A secret treaty signed in in which Spain agreed to return the territory of Louisiana to France. This was driven by Napoleon Bonaparte's desire to rebuild a French empire in North America.
Louisiana Purchase (): The acquisition of approximately square miles of territory from France by the United States for . - President during the purchase: Thomas Jefferson. - Country that sold Louisiana: France (under Napoleon Bonaparte). - French officials in charge: François Barbé-Marbois was the primary official negotiating the sale. - Reasons why France sold Louisiana: Napoleon's plan to use Louisiana as a supply base for Saint-Domingue failed after his army was decimated by yellow fever and a slave revolt in Saint-Domingue. Facing a renewed war with Britain, Napoleon needed money and chose to sell the entire territory. - Importance of the Port of New Orleans: It was the primary gateway for trade for the entire Mississippi River Valley. Controlling the port meant controlling the economic lifeblood of the American interior.
Napoleon's Plan for Saint-Domingue and Louisiana: Napoleon intended to recapture Saint-Domingue (modern-day Haiti) and use Louisiana as a "breadbasket" to feed the slave population and support his military operations in the Caribbean.
Claiborne and the Haitian Refugees: Governor William C.C. Claiborne faced the challenge of thousands of refugees fleeing the revolution in Saint-Domingue arriving in New Orleans in . This nearly doubled the city's population and complicated the existing cultural and racial dynamics.
The United States and West Florida: At the time of the Purchase, the status of West Florida was disputed. In , American settlers in the region revolted against Spanish rule and declared the Republic of West Florida, which was subsequently annexed by the United States and incorporated into the Louisiana Territory.
Adams-Onis Treaty (): This treaty formally settled the boundary disputes between the United States and Spain, resulting in the U.S. acquisition of Florida and the establishment of a clear boundary between Louisiana and Spanish Texas.
Filibustering: In the century, this referred to unauthorized military expeditions into foreign territories (such as Texas or Central America) by private individuals aimed at fomenting revolution or claiming land.
Battle of New Orleans: The final major battle of the War of , fought in January . Andrew Jackson led a diverse force of regulars, volunteers, and pirates to a decisive victory over the British, securing American control of the Mississippi River.
Impressment: The British practice of forcing sailors from American merchant ships into service in the Royal Navy, which was a primary cause of the War of .
The Antebellum Period and Sectionalism
Antebellum: Literally meaning "before the war," this term refers to the period in the Southern United States between the War of and the start of the Civil War ().
Manifest Destiny: The widely held -century belief that the United States was destined by God to expand its dominion and spread democracy and capitalism across the entire North American continent.
Democratic Party (Early ): Supported the "common man," small farmers, and expansion. They generally favored limited federal intervention and were popular among frontier settlers and small-scale laborers.
Whig Party: Formed in opposition to the Democrats. They favored government intervention in the economy, social reforms, and internal improvements. - Louisiana Planters and the Whig Party: Wealthy sugar planters in Louisiana were attracted to the Whig Party because they supported protective tariffs (taxes on imported goods). These tariffs made foreign sugar more expensive, thereby protecting the domestic market for Louisiana sugar.
The Know Nothing Party: A nativist political movement (formally the American Party) that was strongly anti-immigrant and anti-Catholic. They gained traction in Louisiana due to the influx of Irish and German immigrants.
Franchise/Suffrage: The right to vote.
Universal Manhood Suffrage: The movement to remove property-owning requirements for voting, allowing all white adult males to participate in the democratic process.
Internal Improvements: Large-scale infrastructure projects, such as the building of roads, bridges, canals, and improvements to navigation on rivers.
Role of the Steamboat: Revolutionized transportation on the Mississippi River and in New Orleans by allowing goods to be transported upstream efficiently, fueling New Orleans' economic boom.
Factor: A commercial agent who managed the sale of crops (like cotton or sugar) for planters, handled their financial transactions, and often advanced them credit for supplies.
Holding: The total number of enslaved people owned by a single individual.
Coffle: A group of enslaved people chained together for transport on foot to be sold at markets.
Veranda: A long, covered porch, usually found on plantation homes to provide shade and relief from the heat.
Overseer: A person hired by a plantation owner to manage day-to-day operations and supervise the labor of enslaved people.
Slave Quarters: The small, rudimentary cabins where enslaved people lived on a plantation.
Head and Master Statutes: Laws during the antebellum period that gave husbands comprehensive legal control over their wives' property and lives.
Manumission: The legal act of an owner freeing an enslaved person.
Missouri Compromise (): An agreement to maintain the balance of power between slave and free states. It admitted Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state, and prohibited slavery in the Louisiana Territory north of the latitude line.
Compromise of : A series of legislative measures aimed at resolving the status of territories acquired during the Mexican-American War. It included the admission of California as a free state and the creation of the Fugitive Slave Act.
Fugitive Slave Act: A law that required citizens and law enforcement in all states (including free states) to assist in the capture and return of escaped enslaved people. This caused significant outrage in the North.
Sectionalism: Loyalty to the interests of one's own region or section of the country, rather than to the nation as a whole, specifically the growing divide between Northern and Southern states.
Popular Sovereignty: The principle that the residents of a territory should vote to decide whether to allow slavery.
Southern Support of Slavery: Southerners justified slavery as essential to their economy (particularly the labor-intensive sugar and cotton industries) and as a social system that upheld their way of life.
Concern of Sugar Planters over Secession: While they supported slavery, some sugar planters were wary of secession because they feared losing the protective tariffs provided by the United States government.
The Civil War and Reconstruction
Confederate States of America (CSA): The unrecognized country formed by the Southern states that seceded from the United States.
Anaconda Plan: The Union's strategic plan to defeat the Confederacy by blockading Southern ports and taking control of the Mississippi River to split the South in two.
Blockade: The use of naval vessels to prevent ships from entering or leaving ports, used effectively by the Union to cripple the Southern economy.
Role of the Mississippi and Union Strategy: New Orleans and the Mississippi River were vital targets. Controlling the river would prevent the Confederacy from moving supplies and troops between eastern and western regions.
Emancipation Proclamation: Issued by Abraham Lincoln on January , , it declared that all enslaved people in Confederate-held territory were legally free. It did not apply to Union-controlled areas but changed the war's purpose to include the abolition of slavery.
Conscription Act: A law passed to draft men into military service to address manpower shortages during the war.
States' Rights: The belief that the powers of individual states are supreme over the powers of the federal government.
Reconstruction: The period (roughly ) during which the U.S. government worked to reintegrate Southern states into the Union and address the legal status of newly freed people.
Lincoln's Reconstruction Plan: Known as the " Plan," it offered a lenient path to reintegration if of a state's voters took an oath of allegiance to the Union.
Congress' Feelings toward Lincoln's Plan: Many in Congress (Radical Republicans) felt Lincoln's plan was too lenient and did not adequately protect the rights of freedmen or punish Confederate leaders.
Johnson's Reconstruction Plan: Similar to Lincoln's in its leniency, it allowed Southern states to re-enter the Union quickly but led to the rise of leaders who had previously supported the Confederacy.
Results of Johnson's Lenient Policies: Southern states quickly passed restrictive laws to control the labor and movement of freedmen.
Black Codes: Laws passed by Southern legislatures during Reconstruction to restrict the rights of African Americans, forcing them into labor contracts and limiting their freedom of movement.
Northern Response to Black Codes: Northerners were outraged, leading to the rise of the Radical Republicans who sought to impose stricter federal control over the South.
Freedmen: Newly emancipated individuals who had been enslaved.
Disenfranchise: To deprive someone of the right to vote.
Carpetbaggers: Northerners who moved to the South during Reconstruction seeking economic opportunity or political office.
Mechanics' Institute Riot (): A violent conflict in New Orleans where white Democrats attacked a predominantly Black and Republican gathering at the 1864 Constitutional Convention. The riot resulted in numerous deaths and pushed Congress toward more radical Reconstruction measures.
Reconstruction Acts: Laws passed by Congress in that divided the South into military districts and required states to ratify the amendment and grant voting rights to Black men before re-entering the Union.
Louisiana's Early Military Occupation: Federal troops occupied New Orleans early in the war (), making it a testing ground for Reconstruction policies before the war ended.
Post-Reconstruction and the Bourbon Era
Bourbon Democrat: A derogatory term for conservative Democrats who sought to return Louisiana to its pre-war social and political order. They represented the interests of wealthy planters and business owners.
Patronage: The power to control appointments to office or the right to privileges, often used by Bourbon Democrats to maintain power.
Convict Lease System: A system in which the state leased prisoners to private contractors for labor. It was a source of revenue and a way to provide cheap labor to plantations and industries, but it was notorious for its brutality.
Sharecropping: A system of agriculture in which a landowner allows a tenant to use the land in return for a share of the crops produced. It often trapped laborers in a cycle of debt and poverty.
Constitution of vs. : The Constitution of replaced the more progressive document. It reduced spending on public services like schools and infrastructure, hurting poor citizens and those who had benefited from Reconstruction reforms.
Plessy v. Ferguson (): A Supreme Court decision that upheld the constitutionality of racial segregation under the "separate but equal" doctrine. It significantly impacted the South by legalizing Jim Crow laws.
Jim Crow Laws: State and local laws that enforced racial segregation.
Grandfather Clause: A provision in the Constitution of that allowed men to vote only if their father or grandfather had been eligible to vote before January , . This effectively disenfranchised Black voters while allowing poor whites to vote.
Constitution of : Designed specifically to limit the voting rights of African Americans and poor whites through literacy tests, poll taxes, and the grandfather clause.
Poll Tax: A tax that had to be paid in order to vote.
White League: A paramilitary group formed to intimidate Republicans and Black voters to restore Democratic control.
Redeemers: White Democrats who sought to "save" the South from Republican rule during Reconstruction.
Home Rule: The power of local governments to manage their own affairs without interference from the state or federal government.
The 20th Century: Long, War, and Civil Rights
Populism: A political movement that champions the rights and interests of the common people against the "elite."
Progressive Movement: A period of widespread social activism and political reform in the early century.
Huey Long: A dominant and controversial figure in Louisiana politics. - Ultimate Goals: Long sought to become President of the United States. - Reputation as a Lawyer: He was known as a champion for the "little man" against large corporations. - Political Agenda/Campaign Platform: Focused on internal improvements (roads, bridges), free textbooks, and taxing corporations. - Impeachment Result: Long was impeached by the House but avoided conviction in the Senate after securing a written promise from senators (the "Round Robin") not to vote for his removal. - Patronage and the Deduct Box: Long used a system where state employees were forced to contribute a percentage of their salary (placed in a "deduct box") to his political funds.
Share Our Wealth Program: Huey Long's plan to redistribute wealth by capping personal fortunes and providing every family with a minimum income and household necessities.
Public Service Commission: The state agency that regulates utilities and transportation. Huey Long used his seat here to build his political base by taking on large companies like Standard Oil.
Flood of : A massive natural disaster that inundated large portions of the Mississippi River Valley. The perceived failure of the government to assist the poor contributed to Huey Long's rise.
Prohibition: The nationwide ban on the production, importation, and sale of alcoholic beverages from to . Louisiana significantly resisted enforcement due to its cultural ties to alcohol.
Great Depression: The severe worldwide economic downturn that began in .
The D-Day Invasion and Louisiana: Louisiana played a crucial role through the design and production of military equipment. - Eureka Boat: The original design for the shallow-water transport boat used in marshes. - Higgins Boats (LCVPs): Designed by Andrew Higgins in New Orleans, these were essential for the amphibious landings at Normandy.
Diversification of the Economy (WWII): The war led to a shift away from a purely agricultural economy toward industrial growth in sectors like oil, gas, and shipbuilding.
Isolationism: The policy of remaining apart from the affairs or interests of other countries, which was prevalent in the U.S. before the attack on Pearl Harbor.
War Material: Equipment, vehicles, and weapons used in warfare.
Maneuvers: Large-scale military training exercises; the "Louisiana Maneuvers" were held in to prepare troops for WWII.
GI Bill: A law that provided benefits to returning WWII veterans, including low-cost mortgages and tuition assistance.
Civil Service System: A system of hiring and promoting government employees based on merit rather than political patronage. It was a key reform in Louisiana history to curb corruption.
Sales Tax: A tax on the sale of goods or services. Earl Long (Huey's brother) was known for increasing tax rates to fund social programs.
Brown v. Board of Education (): The Supreme Court case that ruled racial segregation in public schools was unconstitutional, overturning Plessy v. Ferguson.
Civil Rights Act of : A landmark law that outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.
Voting Rights Act of : A law designed to overcome legal barriers at the state and local levels that prevented African Americans from exercising their right to vote.
Boycott: A punitive ban that forbids relations with certain groups or cooperation with a policy; used effectively during the Civil Rights movement, such as the Baton Rouge Bus Boycott of .