Slavery in Louisiana

Origins of Slavery in Louisiana



Before European settlers arrived, the inhabitants of Louisiana began to enslave people by capturing them from their encircled foes and using them as slaves in their own country. Spanish kings once controlled the region (Burin 174). French colonists recognized the region upon their arrival and gave it the name Louisiana. Modern-day Biloxi, Natchitoches, Mobile, and New Orleans were founded by early immigrants. The remaining women and children were taken as slaves by the French colonies after they had conquered the state. Natives were mostly utilized to capture opponents' hostages; as a result, French colonists needed more obedient subjects to use as slaves after the conflict. In this respect, French colonists were capturing Africans between the years 1717 to 1721 and transported them to New Orleans (Burin).



The Impact of Slave Trade



According to Cole (1011), those captured agonized from scurvy and dysentery, with ultimately succumbing to death as a result of overcapacity in the ships as well as the reduced nutrition and the poor health. Spanish colonists promulgated law forbidding slave trade of Native Americans in 1769 and enforced a subsequent law consenting slaves to buy their freedom and that of others. Between the years 1780-1784, the Maroon group of slaves counterattacked the colonial rule in New Orleans, which resulted in 23 of them being hanged while 31 others were condemned to scourging and hard labor after the hearing in Point Coupee. Three whites who were arrested with the slaves were deported, and two of them were sentenced to the forced labor in Havana.



Slavery and the Cotton Gin



The cotton gin discovery in Louisiana led to the rise in demand for slaves to work on the cotton farms in northern parts as well as on sugarcane plantations along the Mississippi river delta. After the purchase of the state by the United States, slave importation was abolished in 1807. Internal slave trade developed whereby black slaves were sold by their holders to the lower southern region from upper areas. Black slaves appalled against punitive working conditions on these plantations outdoor of the New Orleans in 1811. The revolt of slaves in Haiti in 1791-1804 propagated the latter resistance. The US Constitution in 1864 banned the slave trade and gave the latter liberty to settle freely in America. Some left the plantations to seek military union lines for freedom while those who failed to reach the bases stayed in the farms until the union gained control over the South (Foner 47).



Differences between Slavery in Louisiana and Other Southern States



There existed clear differences between slavery in Louisiana and other southern states. During the 18th century, slavery in Louisiana changed entirely compared to other regions. In the course of this period, slaves originated from Spanish and French colonies such as Congo, Benin, and Senegal, rather than in other countries where Native Americans were still being used as slaves (Gross 217)



Treatment of Slaves in Louisiana



Formerly, the slave trade administered by French rulers and later by Spanish granted privileges to the slaves like rights to espouse as well as to worship whereby the French rule instigated the slave controllers to allow the latter to join Catholic parishes. In Louisiana, the state also banned the parting of slave couples as well as torturing them, though they received a substantial penalty after being convicted with strict frigging laws. On the contrast, the other colonists in southern areas employed harsh and restricted measures on the black people. For instance, German colonists executed revolting slaves in the New Orleans (Litwack).



The Status of Free People of Color in Louisiana



The French colonizers employed the free people of the color scheme, which granted Anglo-Americans the right to own properties, business, and even slaves. They prohibited the intermarriages between slaves and natives. Antagonistically, the colonists in the other southern states held Anglo-Americans as captives that had to work for their masters for several years before being granted the right to live freely. In other regions like the New Orleans, intermarriages between the black slaves and the natives were still being practiced (Singleton 92).



Religious and Cultural Differences



In Louisiana, the intermediate groups that erupted after the intermarriages among whites and blacks commonly referred to the mulattoes were granted rights and treated like the natives while the mid society in the other southern states was not considered differently from the black slaves. Louisiana was primarily denominated by Catholic faith as the only recommended by the French rulers while the other southern states were designated by the Protestantism, which the British employed (Mills and Mills 118).



Similarities and Differences in Slavery



Despite the differences between slavery in Louisiana and other parts of the country, there were some similarities between the two. There existed the adoption of slaves captured from the overpowered enemies. The inhabitants were arresting individuals who had survived wars. Commonly, these entities were women and children. Slaves were forced to work on the farms and as servants in their master’s homes.



After colonists arrived in America, they tried to enslave the Native Americans they found in both Louisiana and other southern regions of the America. British formerly tried to force red Indians to work on their plantation; however, the resistance they faced led them to opt for other sources of labor. Similarly, French colonists in the Louisiana region at the outset tried to involve the Native Americans in Biloxi, Natchto, Mobile and New Orleans to forced labor but failed (Scott).



The introduction of the cotton gin in America caused the high demand for slaves to work on the cotton farms in Louisiana as well as in other southern states; thus, the need for importation of slaves from outside the America was increased. In addition, the sugarcane in the Louisiana region required enough workers to work on the plantations.



The French colonists captured black slaves to work in the cotton and sugarcane farms. They transported them in large numbers using ships. These slaves suffered from dysentery and scurvy due to poor sanitation and inadequate nutrition during their transit, and many of them died before reaching their destination. British colonies also adopted transporting slaves from Africa to work on the plantations in other southern states. Similarly, some of these slaves died due to poor nutrition and poor sanitation during their transits (Gross 205).



In the Louisiana region, slaves were given the right to exercise their freedom to worship in the Catholic parishes, as well as in the other southern states where the colonists used to instruct the slaves to join their congregation in Protestant churches. For example, Spanish colonists used to baptize them before the transportation. French colonists in the Louisiana region recommended the slave masters to allow their workers to practice the Catholic faith (Litwack).



The state of Louisiana was colonized by European master, particularly French denominated after they displaced their Spanish counterparts. Similarly, the other southern countries were colonized by the Europeans including German, Spanish, and British ones (Singleton 73).In Louisiana, state slaves applied their knowledge of medical skills to treat each other. They depended on their herbs they had carried along from Africa before they discovered American ones suitable for medical care. Similarly, the slaves in the other southern states had to depend on their medical skills for treatment their ill colleges since no advanced healthcare was available at that time.



Captives in both Louisiana and other southern states were not allowed to hold separate religious congregation on their own as they were perceived to plan the revolution. The slaves were supposed to attend the church alongside their masters and seat at the back while white preacher presided over the service. During the late 18th century, both northern and southern slaves revolted against the colonists. Later, those in Louisiana region rebelled against the brutal labor on the sugarcane plantations, which was after the revolt by the black slaves in Haiti (Litwack).In conclusion, the slavery in Louisiana and other parts of the United States was conducted in a similar manner whereby most slaves were obtained from African colonized states. The latter were subjected to the forced labor under deteriorating conditions and harsh treatments. Later, several states enacted laws that gave slaves rights and privileges to ownership, marriage, and religion. Despite these similarities, there were several differences that distinguished the slavery in various part of America, including the fact that most slaves in Louisiana were captured from French and Spanish colonies rather than from British ones and that they began issuing slaves with rights earlier than those were promoted in any other state.



Works Cited



Burin, Eric. Slavery and the Peculiar Solutions: A History of the American Colonization Society. Southern Dissent, 2008.



Cole, Shawn. “Capitalism and Freedom: Manumissions and the Slave Market in Louisiana, 1725–1820.” The Journal of Economic History, vol. 65, no. 4, 2005, pp. 1008-1027.



Foner, Eric. Reconstruction: America’s Unfinished Revolution, 1863-1877. Harper Collins, 2011.



Gross, Ariela J. Double Character: Slavery and Mastery in the Antebellum Southern Courtroom. University of Georgia Press, 2006.



Litwack, Leon F. North of Slavery: The Negro in the Free States. University of Chicago Press, 2009.



Mills, Gary B., and Elizabeth Shown Mills. The Forgotten People: Cane River’s Creoles of Color. LSU Press, 2013.



Scott, Rebecca J. Degrees of freedom: Louisiana and Cuba after slavery. Harvard University Press, 2009.



Singleton, Theresa A. The Archaeology of Slavery and Plantation Life. Routledge, 2016.

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