Covering the lively, even raucous, history of Louisiana from before First Contact through the Elections of 2012, this sixth edition of the classic Louisiana history survey provides an engaging and comprehensive narrative of what is arguably America s most colorful state. Since the appearance of the first edition of this classic text in 1984, Louisiana: A History has remained the best-loved and most highly regarded college-level survey of Louisiana on the market Compiled by some of the foremost experts in the field of Louisiana history who combine their own research with recent historical discoveries Includes complete coverage of the most recent events in political and environmental history, including the continued aftermath of Katrina and the 2010 BP oil spill Considers the interrelationship between Louisiana history and that of the American South and the nation as a whole Written in an engaging and accessible style complemented by more than a hundred photographs and maps

Covering the lively, even raucous, history of Louisiana from beforeFirst Contact through the Elections of 2012, this sixth edition ofthe classic Louisiana history survey provides an engaging andcomprehensive narrative of what is arguably America's mostcolorful state.* Since the appearance of the first edition of this classic textin 1984, Louisiana: A History has remained the best-lovedand most highly regarded college-level survey of Louisiana on themarket* Compiled by some of the foremost experts in the field ofLouisiana history who combine their own research with recenthistorical discoveries* Includes complete coverage of the most recent events inpolitical and environmental history, including the continuedaftermath of Katrina and the 2010 BP oil spill* Considers the interrelationship between Louisiana history andthat of the American South and the nation as a whole* Written in an engaging and accessible style complemented bymore than a hundred photographs and maps

Map 1 Louisiana viiiMap 2 The United States, with Louisiana highlighted ixIntroduction by John C. Rodrigue 1Part One 7by Light Townsend Cummins1 Native Peoples and European Contact 92 The Founding of French Louisiana 323 Louisiana as a French Colony 524 Spanish Louisiana 685 The Final Years of Colonial Louisiana 85Suggested Readings 101Part Two 105by Judith Kelleher Schafer6 The Territorial Period 1077 The Political Development of Antebellum Louisiana 1278 Life and Labor in Antebellum Louisiana 1569 Civil War and Reconstruction in Louisiana 197Suggested Readings 227Part Three 233by Edward F. Haas10 Uneasy Interlude, 1877-1892 23511 Bourbonism, Populism, and a Little Progressivism, 1892-1924 25612 The Time of the Kingfish, 1924-1935 28013 The Struggle to Catch Up, 1877-1935 301Suggested Readings 322Part Four 325by Michael L. Kurtz14 Corruption, Reform, and Reaction, 1936-1950 32715 Reform and Race, 1950-1960 35116 The Decline of Racism, 1960-1972 37617 The Era of Edwin Edwards, 1972-1987 39318 Louisiana at the End of the Century, 1987-2000 41819 Louisiana in the New Millennium 454Suggested Readings 478Appendix I 481European Rulers with Relation to Louisiana during the Colonial and Territorial Periods 481Military Commandants and Governors of Louisiana 482Appendix II 486A Selective Chronology of Louisiana History 486Index 493