Louisiana
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State flag
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LOUISIANA,
one of the West South Central states of the U.S., bounded
on the N by Arkansas, on the E by Mississippi, on the S by the Gulf
of Mexico, and on the W by Texas. The Mississippi R. forms a portion
of the E border, and the Sabine R. forms much of the W border.
Louisiana entered the Union on April 30, 1812, as the 18th
state. In 1861 it became a founding member of the Confederate States
of America. The state economy was long dominated by agriculture.
By the early 21st century, however, exploitation of the state’s vast petroleum and natural-gas deposits had made Louisiana one of the most important mineral-producing states in the U.S. Tourism was a rapidly growing sector of the economy, and manufacturing was also important. However economic activities were disrupted by Hurricane Katrina, which devastated New Orleans and other areas in 2005.
| LOUISIANA STATE FACTS |
| DATE OF STATEHOOD: |
April 30, 1812; 18th state |
| CAPITAL: |
Baton Rouge |
| MOTTO: |
Union, justice, and confidence |
| NICKNAME: |
Pelican State |
| STATE SONGS: |
“Give Me Louisiana” (words and music by Doralice Fontane); “You Are My Sunshine” (words and music by Jimmie Davis) |
| STATE TREE: |
Bald cypress |
| STATE FLOWER: |
Magnolia |
| STATE BIRD: |
Eastern brown pelican |
| POPULATION (2000 census): |
4,468,976; 22d among the states |
| AREA: |
134,275 sq km (51,844 sq mi); 31st largest state;
includes 21,439 sq km (8278 sq mi) of inland water |
| COASTLINE: |
639 km (397 mi) |
| HIGHEST POINT: |
Driskill Mt., 163 m (535 ft) |
| LOWEST POINT: |
2.4 m (8 ft) below sea level, at New Orleans |
| ELECTORAL VOTES: |
9 |
| U.S. CONGRESS: |
2 senators; 7 representatives |
| GOVERNOR: |
Kathleen Babineaux Blanco (Dem.)
Took office January 2004 |
Louisiana, with an area of 134,275 sq km (51,844 sq mi), is
the 31st largest state in the U.S.; 4.2% of the land area
is owned by the federal government. The state is roughly L-shaped,
and its extreme dimensions are about 430 km (about 267 mi) from
N to S and about 460 km (about 286 mi) from E to W. Elevations range
from 2.4 m (8 ft) below sea level at New Orleans to a maximum of
only 163 m (535 ft) at the summit of Driskill Mt. in the N part
of the state. The approximate mean elevation is 30 m (100 ft). Louisiana’s
coastline along the Gulf of Mexico is 639 km (397 mi) long; its
tidal shoreline encompasses 12,424 km (7721 mi).
Louisiana is made up of three lowland regions. The West Gulf Coastal
Plain occupies almost the entire W half of the state. The plains
slope gently downward from N to S. The coast is characterized by
ridges of sand known as barrier beaches. Inland from the beaches
lies a zone of marshes containing numerous salt domes (large underground
masses of salt). The remainder of the region is a gently rolling
prairie land, underlain by clay-loam soils.
The Mississippi Alluvial Plain in part straddles the Mississippi
R. Paralleling the river is a series of low ridges known as front
lands. As these ridges slope away from the river, they form a flat
terrain called backlands. The Mississippi delta, an enormous geographic
feature covering some 38,850 sq km (about 15,000 sq mi), has been
formed and is continually expanded by the accumulation of silt from
the river. The Alluvial Plain is underlain by thick deposits of
fertile alluvial soil.
The East Gulf Coastal Plain covers a small area N of Lake
Pontchartrain. Marshes characterize its S extremity, gradually giving
way in the N to rolling prairies.
Louisiana has a markedly riverine environment. The Mississippi
R. and its major tributaries, which include the Red, Ouachita, and
Atchafalaya rivers, have deposited so much material that their beds
are now higher than much of the surrounding land. That land must
be protected by nearly 3220 km (nearly 2000 mi) of levees and other
flood-control devices. Natural flood-control drainage takes place
within a series of bayous (swampy outlets of rivers). The Black,
Pearl, and Sabine rivers are also important to the state’s
drainage system.
The brackish Lake Pontchartrain is the state’s largest
inland water body. Oxbow lakes (freshwater lakes occupying old river
channels) are found along the Mississippi R. and its tributaries.
Louisiana has a humid subtropical climate, with hot summers
and mild winters. Average annual temperatures range from about 20.6° C
(about 69° F) in the S to about 18.3° C (about
65° F) in the W and N. The high summer temperatures, generally
throughout the state, are usually accompanied by high humidity and
frequent rainfall. The recorded temperature in the state has ranged
from –26.7° C (–16° F) in 1899
to 45.6° C (114° F) in 1936.
Louisiana receives ample rainfall throughout the year. Annual
precipitation ranges from about 1270 mm (about 50 in) in the N to
more than 1525 mm (more than 60 in) in the S. Rainfall totals are
often increased as a result of hurricanes that may strike the coast
of Louisiana in late summer and early autumn; floods devastated New Orleans and other low-lying communities after Hurricane Katrina slammed into coastal Louisiana in August 2005.
| LOUISIANA AVERAGE CLIMATE |
| |
New Orleans |
Shreveport |
| Average January temperature range |
6.7° to 16.7° C |
44° to 62° F |
3.3° to 13.9° C |
38° to 57° F |
| Average July temperature range |
22.8° to 32.2° C |
73° to 90° F |
22.8° to 33.9° C |
73° to 93° F |
| Average annual temperature |
20° C |
68° F |
18.9° C |
66° F |
| Average annual precipitation |
1448 mm |
57 in |
1143 mm |
45 in |
| Average annual snowfall |
5 mm |
0.2 in |
30 mm |
1.2 in |
| Mean number of days per year with appreciable precipitation |
114 |
99 |
| Average daily relative humidity |
76% |
73% |
| Mean number of clear days per year |
109 |
118 |
Louisiana has an abundance and diversity of plant and animal life.
Commercial forests cover nearly half of the state’s total
area. Hardwoods, particularly oak, are mixed with shortleaf pine
throughout the NW. Cypress and oak forests, frequently covered by
Spanish moss, thrive throughout the lowland S. Flowering plants,
including azalea, magnolia, camellia, lily, and orchid, are also common.
Small mammals such as mink, raccoon, opossum, and skunk occupy
the woodlands. Deer and wildcat are found in the wooded swamp country.
Alligators are confined to the bayous and marshes. Birdlife is especially
diverse; wild ducks and geese winter in S Louisiana, where the brown
pelican is also found. Fish life abounds, with bass, sunfish, and
catfish among the most common freshwater varieties. The Gulf of Mexico
provides commercial fishers with tarpon, pompano, and menhaden.
Louisiana is extremely rich in mineral resources, of which petroleum
and natural gas are by far the most important. The major oil fields
are located in the S portions of the state, offshore in the Gulf
of Mexico, and in the NW. Significant salt and sulfur deposits are
found throughout the coastal marsh region, as are commercial quantities
of sand, stone, and clay.
According to the 2000 census, Louisiana had 4,468,976 inhabitants,
an increase of 5.9% over 1990. The average population density
in 2000 was 102.6 people per sq mi of land area; the main population concentrations
were in the N and S parts of the state. Whites made up 63.9% of
the population and blacks 32.5%; additional population
groups included 25,477 American Indians and Alaska Natives, 54,758
Asians, and 1240 Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders. (These
figures do not include the 1.1% of the population who reported
more than one race.) A total of 107,738 persons, about 2.4% of
the population, reported being of Hispanic background. The S region
of Louisiana contained much of the state’s nonwhite population
as well as such fairly distinct ethnic groups as the Creoles, descendants
of early French and Spanish settlers, and the Cajuns, who trace
their ancestry to the French-Canadian Acadians expelled from E Canada
in the mid-18th century. Many Cajuns speak a French patois.
The state’s largest cities were New Orleans; Baton Rouge, the
capital; Shreveport; Lafayette; and Lake Charles. After Hurricane Katrina struck in August 2005, the population of New Orleans dropped sharply. According to estimates by the U.S. Census Bureau, the Katrina disaster also led to an overall decrease in the state’s resident population, which fell nearly 5% between July 2005 and July 2006. The bureau reported that up to 100,000 Hispanics were attracted to the disaster area by a surge in cleanup and construction jobs.
According to a 2000 survey, Roman Catholics constituted the largest single faith group, then accounting for 30.9% of the population and more than half of all those belonging to a particular religious group. Other major religious groups included the Southern Baptist Convention (17.2%) and the United Methodist Church (3.6%).
As of 2000, about 73% of state residents lived in areas broadly defined, under revised definitions, as urban, and the rest lived in areas defined as rural.
| POPULATION OF LOUISIANA SINCE 1810 |
| Year of Census |
Population |
Classified As Urban |
| 1810 |
77,000 |
23% |
| 1830 |
216,000 |
21% |
| 1850 |
518,000 |
26% |
| 1880 |
940,000 |
26% |
| 1900 |
1,382,000 |
27% |
| 1920 |
1,799,000 |
35% |
| 1940 |
2,364,000 |
42% |
| 1960 |
3,257,000 |
63% |
| 1980 |
4,206,000 |
69% |
| 1990 |
4,219,973 |
68% |
| 2000 |
4,468,976 |
73% |
| POPULATION OF TEN LARGEST CITIES IN LOUISIANA |
| |
2000 Census |
1990 Census |
| New Orleans* |
484,674 |
496,938 |
| Baton Rouge |
227,818 |
219,513 |
| Shreveport |
200,145 |
198,525 |
| Lafayette |
110,257 |
94,440 |
| Lake Charles |
71,757 |
70,580 |
| Kenner |
70,517 |
72,033 |
| Bossier
City |
56,461 |
54,909 |
| Monroe |
53,107 |
52,721 |
| Alexandria |
46,342 |
49,188 |
| New Iberia |
32,623 |
31,828 |
*New Orleans had an estimated population (Nov. 2006) of 200,665.
Louisiana has a rich cultural life and a long educational
tradition, in which the Roman Catholic church has played an important
role.
The first school in the state was established in the 1720s;
the oldest existing school, dating from 1727, is a girls’ school
in New Orleans run by Ursuline nuns. The first public schools were
opened in 1771, and a statewide system was set up in the mid-19th
century.
In 2002 the public education system enrolled about 537,000 elementary students (pre-kindergarten through grade 8) and 194,000 secondary students. In the same period, Louisiana institutions of higher learning enrolled some 232,000 students. These institutions included the Louisiana State University System with the main campus at Baton Rouge (1860); Tulane University (1834), in New Orleans; the Southern University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, with its main campus at Baton Rouge (1880); the University of Southwestern Louisiana (1898), at Lafayette; Louisiana Tech University (1894), in Ruston; Grambling State University (1901), in Grambling; and Loyola University (1912), in New Orleans.
New Orleans, with its cosmopolitan style and Creole architecture
and cuisine, is a cradle of jazz and the cultural heart of Louisiana.
Among the city’s museums are the Louisiana State Museum, with historical exhibits; the New Orleans Museum of Art, containing European, pre-Columbian, and African painting and sculptures; a jazz museum; and the Mardi Gras museum. Other museums are in Baton
Rouge, Lafayette, and Shreveport. Louisiana’s largest libraries
are the Louisiana State Library and the library of Louisiana State
University, both in Baton Rouge. New Orleans Preservation Hall jazz
concerts are nationally famous. New Orleans also has a theater company
and symphony orchestra. Other symphony orchestras are in Shreveport
and Baton Rouge.
Historical landmarks reflect the colorful past of the state,
which was a territory of both France and Spain before becoming a
U.S. territory in 1803. The Vieux CarrÉ Historic District
(French Quarter) in New Orleans is noted for 18th- and 19th-century
buildings, including the huge Saint Louis Cathedral (1794). Jean
Laffite National Historical Park and Preserve includes the site of the Battle of New Orleans (1815). While flooding from Hurricane Katrina in August 1995 devastated the city of New Orleans, the French Quarter was less impacted than other areas, and in general many of the city’s cultural and historical attractions were functioning a few months later.
Hunting, fishing, and water sports are the main recreational activities.
The annual Sugar Bowl postseason college football game attracts
thousands of spectators. The state has a professional football team,
the New Orleans Saints, and a professional basketball team, the New Orleans Hornets. The leading attraction of Louisiana, however, is the Mardi Gras festival in New Orleans each spring. The celebration, which includes parades, street dancing, and costume balls, was conducted in 2006 and 2007 as usual, as New Orleans continued efforts to recover from the disaster of Hurricane Katrina.
The state’s first radio stations, WAAB and WWL of New Orleans, began broadcasting in 1922. In 2004 the state had 26 daily newspapers, with a combined daily circulation of about 700,000. The first newspaper, Le Moniteur de la
Louisiane, began publication in 1794. The leading dailies
today include the Times-Picayune, published in
New Orleans; the Advocate, published in Baton Rouge;
and the Times, published in Shreveport.
In 2003 52% of the state’s households had computers and 44% had Internet access.
Louisiana has had more constitutions than any other state
of the U.S. The present constitution became effective in 1975, and
previous ones were adopted in 1812, 1845, 1852, 1861, 1864, 1868,
1879, 1898, 1913, and 1921. State constitutional amendments may
be proposed by the legislature or by a constitutional convention.
To become effective, an amendment must be approved by a majority
voting on the issue in a general election.
Louisiana’s chief executive, the governor, is elected
to a 4-year term and may not serve more than two consecutive terms.
The lieutenant governor, who is independently elected to a 4-year term, succeeds the governor should the latter die, resign, or be removed from office. Other
elected state officials include the secretary of state, attorney
general, treasurer, and commissioners of agriculture and insurance.
The Louisiana legislature consists of a house of representatives
with 105 members and a senate with 39 members; all state legislators
are elected to 4-year terms. A term-limits measure enacted in 1995 and effective in 2007 provides that legislators with 12 years of uninterrupted service in either the house or the senate may not run for reelection to that body.
Louisiana’s legal system is based on the French Code
Napoléon, but it has been gradually changed to conform
to the system practiced in other states of the U.S. The highest
court is the supreme court with 7 members elected to 10-year terms.
The justice with seniority in office becomes the chief justice for
the remainder of his or her term. Next highest are courts of appeal,
with a total of 54 judges elected to 10-year terms. The main trial
courts in Louisiana are the district courts, which have a total
of 214 judges elected to 6-year terms. Courts of limited jurisdiction include family and juvenile courts, city courts, parish courts, justice of the peace courts, and mayors’ courts.
Louisiana is divided into 64 parishes, which are similar to
the counties of other states. Almost all parishes are governed by
a police jury, whose members are elected to 4-year terms. In the early 2000s, the state had 302 municipalities, 66 school districts, and 45 special districts.
Louisiana sends two senators and seven representatives to the
U.S. Congress. The state has nine electoral votes in presidential
elections.
The Democrats have traditionally dominated state and
local
politics in Louisiana, but the Republicans made gains in the 1960s
and ’70s. A dominant role in the state’s public
life during the 20th century was exercised by the Long family,
including Huey Pierce Long, who served both as governor (1928–32)
and U.S. senator (1932–35); his brother, Earl Kemp Long
(1895–1960), three times governor of Louisiana (1939–40,
1948–52, 1959–60); and Huey’s son, Russell
Billiu Long (1918–2003), who represented Louisiana in the U.S. Senate for 38 years before declining to appear on the ballot in 1986. The flamboyant and
controversial Edwin W. Edwards (1927– )
served 16 years as governor (1972–80, 1984–88, 1992–96);
repeatedly investigated by federal authorities for corruption in
office, he was convicted in May 2000 on racketeering, conspiracy,
and extortion charges in connection with the awarding of casino
gambling licenses.
Mike Foster (1930– ),
the grandson of former Gov. Murphy J. Foster (1849–1921),
was elected governor of Louisiana in 1995, only the second Republican
to win that office since Reconstruction; he was reelected in 1999.
Foster’s lieutenant governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco (1942– ), a Democrat, became Louisiana’s first woman governor when, after winning the November 2003 gubernatorial election, she took office in January
2004; she was widely criticized, along with federal and local authorities, for the poorly coordinated response to Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
Plantation agriculture blossomed in Louisiana in the 18th
century. Planters first experimented with indigo and tobacco, but
these were soon replaced by cotton in the N and sugarcane in the
subtropical S. In the late 19th century a lumbering boom occurred
in the state. The discovery of petroleum and natural gas in the
early 20th century added other dimensions to the economy. Since
World War II, with the growth of offshore oil drilling, industry
has expanded rapidly. Louisiana remains an important agricultural
state, but mining, manufacturing, tourism, and commerce now dominate
the economy.
Hurricane Katrina in 2005 devastated New Orleans and other parts of Louisiana, severely disrupting the economy, which slowly attempted to recover from the disaster. Damage to residential and commercial properties and to highways, electric power systems, and other infrastructure was estimated in the tens of billions of dollars. Jobs were lost and the population was depleted, as many evacuees who had fled to other areas did mot return. By late 2006, Congress had appropriated more than $120 billion in funds to the Gulf coast, mostly used to help compensate victims, clean up debris, house evacuees, and repair levees. Much remained to be done, especially in restoring the infrastructure.
| LOUISIANA STATE ECONOMY |
| STATE BUDGET (in thousands) |
| General revenue |
$23,739,239 |
| General expenditure |
$20,471,959 |
| Accumulated debt |
$10,182,940 |
 |
| STATE TAXES PER CAPITA |
$1,782 |
|
| PERSONAL INCOME, PER CAPITA |
$24,820 |
|
| POPULATION BELOW POVERTY LEVEL |
20.3% |
|
| EMPLOYMENT DISTRIBUTION |
| Management, business, finance |
214,000 |
| Professional and related |
379,000 |
| Services |
348,000 |
| Sales and related |
217,000 |
| Office and administrative support |
261,000 |
| Farming, fishing, forestry |
too small for statistical reliability |
| Construction and extraction |
141,000 |
| Installation, maintenance, repair |
88,00 |
| Production |
127,000 |
| Transportation and moving |
116,000 |
|
| GROSS STATE PRODUCT |
$166.3 billion |
|
| NET FARM INCOME |
$711 million |
| Principal products |
cane for sugar, cotton, cattle |
Farming accounts for about 1% of the yearly gross
state product in Louisiana. In 2004 the state had about 27,000 farms, which averaged 117 ha (289 acres) in size. Livestock products make up about two-thirds of the annual farm marketing receipts; beef cattle are raised in most parts of the state. The principal crops include sugarcane, cotton, soybeans, and rice, and sugarcane. The major cotton-growing areas are in the Mississippi bottomlands and in the valleys of tributary rivers. Soybeans are
grown throughout the state. Sugarcane and rice are grown primarily
in the hot, wet lowlands of the S. Other farm products include hay, sweet
potatoes, corn, sorghum, and horticultural crops.
The forestlands of Louisiana contain a rich variety of both
softwoods and hardwoods. Among the important commercial species
are southern pine, oak, ash, cypress, gum, cottonwood, and willow.
Louisiana ranks among the leading states in yearly plywood production.
Louisiana has rich coastal and inland fishing waters, and
although fishing accounts for less than 1% of the annual
gross state product, the annual catch landed in Louisiana is
generally greater than that of any other state except Alaska. More than three-quarters
of the catch is menhaden. Shrimp is the second largest catch by
volume but is first in value. Oysters and blue crabs are also significant. Pisciculture
(fish farming) is important in the production of crayfish and catfish.
Louisiana a major mining state. Petroleum and natural gas are key products. In 2003 Louisiana produced 1.35 trillion cu ft of natural gas, valued at $7.6 billion, the latter ranking it 3rd among the 50 states. The state is also typically the nation’s largest producer of salt and is second in the production of sulfur. Other significant
minerals include lime, high-silica glass sands, clay, gravel, and crushed stone. Nonfuel mineral output in 2005 was valued at $356 million..
Enterprises engaged in manufacturing account for about 16% of
the annual gross state product in Louisiana and in 2004 employed about 145,000 workers, a decline of 30,000 from 2000. The most important industries include chemicals and allied products, motor vehicles and transport equipment, petroleum and coal products, processed food, paper and allied products, and fabricated metals. The principal industrial areas of the state are centered on Shreveport, New Orleans, Baton Rouge, and Lake Charles.
In 2003 tourists spent an estimated $9.1 billion in Louisiana. The hub of this tourism industry is New Orleans, with its charming, historic, lively French Quarter. While the city was devastated by Hurricane Katrina, the French Quarter was spared much of the destruction, and in the months following the hurricane tourism began to reappear and recover. The annual Mardi Gras continued to bring in tourists, as did the annual Sugar Bowl football game, and major events at the Superdome. The state is also noted for its Gulf and freshwater fishing and for its excellent hunting opportunities, as well as Thoroughbred and quarter-horse racing. Louisiana maintains a system of 26 parks and recreation areas.
As of 2003 Louisiana’s network of highways covered about 98,000 km (about 61,000 mi), of which some 400 km (about 900 mi) were interstate highway. It is also served by major rail network and has more than 8000 km (more than 5000 mi) of navigable waterways. New Orleans’s location near the mouth of the Mississippi R., with access to the agricultural and industrial heartlands of the U.S., has helped to make it one of the nation’s busiest ports. Other ports include Baton Rouge and Lake Charles. Of special importance is the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port, a petroleum-handling terminal located offshore in the Gulf of Mexico. Opened in 1981, it is capable of berthing tankers too large to dock at any other U.S. port. Louisiana in 2005 had 242 airports, 237 heliports, and 16 seaplane bases. The busiest airfield is New Orleans International Airport, which serves as a major link to Latin America.
In 2003 electricity generating plants in Louisiana had a total capacity of about 26 million kw and produced some 95 billion kwh of electricity. Louisiana is rich in fossil fuel resources, and about 48% of its electricity in 2003 was produced from natural gas. Coal was the source for 24%, and nuclear installations provided most of the rest (17%).
Caddo, Tunica, Choctaw, and Chitimacha peoples were among the Native Americans living in the region when the first European arrived. Although Spanish explorers reached the mouth of the Mississippi in the early 16th century, the period of European settlement did not begin until 1682, when Robert Cavelier, sieur de La Salle, descended the Mississippi
River and took possession of the entire valley in the name of Louis
XIV, king of France, in whose honor he named it Louisiana.
La Salle’s attempt to establish a colony in Louisiana
in 1687 ended in his death. In 1698 a second venture was made by
Pierre le Moyne, sieur d’Iberville, who built a fort at
Biloxi and another on the Mississippi about 65 km (about 40 mi)
north of its mouth. Under Iberville, the colony experienced slow
growth because of the heat, the fever-producing swamps, and shortage
of food. In 1711 Louisiana was made an independent French colony,
and in 1712 Louis XIV granted to Antoine Crozat (1696–1740),
a Paris merchant, the exclusive privilege of trade and mining in
Louisiana for a period of 15 years. After investing a large fortune
in fruitless attempts to develop the country, Crozat surrendered
his charter in 1717.
The region then passed into the hands of the Company
of the West, headed by the financier John Law, who proceeded to
engineer his unsuccessful Mississippi Scheme. Colonization was actively
carried on. New Orleans, which had been founded in 1718, was made
the capital in 1722. The growth of the colony was hampered by the
restrictive commercial policy of the company and incessant quarrels
among its officials. In retaliation for the massacre of the French
inhabitants at Fort Rosalie in 1729, warfare was carried on with
the Natchez Indians until they were subdued; in operations against
the Chickasaw the French were less successful.
In 1733 Louisiana came directly under the French crown, and
for 30 years its status remained unchanged. In 1763, as a result
of European wars, France ceded Louisiana east of the Mississippi
(with the exception of the island of Orleans) to Great Britain,
the region west of the river with the city of New Orleans having
been ceded to Spain by a secret treaty in the preceding year.
With the development of the Kentucky and Tennessee regions,
the inhabitants of which required an outlet for their produce, the
free navigation of the Mississippi River became a matter of concern
to the U.S., which had won its independence in 1783. When the Spanish
denied the Americans free access to the Gulf of Mexico, a situation
arose that might have led to war, but it resulted instead in the
U.S. purchase of Louisiana from the French in 1803. In 1804 the
region south of lat 33° was organized as the territory
of Orleans, and the country to the north became the territory of
Louisiana in 1805 and the territory of Missouri in 1812.
Louisiana was admitted to the Union on April 30, 1812. On
Jan. 8, 1815, an important American victory in the War of 1812 was
achieved at New Orleans. Following the war, river trade, heightened
by the invention and use of the steamboat, made New Orleans a major
port; by 1840 the city was second only to New York City in tonnage
handled. New Orleans attracted numerous German, Irish, French, and West Indian immigrants, and by 1860 had the largest Jewish population in the South.
The economic development of the state was rapid and accompanied
by constitutional changes that harmonized the old civil law with
principles of the common law and republican institutions. In 1845
the choice of governor was given directly to the people, and in
1852 many judicial offices were made elective. In 1849 Baton Rouge
became the capital. The state’s cotton and sugar plantation economy depended on black slaves, who comprised nearly half the state’s population on the eve of the Civil War.
On Jan. 26, 1861, a convention passed an ordinance of secession
from the Union without submitting it to a popular vote. With the
outbreak of the American Civil War the commerce of New Orleans disappeared
almost entirely, and great want ensued throughout the state. In
May 1862, New Orleans was occupied by Union troops, a military government
was established, and the courts were reorganized. In 1864 a convention
elected by the Union element in the state framed a new constitution
emancipating black slaves immediately and unconditionally. In 1866,
however, the state government legislated against the freed slaves;
an attempt made by the Unionists to reconvene the convention of
1864 in order to revise the suffrage requirements led to a riot
in New Orleans in which some 35 blacks were killed and more than 100 injured, as they clashed with white mobs that were not restrained by police.
Following the war, on March 2, 1867, Louisiana became a part
of the Fifth Military District under Gen. Philip Henry Sheridan.
In 1868 a new constitution enfranchising blacks was adopted, the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified, and military occupation came to an end in July. The majority of white residents were slow in accepting the new conditions, and bitter feeling and
turbulence continued to mark the political scene.
In 1928 Huey Pierce Long was elected governor of the state.
His program for vast public expenditures so antagonized his political
opponents that they began impeachment proceedings in 1929. The failure
of these proceedings strengthened Long’s position, and
he assumed near-virtual dictatorial powers. In 1935, Long, then a U.S.
senator but still dominating Louisiana politics, was assassinated.
The Long political machine, however, continued to function.
With the rapid expansion of Louisiana’s shipbuilding
and petrochemical industries during World War II and a sharp increase
in oil and gas production, the port of New Orleans assumed major
importance. Shipping gained redoubled momentum with the 1963 opening
of a 122-km (76-mi) canal, a shortcut between New Orleans and the
Gulf of Mexico. New Orleans also became a rocket-production site
for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
School desegregation, begun in 1959, was accelerated by a
1963 plan calling for the desegregation of a lower high school grade
each year. Although Louisiana resisted desegregation, under the
Civil Rights Act of 1960 the number of blacks qualified to vote
increased. In 1967 Ernest N. Morial (1929–89) was elected
to the state legislature, the first black to join that body since
the Reconstruction period. Ten years later Morial won election as
the first black mayor in the history of New Orleans.
While agriculture remained an important feature of the economic
profile, the industrial expansion that began during World War II
has continued. During the 1980s and '90s, production
of oil, natural gas, and petrochemicals became crucial to the state’s
economy. Expansion of tourism and the legalization of casino gambling
helped the state weather a weakening of energy prices.
The state and especially the city of New Orleans were devastated by flooding after Hurricane Katrina struck in August 2005. According to the official state count, at least 1,464 people lost their lives, and tens of thousands of homes were destroyed. In the aftermath of the storm, many thousands of people were stranded in their homes for days or longer without electricity, fresh water, or other essential services; a year later, a significant proportion of those who remained in (or returned to) the disaster area were living in some 64,000 travel trailers and mobile homes provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. FEMA was widely blamed for mishandling the federal role in the relief and reconstruction effort, and mismanagement by state and local officials also drew criticism. And while many complained about slowness in compensating victims, adequate safeguards were apparently not in place; a U.S. General Accounting Office report estimated that up to $1.4 billion was wasted in paying on fraudulent claims.
By the end of 2006 the population of New Orleans was estimated at only about 40 percent of its 2000 census total, and the pace of recovery in much of coastal Louisiana remained slow. Questions also remained as to Louisiana’s preparedness for future disasters, especially since the levees were not reconstructed to be able to withstand the most severe type of hurricane.