Narrator
4:27pm, May 09, 2017
[Edit]
[Delete] | "The jewel in the mouth of the Mississippi..."
Beforehand: The Civil War is imminent. The South burns with rebellion and rage. The rise of the northern Republicans, the election of Lincoln, and the aftermath of the gold rush has spurred the Jacksonian Democrats to the south into seriously dire political straits. And yet, the brightest jewel below the Mason-Dixon remains the ever important port of New Orleans. The city is a thriving, cosmopolitan society unlike any other in the country, and the majority of its citizens - the Free People of Color - have no interest in perpetuating the social order of the South. Slavery birthed their culture, but it is now time to cast off that morbid cocoon. They see an opportunity, a promise that sadly will not bear its fruit until they are long gone...
"The history of New Orleans contrasts significantly with the histories of other cities that became part of the Confederate States of America. Because it was founded by the French and owned by Spain for a time, New Orleans had a more cosmopolitan culture and diverse population. Only 13 percent of the 1810 population was Anglo-American. The census population of that time was made up of mostly French speaking refugees from the Haitian Revolution, the French and Indian War, and French and Spanish Creoles along with some smuggled slaves. New Orleans also benefited more by the Industrial Revolution, international trade, and geographical position. Its position by the mouth of the Mississippi River, which drained an important part of the United States, made New Orleans one of the most significant transportation centers in the early United States before the establishment of railroad and road systems. Of particular significance were the inventions of the steamboat and the cotton gin. Before the steamboat, keelboat men bringing cargo downriver would break up their boats for lumber in New Orleans and travel overland back to Ohio or Illinois to repeat the process. Steamboats had enough power to move upstream against the current of the Mississippi, making two-way trade possible between New Orleans and the cities in the interior river network. With the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815, which greatly expanded international trade, and the development of the cotton gin, cotton became a valuable export product, adding to the volume of cargo moved through the city."
While plantations remain a healthy sector of the economy, the city itself is more of a free society when it comes to color. At least, until after the war...(isn't it ironic?)
Sidestream: Vodoun spiritualism, the rise of the seance.
Abbreviated Timeline:
1861 - 1st Louisiana Volunteer Regiment, col'd, rounded up but relegated to ceremonial procession. An ornamental affair. PR stunt.
April 1862 - Union forces under Farragut battle their way past Forts Jackson and St. Philip by land; the navy enters the mouth of the Mississippi.
Evacuation by Confederates. The guns and white troops are sent to Vicksburg; all other war supplies are burned. Only the colored troops are left in the city, the "home guard," finally given the guns they were previously denied.
wip
Edited 4:43pm, May 09, 2017 by Narrator, author. |
