Before the Chains: An Introduction to Louisiana in Chains
Written By Jason Guillory
Louisiana’s history cannot be fully understood without confronting the history of slavery. For more than a century, forced migration and human bondage shaped the state’s economy, communities, laws, and culture. As Louisiana Passportprepares to present LOUISIANA IN CHAINS: A TEN-PART HISTORY OF SLAVERY, this introduction begins an exploration of one of the most difficult and important chapters in Louisiana’s past.
Slavery in Louisiana began during the colonial era, when enslaved Africans were brought to the region and forced to labor for the benefit of others. Over time, slavery became deeply connected to agriculture, particularly the production of sugar and cotton. Following the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, the state became increasingly connected to the larger American slave system.
The movement of enslaved people was not voluntary migration. Africans were forcibly transported across the Atlantic, while thousands of enslaved people were later moved within the United States through the domestic slave trade. New Orleans became one of the country’s major centers for the buying and selling of enslaved people. From the city and other trading centers, men, women, and children were sent to plantations and farms throughout Louisiana, often separated from parents, spouses, children, and other family members.
Human bondage affected nearly every aspect of life. Enslaved people were denied fundamental freedoms and lived under laws designed to maintain the institution of slavery. Yet they were never simply defined by their enslavement. They built families and communities, preserved African traditions, practiced their faith, developed skills, created music and foodways, and resisted slavery in both everyday and organized ways.
The legacy of slavery remains visible throughout Louisiana. Its influence can be found in the state’s music, cuisine, language, religious traditions, communities, and cultural identity. At the same time, slavery produced economic and social consequences that continued long after emancipation.
Through LOUISIANA IN CHAINS: A TEN-PART HISTORY OF SLAVERY, Louisiana Passport will examine this history from multiple perspectives—from the origins of slavery and the slave trade to plantation life, resistance, emancipation, and the enduring legacy of slavery.
This is a history that must be remembered, studied, and understood—not only because of the suffering it caused, but because of the resilience, strength, and lasting contributions of the people who endured it.
Berlin, Ira. Many Thousands Gone: The First Two Centuries of Slavery in North America. Harvard UP, 1998.Deyle, Steven. Carry Me Back: The Domestic Slave Trade in American Life. Oxford UP, 2005.Foner, Eric. The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery. W. W. Norton, 2010.Hall, Gwendolyn Midlo. Africans in Colonial Louisiana: The Development of Afro-Creole Culture in the Eighteenth Century. Louisiana State UP, 1992.Hirsch, Arnold R., and Joseph Logsdon, editors. Creole New Orleans: Race and Americanization. Louisiana State UP, 1992.Image Courtesy of The New York Times