hist-3005-louisiana-history-essay

Your essay should answer the following question: To what extent has Louisiana been a corrupt state from the beginning of American rule (1803) to the 1980s?

Among other things, your essay should consider the following events: the early constitutions of Louisiana, the Battle of New Orleans (who aided Jackson?), defeat in the Civil War and the effects of Reconstruction, the influence of the Longs (Huey & Earl), and the legacy of Edwin Edwards.

Your essay must make use of dates for the above.

Note the use of the word “extent” in the question above. In some ways Louisiana (in its development of music perhaps?) has not been a corrupt state. Be sure to take them into account as well.

Also, different time periods between 1803 and the 1980s might have differing levels of corruption.

Essay Length (should be about 600-700 words . . . though you can go up to 800 or so if necessary, not a 1000)

Thesis: Your essay should have a thesis statement. A thesis statement is a single sentence that directly answers the question above.

Let’s move beyond a too general thesis like this one: “Many corrupt things happened in Louisiana history during the period 1803 to the 1980s.”

Location of Thesis: Your thesis statement should come as the last sentence of your introductory paragraph.

Balance: Be sure to take into account events and people (name names) form the entire time period (1803-1980s).

Support: You should provide examples to support your thesis. Examples of support to include in your essay are names, dates, key events, groups, and ideas. These examples should be drawn from our readings in the Jones text.

Grammar: Correct grammar and spelling must be used throughout your essay; do not use slang or text language. Do not use vulgar language.

Plagiarism: Your essay must be your own work; do not collaborate in writing this paper; do not cut and paste material from the internet or any other source. Use your own words. Simply changing a few words in a sentence or sentences found in Jones or some other source is not using your own words. Review syllabus concerning plagiarism.

Plagiarized essay may receive a zero (0).

Sources: Use as your source the Jones text on our course Moodle or sources linked on our course Moodle page. As this is not a research assignment and you should not use material cut and pasted from the internet.

Do not use Wikipedia as a source. Do no use .com sites as sources.

Use of Wikipedia or .com sites may result in a zero (0).

We have plenty of material assigned from Jones and on our course Moodle in this course for use in an essay.

Do not quote.

Citing sources: Even though we are not quoting, sources of information still need to be identified. All sources of information used in the essay must be properly cited.

When using the Jones text, simply state Jones, chapter title, and page number.

For example: (Jones, Civil War, p. 27).

Failure to cite the Jones text may result in a zero (0).

If using another source from our Moodle, you must paste a link to the source on our Moodle.

Terms (You do not have to use all of the terms below; that said, you should not leave out key people such as Huey Long, given our question).

Gov. William C.C. Claiborne

West Florida Rebellion, 1810

Slave Rebellion of 1811

Constitution of 1812

“Crazy” Lorenzo Dow

Gen. James Wilkinson

Neutral Strip

Burr Conspiracy

“Bonnie Blue Flag”

Congo Square

Louis Gottschalk

Julien Hudson

Marie Laveau

Jean Lafitte

Gen. Andrew Jackson

Battle of New Orleans, 1815

Gov. Thomas O. Moore

Gen. P. G. T. Beauregard

Zouaves

Louisiana Tigers

Gen. Benjamin F. “Spoons” Butler

David Farragut

William Mumford

Gen. Nathaniel P. Banks

Siege of Port Hudson (1863)

Louisiana Native Guards

Red River Campaign (1864)

Freedman

“Carpetbaggers”

“Scalawags”

Constitution of 1864

Constitution of 1868

Gov. Henry Clay Warmoth

Louisiana Lottery Company

Lt. Gov. Oscar J. Dunn

Gov. P. B. S. Pinchback

Ku Klux Klan

Knights of the White Camellia

Mechanics Institute Riot, 1866

Battle of Liberty Place, 1874

Bourbons

Redeemers

Sharecroppers

Compromise of 1877

Francis T. Nicholls

Jim Crow

Literacy test

Poll tax

“Grandfather Clause”

Constitution of 1898

Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)

Mafia

David Hennessy

Brown v. Topeka Board of Education (1954)

Flood of 1927

Huey P. Long

Rose Long

Kingfish

Winnfield

Populist

“Share Our Wealth”

“Every Man a King”

Dr. Carl Austin Weiss

Deduct Box

Louisiana Scandals, 1939-1940

Louisiana Maneuvers, 1940-1941

Claire Lee Chennault

P-40 Warhawk

Jimmie Davis

Earl Long, 1939-40, 1948-52, 1956-60

Pea Patch Farm

Antoine “Fats” Domino

Louis Armstrong

Jerry Lee Lewis

Jimmy Swaggart

Louisiana Hayride

Edwin Edwards

Lindy Boggs