Tales of Cajuns, Creoles, and New Orleans decadence dominate both popular and professional impressions of Louisiana and have undoubtedly distracted attention from the region that arguably experienced the most dramatic pattern of development in Louisiana, if not the entire Gulf South. Louisiana's Florida Parishes, located in the southeastern part of the state, have endured a tumultuous evolution, including domination by every major power that invaded North America, exclusion from the Louisiana Purchase, insurrection and the establishment of the original Lone Star Republic, and some of the highest rates of rural homicide recorded in American history. The area was long neglected by scholars until some of its foremost experts came together to explore and recognize its singular identity. This volume is a result of that collaboration and consists of ten essays on the history and culture of this unique territory.In tracing the progress of Louisiana's Florida Parishes, the book begins with an eye-opening ethnographic history of the territory during its days as a French colony, the brief era of British rule, and slavery as it was practiced under the Spanish regime. A revealing look at the region during the War of 1812 provides a dynamic account of the only major naval battle in the South during that conflict. Subsequent essays give lucid and insightful examination to the area's guerrilla tactics during the Civil War, credit crisis of the postbellum era, and ecological transformation through pine forest harvesting. The final third of the book considers the demographic changes wrought by black labor employed in the lumber mills of the early twentieth century, the challenges confronting a rural, depression-era black community, and recent environmental changes in the parishes that impact ongoing economic development.A Fierce and Fractious Frontier employs a comprehensive approach supported by provocative groundbreaking research to explain the difficulties of the past and suggest considerations for the future of Louisiana's Florida Parishes. It will stand as a model for the emerging field of southern subregional studies.

The Enigmatic South brings together leading scholars of the Civil War period to challenge existing perceptions of the advance to secession, the Civil War, and its aftermath. The pioneering research and innovative arguments of these historians bring crucial insights to the study of this era in American history.Christopher Childers, Sarah L. Hyde, and Julia Huston Nguyen consider the ways politics, religion, and education contributed to southern attitudes toward secession in the antebellum period. George C. Rable, Paul F. Paskoff, and John M. Sacher delve into the challenges the Confederate South faced as it sought legitimacy for its cause and military strength for the coming war with the North. Richard Follett, Samuel C. Hyde, Jr., and Eric H. Walther offer new perspectives on the changes the Civil War wrought on the economic and ideological landscape of the South.The essays in The Enigmatic South speak eloquently to previously unconsidered aspects and legacies of the Civil War and make a major contribution to our understanding of the rich history of a conflict whose aftereffects still linger in American culture and memory.

In Pistols and Politics, Samuel C. Hyde, Jr., reveals the reasons behind the remarkable levels of violence in Louisiana's Florida parishes in the nineteenth century. This updated and expanded edition deftly brings the analysis forward to account for the continuation of violence and mayhem in the region in the early twentieth century.Numerous pockets of small communities formed in the nineteenth-century South with cultures and values independent from those of the dominant planter class. As Hyde shows, one such area was the Florida parishes of southeastern Louisiana, where peculiar conditions combined to create an enclave of white yeomen, and where in the years after the Civil War, levels of conflict escalated to a state of chronic anar-chy. His careful study of a society that degenerated into utter chaos illuminates the factors that allowed these conditions to arise and triumph. Additional material reveals the ongoing impact of a culture riddled with suspicion and bitterness well into the Jim Crow era.

Contributions by Janet Allured, Craig E. Colten, Marcus Cox, Pearson Cross, John Bel Edwards, Adam Fairclough, Keith Finley, Samuel C. Hyde Jr., John Lopez, and Robert MannIn the fall of 2022, a diverse group of scholars including scientists, historians, political scientists, geographers, and journalists, along with Governor John Bel Edwards, gathered to present views on the challenges that define life in Louisiana. Born out of the symposium, Bayou Dilemma: Louisiana in Crisis and Change is an unprecedented compilation that examines the social, political, environmental, and economic hurdles pervasive to the Gulf South and especially the Bayou State.The essays collected in the volume illuminate pressing problems confronting Louisiana and its surrounding environs, as well as some of the least known and most frequently misunderstood issues that have affected the state in the past. Topics include the problems of flood control, unequal treatment for African Americans and women, political corruption, endemic violence, and partisan applications of justice, as well as the crisis of coastal erosion, the dilemma of special interests shaping legislation, and the corresponding drain of talent from the state to regions offering improved opportunities. The anthology is a provocative and essential guide that reveals how such trials emerged, how they were overcome or managed, and how they continue to shape the Gulf South’s regional identity. Concentrating on the future well-being of the state and its occupants, the volume suggests fresh pathways for addressing these lingering concerns.

Tales of Cajuns, Creoles, and New Orleans decadence dominate both popular and professional impressions of Louisiana and have undoubtedly distracted attention from the region that arguably experienced the most dramatic pattern of development in Louisiana, if not the entire Gulf South. Louisiana's Florida Parishes, located in the southeastern part of the state, have endured a tumultuous evolution, including domination by every major power that invaded North America, exclusion from the Louisiana Purchase, insurrection and the establishment of the original Lone Star Republic, and some of the highest rates of rural homicide recorded in American history. The area was long neglected by scholars until some of its foremost experts came together to explore and recognize its singular identity. This volume is a result of that collaboration and consists of ten essays on the history and culture of this unique territory.In tracing the progress of Louisiana's Florida Parishes, the book begins with an eye-opening ethnographic history of the territory during its days as a French colony, the brief era of British rule, and slavery as it was practiced under the Spanish regime. A revealing look at the region during the War of 1812 provides a dynamic account of the only major naval battle in the South during that conflict. Subsequent essays give lucid and insightful examination to the area's guerrilla tactics during the Civil War, credit crisis of the postbellum era, and ecological transformation through pine forest harvesting. The final third of the book considers the demographic changes wrought by black labor employed in the lumber mills of the early twentieth century, the challenges confronting a rural, depression-era black community, and recent environmental changes in the parishes that impact ongoing economic development.A Fierce and Fractious Frontier employs a comprehensive approach supported by provocative groundbreaking research to explain the difficulties of the past and suggest considerations for the future of Louisiana's Florida Parishes. It will stand as a model for the emerging field of southern subregional studies.

The Enigmatic South brings together leading scholars of the Civil War period to challenge existing perceptions of the advance to secession, the Civil War, and its aftermath. The pioneering research and innovative arguments of these historians bring crucial insights to the study of this era in American history.Christopher Childers, Sarah L. Hyde, and Julia Huston Nguyen consider the ways politics, religion, and education contributed to southern attitudes toward secession in the antebellum period. George C. Rable, Paul F. Paskoff, and John M. Sacher delve into the challenges the Confederate South faced as it sought legitimacy for its cause and military strength for the coming war with the North. Richard Follett, Samuel C. Hyde, Jr., and Eric H. Walther offer new perspectives on the changes the Civil War wrought on the economic and ideological landscape of the South.The essays in The Enigmatic South speak eloquently to previously unconsidered aspects and legacies of the Civil War and make a major contribution to our understanding of the rich history of a conflict whose aftereffects still linger in American culture and memory.

In Pistols and Politics, Samuel C. Hyde, Jr., reveals the reasons behind the remarkable levels of violence in Louisiana's Florida parishes in the nineteenth century. This updated and expanded edition deftly brings the analysis forward to account for the continuation of violence and mayhem in the region in the early twentieth century.Numerous pockets of small communities formed in the nineteenth-century South with cultures and values independent from those of the dominant planter class. As Hyde shows, one such area was the Florida parishes of southeastern Louisiana, where peculiar conditions combined to create an enclave of white yeomen, and where in the years after the Civil War, levels of conflict escalated to a state of chronic anar-chy. His careful study of a society that degenerated into utter chaos illuminates the factors that allowed these conditions to arise and triumph. Additional material reveals the ongoing impact of a culture riddled with suspicion and bitterness well into the Jim Crow era.

Contributions by Janet Allured, Craig E. Colten, Marcus Cox, Pearson Cross, John Bel Edwards, Adam Fairclough, Keith Finley, Samuel C. Hyde Jr., John Lopez, and Robert MannIn the fall of 2022, a diverse group of scholars including scientists, historians, political scientists, geographers, and journalists, along with Governor John Bel Edwards, gathered to present views on the challenges that define life in Louisiana. Born out of the symposium, Bayou Dilemma: Louisiana in Crisis and Change is an unprecedented compilation that examines the social, political, environmental, and economic hurdles pervasive to the Gulf South and especially the Bayou State.The essays collected in the volume illuminate pressing problems confronting Louisiana and its surrounding environs, as well as some of the least known and most frequently misunderstood issues that have affected the state in the past. Topics include the problems of flood control, unequal treatment for African Americans and women, political corruption, endemic violence, and partisan applications of justice, as well as the crisis of coastal erosion, the dilemma of special interests shaping legislation, and the corresponding drain of talent from the state to regions offering improved opportunities. The anthology is a provocative and essential guide that reveals how such trials emerged, how they were overcome or managed, and how they continue to shape the Gulf South’s regional identity. Concentrating on the future well-being of the state and its occupants, the volume suggests fresh pathways for addressing these lingering concerns.