New Orleans incorporated into the United States in 1803, when the French sold Louisiana for a mere $15 million. The population of New Orleans was around 8,000, consisting of 4,000 whites and 2,700 enslaved, and about 1,300 free persons of color. During the first half of the 19th century, New Orleans was the wealthiest city and third-largest city. It was the golden era for the city, the arrival of steamboats skyrocketed the local trade and commerce. By 1840 the city was rated the fourth port in the world.
During the American Civil War, New Orleans was the largest city in the Confederacy, but it was only a year until Union troops captured without a battle in the city itself. During the Reconstruction period, New Orleans was within the Fifth Military District of the United States. After the Reconstruction era, the city defaulted and dropped from 3rd to 12th place in national rank. In the late-19th century, New Orleans made limited, though steady progress, but the population increased to 287,104.
Here below are some amazing historical photos of New Orleans from the late 19th century. Be sure to check, what New Orleans looked like in the 1900s.
#1 St. Charles Hotel from Canal Street. New Orleans circa 1890.
#2 The old French Market, New Orleans, 1890s.
By the 1890's the French Quarter was known as Little Palermo, with the recent immigration of Sicilians to New Orleans. There was a turf war between the Provenzano and Matranga gangs, leading to the killing of Chief of Police David Hennessy. A not guilty verdict led to 11 of the 19 indicted being lynched. The national newspapers first used the word Mafia to cover the big story back then.
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#3 Metairie Cemetery, New Orleans, 1895.
#4 Street in New Orleans near Cathedral of St. Louis, 1890.
#5 Cotton on the levee at New Orleans, along the Mississippi River, 1890
#6 The French Quarter, New Orleans, 1890s.
#7 227 Royal Street in the French Quarter, New Orleans, 1890s.
#8 The old French Market. New Orleans circa 1890s.
#9 Street in the French Quarter, New Orleans circa 1880s-1890s.
#10 The Clay Monument, Canal Street. New Orleans circa 1890.
#11 Canal Street from the Clay monument. New Orleans in the 1890s.
#12 A loaded cotton steamer at New Orleans, 1897.
#13 African-American children sit on the edge of a railroad by a dirt road, in a shantytown on the outskirts of New Orleans, 1880.
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African Americans? Weren’t These children born in America, so aren’t they Americans? Would you apply the same logic to any other? If the individual wishes to honor their heritage that’s up to them and should be respected but the term is questionable when applied without consent.