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Two 50-minute classes
In 1803, Napoleon, Emperor of France, sold the Louisiana Territory to
the United States in order to finance his war in Europe. This cast
adrift thousands of colonists into a way of life that would be forever
changed by Anglo-Americans that flooded into the new American possession
with dreams of wealth and fortune. The eager Americans had no experience
with the unusual society that had evolved in New Orleans, the most
populated area of the Louisiana Territory. There they encountered
a culture that differed politically, economically and culturally
from anything to which they had been exposed. Conversely, the heavily
Creole society were offended by what they considered rude Americans
and bore a mistrust of the affect they would have on New Orleans
society. However, Louisiana had become the land of opportunity and
New Orleans had the second largest port in America. No one foresaw
that the 1840’s to 1860’s would bring even more changes
from immigrant groups looking for the Promised Land.
Through the activities in this lesson, students will become familiar
with the integration of nationalities and the conflicts that ensued,
research the individual nationalities, the reasons for immigration, and
their place in New Orleans society. The students will unravel the true
meaning of the term “Creole” as used throughout the Nineteenth
Century.
Louisiana History
Students will be able to:
• Describe
the events that led to various immigrant groups settling in New
Orleans.
• Differentiate
between the white and black Creole population.
• Explain
the results of each immigrant group’s relocation.
• Determine
the areas in which Catholic immigrants settled as opposed to
others which were Protestant.
National Standards for Historical Thinking
http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/nchs/standards/thinking5-12-4.html
Standard 3: Historical Analysis and Interpretation: B. Consider
multiple perspectives of various peoples in the past by demonstrating
their differing motives, beliefs, interests, hopes, and fears.
Louisiana Social Studies Content
Standards
http://www.lcet.doe.state.la.us/doe/assessment/standards/SOCIAL.pdf
H-1C-E3: The student will describe the causes
and nature of various movements of large groups of people into
and within Louisiana and the United States throughout history.
H-1C-E4: The student will recognize how
folklore and other cultural elements have contributed
to our local state and national heritage.
Video:
Louisiana: A History, The New Americans , Episode 2 (Louisiana
Public Broadcasting)
Web sites:
Go West, Young Man
http://worldroots.clicktron.com/gitte/immigrantstory3.htm
This Web site contains immigrant stories from actual events. It is a
dialogue between Friedrich Herzog, Karl Herzog, and Charles Herzog about
a voyage that met disaster in hurricane winds before landing in New Orleans.
(This Web site may not be accessible.)
Louisiana State Museum http://lsm.crt.state.la.us/
This Web site offers many opportunities to explore the state of Louisiana.
In the “Educator’s Corner” can be found essays on
the “People of Louisiana”. It also offers lesson plans
for educators.
Center for Cultural and Eco-Tourism http://www.louisiana.edu/Academic/LiberalArts/CCET/
The University of Louisiana at Lafayette offers this Web site. It provides
easy to access information about the cultures of Louisiana and provides
links to museums and suggested readings.
Wetland Education Through Maps And Arial Photography http://www.wetmaap.org
This Web site introduces educators to wetland habitats and changes. I
t was accessed for the photograph.
Per Student:
• Job
Flyer (attached)
• Video
question and answer sheet
• Pencil
and paper
Per Group:
• Group
Activity slips designating the immigrant nationality they will
research.
Prior to this lesson, bookmark the Web sites used in the lesson on each
computer in you classroom.
Prepare the hands-on element of
the lesson by:
1. Copying the job flyer and video question and answer sheets.
2. Assign each group to a computer, or make a list that allows the groups
to take turns. No more that two students should retrieve the articles
from the web sites.
When using media, provide students
with a FOCUS FOR MEDIA INTERACTION, a specific task to
complete and/or information to identify during or after viewing
of video segments, Web sites, or other multimedia events.
Step 1. Read the following excerpt from Go West,
Young Man.
“ Backwards, at walking speed, the train pulled into the train station
at New Orleans, directed by a conductor, via radio. The approach to this city
had peculiarly touched me; one, maybe two hours long, nothing but swamps to the
left and the right of the tracks. Half-gobbled arms of rivers, ponds in which
the water stagnated, forests of dead and dying trees, with moss hanging from
them like unkempt beards. White herons waited motionlessly for prey. A turtle
sunned itself on a fallen tree trunk. Once, I thought I saw the head of an alligator
twitch beneath the water. Shortly before the city, enormous lakes seemed like
bays of the ocean: Lake Maurepas, Lake Pontchartrain….
Water and sky dissolved together at the horizon. The trip to new Orleans
was like crossing to an island, into another world, full of double-meanings,
deceptive reflections, humidity-laden air, and a leaden, undirected discontent….
This self-confident and smug cradle of a new civilization also had its
dark side. New Orleans laid claim to the title of dirtiest, least healthy
city in America. The more than 100,000 people there lived without even
rudimentary sewage systems. Pigs, goats, cows, and dogs ran freely in
the city; animal cadavers decomposed in the streets. Whoever couldn’t
afford his own cistern had to get his drinking water from the public
hydrants, from which the water of the Mississippi flowed – unfiltered,
untreated. In the tropical, humid summers, myriad mosquitoes rose from
the swamps. At the time, it was not yet known that they were carriers
of yellow fever. The victims only knew that the epidemic rampaged
with particular intensity in late summer and autumn.”
Site the reference below to the
students. It is a contract site that is not available to everyone. http://worldroots.clicktron.com/gitte/immigrantstory3.htm
Tell students that they have arrived in New Orleans for the first time.
They may or may not have a skill. Unfortunately, very little money remains
after paying for passage from the old country. They have no idea where
to sleep or how to start looking for a job. Suddenly, a man walks up
and hands you a flyer. Distribute the New Basin Canal job flyer to
your students. It offers unlimited work for a huge city project. It does
not pay much, but it pays enough that your family can eat and maybe rent
a room. Will you take the job, or look around for a while?
Step 2. After the students
have read the document, ask them for a show of hands as to who
would be willing to sign up for the project. Ask them if they
need to know more about the job, or are they willing to work
at this for a while until another prospect presents it self.
For those unwilling to sign up, ask why. Also ask the students
what other options may be available.
(Guide students to understand that the job could be very dangerous. On
the other hand, it is digging. Anyone can do digging for a few days until
something better comes along. The family has to be fed and welfare does
not exist. Many of the people speak a form of French and your accent
is very thick. Many people cannot understand what you say.)
Step 3. Pass out the video
questions. Provide your students with a FOCUS FOR MEDIA
INTERACTION, telling them that they are about to watch a
video of Louisiana: A History The New Americans that explains
the reasons for immigration to New Orleans and the political,
economic, and social repercussions for people that came. The
students are to answer the following questions:
• Why
were free people of color a threat to Americans?
• New
Orleans was second to what other leading U.S. port?
• Between
1840 and 1860, how many people immigrated to New Orleans?
(Begin film at the interview with Sybil Klein and stop at the New Orleans
river scene. This clip will run approximately two minutes.) Discuss answers
guiding the students to understand that a variety of nationalities were
already established and many new groups were to come because New Orleans
had the second largest port next to New York.
Step 4. Tell the students
that they will be watching another segment that will discuss
important groups of immigrants that added substantially to New
Orleans as it is today. We will also see what happened to the
people that took the New Basin Canal job. Provide your students
with a FOCUS FOR MEDIA INTERACTION, by having them answer
the following questions:
• Name
two groups of immigrants that came to New Orleans and
their occupations.
• By
1860, how much of New Orleans’ population had been
born in another country?
• How
many Jewish people immigrated to New Orleans?
• What
nationality constituted the largest immigrant group that
came to New Orleans?
(The film segment will run approximately three minutes beginning at pause
point and stopping after the scene with the Irish laborers using pick
axes in the mud.)Discuss answers guiding the students to understand that
immigrants came from many social, economic, and educational backgrounds.
Their contributions included James Gallier’s St. Louis Cathedral,
Touro Infirmary, and the dangerous and disheartening job of digging the
New Basin Canal. Also discuss the fact that poor immigrants, such as
the Irish, were considered expendable while slaves were not.
Step 5. Although there
were many social divisions in New Orleans, there was one medium
that brought all levels of society together. Provide your
students with a FOCUS FOR MEDIA INTERACTION by having
them answer the following question:
• What
Cultural events brought all nationalities together?
(The film segment will run approximately four minutes beginning at pause
point and stopping at the painting of the plantation with the horses.)Guide
the students to understand that from Congo Square to the opera houses
of New Orleans, people of all levels of society gathered to enjoy music.
New Orleans produced artists of great reputation such as L.M.
Gottschalk, American’s first great composer, and John James Audubon,
a famous naturalist painter.
Step 6. Tell the students
that while southern Louisiana was developing, northern Louisiana
did not develop until the advent of the steamboat. Provide
your students with a FOCUS FOR MEDIA INTERACTION by asking
them to answer the following questions:
• What
enabled Shreveport to become an important Louisiana port?
• Who
was the first Episcopalian bishop?
• Name
the two most important exports of Louisiana.
(This segment will run approximately four minutes starting at the pause
point and stopping at the plantation scene on the river.) Guide students
to understand that the Mississippi River was blocked in certain areas
and it was difficult to navigate boats. Captain Shreve opened the river,
thereby making north Louisiana accessible to commerce. Shreveport became
the largest city in north Louisiana. Anglo-American settlers poured in
bringing Protestantism with them. Fields of corn became fields of cotton.
Step 7. Tell the students
that along with the development of north Louisiana, more slaves
were needed to work the fields. This brought an influx of slaves
from more northern states. This last segment will explain the
events that led up to the Civil War. Provide your students
with a FOCUS FOR MEDIA INTERACTION by asking them to answer
the following questions:
• What
did ‘sold down the river’ mean?
• How
much had the price of slaves increased between 1850 and
1860?
• Who
was the first American president that did not own slaves?
(This last segment will run approximately six minutes beginning with
the pause point and ending with the picture of Abraham Lincoln.) Guide
the students to understand that the need for slaves increased at a dramatic
rate. In New Orleans alone there were many slave auction sites. Between
1850 and 1860, the price of slaves rose about seventy percent. Many large
slaveholders had more invested in slaves than the land the slaves worked.
The individual price of a twenty-five year old male slave could be as
high as fifteen hundred dollars. At today’s rate, the slave would
be worth about thirty-five thousand dollars. This was an investment the
owners were not going to give up. Along with this problem, Abraham Lincoln
was the first U.S. president that did not own slaves. What right did
he have to change a thriving system?
Step 8. Review the video
answers with the students, elaborating on the multiple social
levels of the immigrants. (Remind the students that there were
two different groups of Creoles: white Creoles of Spanish and
French descent and black Creoles of Spanish, French, Indian,
and African descent.) Guide students to realize that not all
immigrants were poor. Many people that moved to New Orleans were
highly educated and skilled people. Some of these people added
to the business, medical, and artistic areas of New Orleans life.
Point out that most of New Orleans was Catholic because France
and Spain were Catholic. Many of the immigrant groups that came,
such as the Irish, were also Catholic. Americans and Germans
were predominantly Protestant. The production of cotton and sugar
cane required a huge work force bringing more slaves to Louisiana.)
1. Divide the class into seven groups. (The teacher
may combine group assignments if fewer groups are desirable.)
Ask the students if they know of any immigrant groups that
have come to Louisiana that were not emphasized in the video. (Answers
will vary from the Acadians to the Haitians.)
2. Tell the students that
they are about to participate in a research project that will
further explain the different immigrant groups. Each group will
compile material explaining the following:
• The
country from which the immigrants originated.
• What
were the approximate dates of the immigration groups?
• Why
they came to Louisiana.
• What
they had to offer Louisiana.
• The
problems they had to overcome.
This information will be presented to the class with the students acting
as a board of experts on their assigned nationality. Hand out the group
assignments. (This research can be done in a computer lab or the regular
classroom. If only one computer is connected to the Internet, have the
students take turns in their groups. Each group should select a “Research
Master” that will find and print out the data. The Center
for Cultural and Eco-Tourism is an easy to use Web site and does
not require cutting and pasting to a document page. The Louisiana
State Museum Web site will require the students to make a document
page with your word processing program, highlight the required material,
and paste. At this point they may print out the data without printing
more pages than necessary.)
3. Provide your students
with a FOCUS FOR MEDIA INTERACTION by referring to the
group assignments. While the groups are taking turns retrieving
data from the computer, have each individual write a diary
entry, based on their assigned nationality, about their first
day in New Orleans. The diary entry should include:
• A
reference to their native land.
• The
sights, smells, and sounds of the New Orleans streets.
• Their
expectations of the next few days.
The students can draw their information on the sights, smells, and sounds
of the streets from the excerpt of Go West, Young Man read
earlier.
4. The groups will write
a paragraph based on the data collected from the Center
for Cultural and Eco-Tourism Web site.
5. As an assessment of
the lesson, ask students to present their information to the
class as a board representing their immigrant. Board members
should take turns presenting the material. Allow questions from
the class of any member of the board. Students should take notes
on the presentations. An individual assessment can be done with
the diary entries. Note the attached rubric that combines
group and individual assessment.
Group Assignments:
GROUP 1: Haitians (Saint -
Domingue Refugees)
Center for Cultural and Eco-Tourism http://www.louisiana.edu/Academic/LiberalArts/CCET/
• Go to
Cultural Tourism
• Go to
The People
Louisiana State Museum http://lsm.crt.state.la.us/
• Go to
Educator’s Corner
• Go to
People of Louisiana
GROUP 2: Anglo-Americans
Center for Cultural and Eco-Tourism http://www.louisiana.edu/Academic/LiberalArts/CCET/
• Go to
Cultural Tourism
• Go to
The People
Louisiana State Museum http://lsm.crt.state.la.us/
• Go to
Educator’s Corner
• Go to
People of Louisiana
GROUP 3: Germans
Center for Cultural and Eco-Tourism http://www.louisiana.edu/Academic/LiberalArts/CCET/
• Go
to Cultural Tourism
• Go
to The People
Louisiana State Museum http://lsm.crt.state.la.us/
• Go
to Educator’s Corner
• Go
to People of Louisiana
GROUP 4: Irish
Center for Cultural and Eco-Tourism http://www.louisiana.edu/Academic/LiberalArts/CCET/
• Go
to Cultural Tourism
• Go
to The People
Louisiana State Museum http://lsm.crt.state.la.us/
• Go
to Educator’s Corner
• Go
to People of Louisiana
GROUP 5: Italian-Americans
Center for Cultural and Eco-Tourism http://www.louisiana.edu/Academic/LiberalArts/CCET/
• Go
to Cultural Tourism
• Go
to The People
Louisiana State Museum http://lsm.crt.state.la.us/
• Go
to Educator’s Corner
• Go
to People of Louisiana
GROUP 6: Croatian-Americans
Center for Cultural and Eco-Tourism http://www.louisiana.edu/Academic/LiberalArts/CCET/
• Go
to Cultural Tourism
• Go
to The People
Louisiana State Museum http://lsm.crt.state.la.us/
• Go
to Educator’s Corner
• Go
to People of Louisiana
GROUP 7: Jews and other groups
Louisiana State Museum http://lsm.crt.state.la.us/
• Go
to Educator’s Corner
• Go
to People of Louisiana
1. Have the same groups draw from a basket a nationality
other than the one previously assigned. The students will collaborate
and give an immigration history of that group from the notes
taken during Learning Activity presentations.
2. As each group is called
on, they will orally give a short synopsis of that nationality
and its major contribution to New Orleans through the personality
of an immigrant from that country.
HOME ECONOMICS:
• Have
a heritage food extravaganza that explains the foods of each
immigrant group.
LANGUAGE ARTS:
• Read The Autobiography
of Miss Jane Pitman By Ernest J. Gaines. (Fiction) This is a
story about a freed slave at the end of the Civil War. It takes place
near New Roads, Louisiana and contains many references to actual events
during the late Nineteenth Century and early Twentieth Century.
•Read Slave Dancer by
Paula Fox. (Fiction) This is a story about a slave boy who could play
the flute beautifully. He was kidnapped and placed aboard a slave trading
ship in order to keep the slaves calm with his flute playing.
TECHNOLOGY/SOCIAL STUDIES:
• Research
the Lewis and Clark Expedition and explain how their maps opened the
West to American settlers.
VISUAL AND PERFORMING ARTS:
• Research
New Orleans music including Classical, Jazz, Blues, etc. Explore the
African and Blues Art of New Orleans.
• Have
students create a collage of Louisiana sites and superimpose historical
scenes from Nineteenth Century New Orleans. Pictures are available on
both Web sites. Include a short history of their selected nationality.
• Visit
New Orleans historical sites including the French Quarter, the Cabildo,
the Ursaline Convent, St. Louis Cathedral, and many more.
• View “Lewis
and Clark” at the local Imax theatre.
• Have
guest speakers talk about their family ancestry. Why did they come? Who
did they leave behind? What has America offered them?
See attached. Student Materials include:
• Video Questions ( PDF ) and Answers ( PDF )
• Rubric ( PDF )
• Job Flyer ( PDF )
