July 17, 2025 • 7 mins
On this episode of Our American Stories, Louisiana is unlike any other state in the U.S., and there’s a reason for that. From the Louisiana Purchase and its Napoleonic legal roots to the deep influence of Cajun and Creole culture, this state has a story worth savoring. Nate Gallagher explores the people, food, language, and law that shaped America’s 18th state — the Pelican State.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:10):
This is Lee Habib and this is our American Stories,
the show where America is the star and the American
people coming to you from the city where the West begins,
Fort Worth, Texas. And to listen to all of our stories,
go to our Americans Stories dot com or subscribe to
us anywhere you get your podcasts. Each state in our nation,
(00:30):
from its borders to its people and its food, has
its own distinct and unique culture and history. Today, our
Hillsdale Intern Nate Gallagher shares the story of the great
State of Louisiana. Let's get into it.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
The name Louisiana comes from French explorer Robert Gaylasou. He
claimed a vaswath of the North American continent in honor
of King Louis the fourteenth. This expansive terature was named Loa.
Louisiane split to an upper and a lower section. Much
of this lower section became the modern state of Louisiana,
with the rest becoming about fifteen other states. During the
(01:10):
Seven Years War, or as we know at the French
and Indian War, France ceded the Louisiana territory to Spain,
not wanting such valued miland to fall under control of
the British, their fiercest rival. This session kicked off a
fifty year period during which the territory changed hands three times. Then,
in eighteen hundred, the territory was handed back over to
France when Napoleon signed a secret treaty with Spain. After that,
(01:33):
we stepped in. In eighteen o three, President Jefferson sent
delegates to France to negotiate the purchase of the city
of New Orleans and surrounding area. Having a foreign power
control the mouth of the Mississippi meant our trade could
be cut up at any time, something Americans could not
abide by. The delegates were given a total of ten
million dollars to make the purchase. French Minister Talleyrand, however,
(01:55):
offered the whole of the Louisiana territory for just fifteen
million dollars. The delegates knew that this was a once
in a lifetime offer and immediately accepted it, despite having
inadequate funds and no approval from Congress. This decision was controversial,
as many in the Federalist Party believed to us illegal
to make such a purchase without congressional approval. The Senate
ultimately approved of the purchase, however, and the US doubled
(02:17):
in size for fewer than three cents an acre. The
modern state was the first part of the territory to
gain statehood, and as such claim the name Louisiana. French
influence can be seen and heard all throughout the state.
Much of Louisiana claims Cajun heritage. This term Cajun comes
from the region of Acadia, a French colony in the
far east of Canada. In seventeen ten, Britain conquered this region.
(02:41):
Many of the people living there refused to batter the
crown and as such were expelled from a colony. Over time,
the name Akkadian morphed into Cajun. This resistance and unwillingness
to sacrifice their culture is the root for the extensive
use of French in the region even today, where signs
can frequently be seen having both English and French. The
French influence is so strong that the state professional football team,
(03:02):
the New Orleans Saints, have a floor de lease as
their logo. This symbol can be traced back to the
French monarchy and nation. Louisiana is also one of the
only states not to subdivide into counties. Instead, it uses parishes.
While similar to counties, parishes reflect the strong Catholic roots
of France, where territory is often demarcated by church parish lines.
(03:26):
The Equeist geography also played a large role in shaping
Louisiana's identity. Thirty two per cent of the state's territory
is wetland and twenty five percent of it is just water.
Reflecting this, the state bird is the Pelican. More so,
the Pelican state is the official state nickname, and the
name of the state's professional basketball team is the New
Orleans Pelicans. The most famous aspect of this wet environment
(03:48):
is the Bayeux. Bayous are areas of stagnant or nearly
stagnant water. These areas often come from a streams flow
slowing down or beginning to mix with ocean water. The
bayou is often brackish, and as such as home to
a vast aquatic ecosystem of things like alligators, shrimp, crawfish, parents, catfish,
and many other species. Perhaps the perfect blending of these
(04:10):
worlds comes from food. The wetlands provide housing for one
of the staple foods of the bayu, crawfish eating crawfish
can be traced back to the natives of the land,
and that continued during French ownership of the area. The
dish really explodes because of the Cajuns. However, when they
were expelled from Acadia and traveled south, the Cajuns were
very poor. The abundance and easy cooking made crawfish a staple.
(04:32):
Coming from the northeast of Canada, Cajuns were no strangers
to lobsters. The two crustaceans were similar enough, and so
the recipes were easily translated from the Bayou back country.
The dish eventually made its way to New Orleans. From here,
the crawfish became an essential aspect of Louisiana cuisine, combining
Cajun roots with New Orleans square. Perhaps the pinna of
(05:00):
New Orleans flair is the Marti Graus celebration. Marti Gras
is French for Fat Tuesday. It is celebrated every year
before the season of Lent, in order to feast before
a time of sacrifice and self denial. The celebration began
during the seventeenth century in France and then moved to
America through their colonies. The people of New Orleans were
familiar with the celebration, but it was mostly like any
(05:21):
other holiday. That changed in eighteen fifty seven, when a
secret society called the Mystic Crew of Comus celebrated Marty
Graus with marching bands and decorated parade floats. This would
become the base for the Marti Gras we see today,
which still features crews, clubs, and organizations that come together
to make parade floats for the celebration. Staying in the
city of New Orleans, the black population and the French
(05:43):
influence were coming together to form something new, something that
would come to define the city. Chaz was a fusion
of African American rhythm and European harmonic structure. It was
a genre that had a rich musical history, but was
comfortable breaking the rules. Jazz grew out of several roots.
(06:04):
The biggest of these was ragtime. Ragtime was a deeply rhythmic,
deeply improvisational style. This tradition of improvisation and freedom would
become a core element of jazz. Another route was Black
gospel music. This gospel music often featured call and response.
Jazz musicians would take that idea and run with it,
having one instrument play a melody and then the rest
(06:26):
respond in their own unique way. The freedom, sound, and
charisma of jazz would become defining characteristics of New Orleans
and Louisiana as a whole. The Louisiana way of life
is one of French traditions, a fiery passion for freedom
and a flair for style.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
And a terrific job on the production, editing and storytelling
by our own Nate Gallagher, and well, everything about Louisiana,
they say, is different, and it's true. No counties, its parishes.
That's because of the Catholic tradition. It's geography. Not even
Florida comes close. Thirty three percent of the state Wetlands
is the only state with a state bird. That's a waterfowl,
(07:05):
a pelican. And of course there are the Bayous, there's
the crawfish thank you occasions. Of course there's Mardi Gras,
and then there's the music, jazz and ragtime, all products
of that city, New Orleans, the city where I got married.
The story of Louisiana a part of our series on
states here on our American Stories lihabib Here. As we
(07:33):
approach our nation's two hundred and fiftieth anniversary, I'd like
to remind you that all the history stories you hear
on this show are brought to you by the great
folks at Hillsdale College. Go to Hillsdale dot edu to
find out about their terrific free online courses. Their series
on communism is one of the finest I've ever seen. Again,
go to Hillsdale dot edu and sign up for their
(07:53):
free and terrific online courses.
This is Lee Habib and this is our American Stories,
the show where America is the star and the American
people coming to you from the city where the West begins,
Fort Worth, Texas. And to listen to all of our stories,
go to our Americans Stories dot com or subscribe to
us anywhere you get your podcasts. Each state in our nation,
(00:30):
from its borders to its people and its food, has
its own distinct and unique culture and history. Today, our
Hillsdale Intern Nate Gallagher shares the story of the great
State of Louisiana. Let's get into it.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
The name Louisiana comes from French explorer Robert Gaylasou. He
claimed a vaswath of the North American continent in honor
of King Louis the fourteenth. This expansive terature was named Loa.
Louisiane split to an upper and a lower section. Much
of this lower section became the modern state of Louisiana,
with the rest becoming about fifteen other states. During the
(01:10):
Seven Years War, or as we know at the French
and Indian War, France ceded the Louisiana territory to Spain,
not wanting such valued miland to fall under control of
the British, their fiercest rival. This session kicked off a
fifty year period during which the territory changed hands three times. Then,
in eighteen hundred, the territory was handed back over to
France when Napoleon signed a secret treaty with Spain. After that,
(01:33):
we stepped in. In eighteen o three, President Jefferson sent
delegates to France to negotiate the purchase of the city
of New Orleans and surrounding area. Having a foreign power
control the mouth of the Mississippi meant our trade could
be cut up at any time, something Americans could not
abide by. The delegates were given a total of ten
million dollars to make the purchase. French Minister Talleyrand, however,
(01:55):
offered the whole of the Louisiana territory for just fifteen
million dollars. The delegates knew that this was a once
in a lifetime offer and immediately accepted it, despite having
inadequate funds and no approval from Congress. This decision was controversial,
as many in the Federalist Party believed to us illegal
to make such a purchase without congressional approval. The Senate
ultimately approved of the purchase, however, and the US doubled
(02:17):
in size for fewer than three cents an acre. The
modern state was the first part of the territory to
gain statehood, and as such claim the name Louisiana. French
influence can be seen and heard all throughout the state.
Much of Louisiana claims Cajun heritage. This term Cajun comes
from the region of Acadia, a French colony in the
far east of Canada. In seventeen ten, Britain conquered this region.
(02:41):
Many of the people living there refused to batter the
crown and as such were expelled from a colony. Over time,
the name Akkadian morphed into Cajun. This resistance and unwillingness
to sacrifice their culture is the root for the extensive
use of French in the region even today, where signs
can frequently be seen having both English and French. The
French influence is so strong that the state professional football team,
(03:02):
the New Orleans Saints, have a floor de lease as
their logo. This symbol can be traced back to the
French monarchy and nation. Louisiana is also one of the
only states not to subdivide into counties. Instead, it uses parishes.
While similar to counties, parishes reflect the strong Catholic roots
of France, where territory is often demarcated by church parish lines.
(03:26):
The Equeist geography also played a large role in shaping
Louisiana's identity. Thirty two per cent of the state's territory
is wetland and twenty five percent of it is just water.
Reflecting this, the state bird is the Pelican. More so,
the Pelican state is the official state nickname, and the
name of the state's professional basketball team is the New
Orleans Pelicans. The most famous aspect of this wet environment
(03:48):
is the Bayeux. Bayous are areas of stagnant or nearly
stagnant water. These areas often come from a streams flow
slowing down or beginning to mix with ocean water. The
bayou is often brackish, and as such as home to
a vast aquatic ecosystem of things like alligators, shrimp, crawfish, parents, catfish,
and many other species. Perhaps the perfect blending of these
(04:10):
worlds comes from food. The wetlands provide housing for one
of the staple foods of the bayu, crawfish eating crawfish
can be traced back to the natives of the land,
and that continued during French ownership of the area. The
dish really explodes because of the Cajuns. However, when they
were expelled from Acadia and traveled south, the Cajuns were
very poor. The abundance and easy cooking made crawfish a staple.
(04:32):
Coming from the northeast of Canada, Cajuns were no strangers
to lobsters. The two crustaceans were similar enough, and so
the recipes were easily translated from the Bayou back country.
The dish eventually made its way to New Orleans. From here,
the crawfish became an essential aspect of Louisiana cuisine, combining
Cajun roots with New Orleans square. Perhaps the pinna of
(05:00):
New Orleans flair is the Marti Graus celebration. Marti Gras
is French for Fat Tuesday. It is celebrated every year
before the season of Lent, in order to feast before
a time of sacrifice and self denial. The celebration began
during the seventeenth century in France and then moved to
America through their colonies. The people of New Orleans were
familiar with the celebration, but it was mostly like any
(05:21):
other holiday. That changed in eighteen fifty seven, when a
secret society called the Mystic Crew of Comus celebrated Marty
Graus with marching bands and decorated parade floats. This would
become the base for the Marti Gras we see today,
which still features crews, clubs, and organizations that come together
to make parade floats for the celebration. Staying in the
city of New Orleans, the black population and the French
(05:43):
influence were coming together to form something new, something that
would come to define the city. Chaz was a fusion
of African American rhythm and European harmonic structure. It was
a genre that had a rich musical history, but was
comfortable breaking the rules. Jazz grew out of several roots.
(06:04):
The biggest of these was ragtime. Ragtime was a deeply rhythmic,
deeply improvisational style. This tradition of improvisation and freedom would
become a core element of jazz. Another route was Black
gospel music. This gospel music often featured call and response.
Jazz musicians would take that idea and run with it,
having one instrument play a melody and then the rest
(06:26):
respond in their own unique way. The freedom, sound, and
charisma of jazz would become defining characteristics of New Orleans
and Louisiana as a whole. The Louisiana way of life
is one of French traditions, a fiery passion for freedom
and a flair for style.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
And a terrific job on the production, editing and storytelling
by our own Nate Gallagher, and well, everything about Louisiana,
they say, is different, and it's true. No counties, its parishes.
That's because of the Catholic tradition. It's geography. Not even
Florida comes close. Thirty three percent of the state Wetlands
is the only state with a state bird. That's a waterfowl,
(07:05):
a pelican. And of course there are the Bayous, there's
the crawfish thank you occasions. Of course there's Mardi Gras,
and then there's the music, jazz and ragtime, all products
of that city, New Orleans, the city where I got married.
The story of Louisiana a part of our series on
states here on our American Stories lihabib Here. As we
(07:33):
approach our nation's two hundred and fiftieth anniversary, I'd like
to remind you that all the history stories you hear
on this show are brought to you by the great
folks at Hillsdale College. Go to Hillsdale dot edu to
find out about their terrific free online courses. Their series
on communism is one of the finest I've ever seen. Again,
go to Hillsdale dot edu and sign up for their
(07:53):
free and terrific online courses.
Host
Lee Habeeb
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