West Feliciana Parish, Louisiana

After a short narration of the history of the parish located in a bend of the Mississippi River, this chapter uses census data to document the distribution of free people of color throughout Louisiana and the United States. It describes emancipation in Louisiana as a personal act rather than the product of the Revolutionary fervor that led to emancipations in the upper south. The Saint-Domingue refugees who came to New Orleans from Cuba in 1809 did not settle in West Feliciana Parish, but their story is included to demonstrate the French/Spanish attitude towards free people of color. The chapter concludes with legislation enacted by the American authorities and by the State of Louisiana directed at the lives of free people of color. It shows how that legislation became more restrictive as the nation marched towards Civil War, although it did not at any point prohibit equal access to public spaces.