Building the Land of Dreams: New Orleans and the Transformation of Early America

Multicultural New Orleans maintains a mystique that stems from its unique development under governments of France, Spain, and Thomas Jefferson’s U.S., argues musician-turned-history teacher Faber in this remarkable and thorough history. He ably describes the city’s complex evolution in a packed chronological narrative that takes note of Louisiana’s key historical figures, harsh geographic considerations, and complex socioeconomic configurations. While the heavily Catholic, French-speaking city differed greatly in temperament from the predominantly British, Protestant republic surrounding it, Faber adroitly asserts that the port city (officially established in 1718) and the young country shared similar dreams of self-determination and trading opportunities. Steering away from traditional interpretations, Faber argues that “class, not ethnic identity” caused the bulk of conflict between the Creole elite and transplanted Easterners. But rampant intermarriage suggested common ground, he notes—a point that was solidified during Andrew Jackson’s 1815 victory in the Battle of New Orleans. In spite of simultaneously enchanting and confounding Jefferson, New Orleans gained its singular identity through a long transition of becoming more “New Orleanian”—a process that ironically made it more American. Illus. [em](Nov.) [/em]