From 1824 to 1861, Louisiana moved from a political system based on personality and ethnicity to a distinct two-party system, with Democrats competing first against Whigs, then Know Nothings, and finally only other Deomcrats. Sacher's fast-paced narrative describes the ever-changing issues facing the parties and explains how the presence of slavery shaped the state's political landscape. He shows that although civic participation expanded beyond the elite, Louisiana remained a "white men's democracy."
The protection of white men's liberty, Sacher contends, was the common thread running throughout antebellum Louisiana, and indeed southern, politics. Ultimately, he argues, this obsession with defending independence led Louisiana's politicians to join their southern brethren in seceding from the Union.
Sacher's welcome study provides a fresh, grass-roots perspective on the political causes of the Civil War and confirms the dominant role regional politics played in antebellum Louisiana.
