Editing Zydeco (section)

==Early history==
[[File:Zydeco players Louisiana 1938.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Early Creole musicians playing an accordion and a washboard in front of a store, near [[Opelousas, Louisiana]] (1938).]]

The original French settlers came to Louisiana in the late 1600s, sent by the Regent of France, [[Philippe II, Duke of Orléans|Philippe d'Orléans]], [[Duke of Orléans]], to help settle ''La Louisiane'' (the Louisiana Territory) they claimed as a colony. Arriving in [[New Orleans]] on seven ships, the settlers quickly moved into the bayous and swamps. There, the French culture permeated those of the Spanish and Native American Indians, who had long populated the area.

In 1720, German Catholics founded the second permanent European settlements in [[St. John the Baptist Parish]], part of what became known as the [[German Coast]]. Later in the 18th century, more German and Irish immigrants also settled in this area.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hebert |first=Tim |year=1997–2009 |title=History of the Cajuns - Cajuns in the 18th Century |url=http://www.acadian-cajun.com/hiscaj2c.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120305113851/http://www.acadian-cajun.com/hiscaj2c.htm |archive-date=March 5, 2012 |access-date=4 June 2012 |website=Acadian-Cajun Genealogy & History }}</ref> Europeans imported or acquired African slaves as workers, and they soon outnumbered the whites on major sugar cane and other plantations. Through the decades, all the peoples gradually mixed.

For 150 years, [[Louisiana Creole people|Louisiana Creoles]] enjoyed an insular lifestyle, prospering, educating themselves without the government and building their invisible communities under the [[Code Noir]]. The French created the Code Noir in 1724 to establish rules for treatment of enslaved Africans. It also established  restrictions and rights for ''gens de couleur libres'', free people of color who were a growing class, often descended from French white men and Black African or mixed-race women. They had the right to own land, something which few blacks or people of color in the [[American South]] had at that time.

The disruption of the Louisiana Creole community began when the United States made the [[Louisiana Purchase]] and Americans started settling in the state, particularly migrating from the Southeast. The new settlers typically recognized only the binary system of race that prevailed in the slave societies common where they had come from. The American states had made laws based on the assumption of second-class status for most people of visible African descent, because of its strong association with the caste of slavery.

When the [[American Civil War|Civil War]] ended, and the black slaves were freed across the South, Louisiana Creoles who had been free before the war often assumed positions of leadership during Reconstruction. However, segregationist Democrats in Louisiana classified Creoles as Black, or having the same status as freed slaves. By the end of the 19th century, Louisiana, Mississippi, and other former Confederate states were passing new constitutions and laws to [[Disenfranchisement after the Reconstruction era|disenfranchise most blacks]] and many poor whites under rules designed to suppress black voting (despite the [[Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution]]). Creoles continued to press for education and advancement while negotiating the new society.

Zydeco's rural beginnings and the prevailing economic conditions at its inception are reflected in the song titles, lyrics, and bluesy vocals. The music arose as a synthesis of traditional [[Creole music]],  and African-American traditions, including [[Rhythm and blues|R&B]], [[blues]], [[jazz]], and [[Gospel music|gospel]]. It was also often just called French music or ''le musique Creole'' known as "la-la."

[[Amédé Ardoin]], the second and most influential musician of the region to record the Creole music of southwest Louisiana, made his first recordings in 1929.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Tomko |first=Gene |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5ZKzDwAAQBAJ |title=Encyclopedia of Louisiana Musicians: Jazz, Blues, Cajun, Creole, Zydeco, Swamp Pop, and Gospel |publisher=Louisiana State University Press |year=2020 |isbn=978-0807169322 |location=Baton Rouge |pages=33 |access-date=September 21, 2020 |archive-date=July 13, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230713173501/https://books.google.com/books?id=5ZKzDwAAQBAJ |url-status=live }}</ref> This Creole music served as a foundation for what later became known as zydeco. Originally performed at house dances in the community, the music eventually was also performed in Catholic Church community centers, as Creoles were mostly Catholic, as well as in rural dance halls and nightclubs.

During [[World War II]], and the [[Second Great Migration (African American)|Second Great Migration]], many French-speaking and Louisiana Creole-speaking Créoles from the area around [[Marksville, Louisiana|Marksville]] and [[Opelousas, Louisiana]] left a poor and prejudiced state for better economic opportunities in Texas. Their numbers were surpassed by the many southern Blacks, including people of color, who migrated to California, Oregon and Washington states, where the buildup of defense industries provided more access to good jobs. They still had to deal with some discrimination but found more opportunities than in the legally segregated South. In California blacks from Louisiana and other Southern states could vote and began to participate in political life. Today, there are many Cajun and zydeco festivals throughout the US.