Editing Lafayette, Louisiana (section)

=== Municipal incorporation ===
Jean Mouton, an Acadian settler, donated land to the Roman Church for construction of a small Catholic chapel at this site. In 1824, this area was selected for the Lafayette Parish seat and was named Vermilionville,<ref name=":5">{{Cite book|last=Griffin|first=Harry|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5is-IIyu5N8C|title=The Attakapas Country: A History of Lafayette Parish, Louisiana|date=23 September 2010|publisher=Pelican Publishing|pages=33|isbn=9781455600465}}</ref> for its location on the river; in 1836, the [[Louisiana State Legislature]] approved its incorporation.

The area was initially developed by Europeans for agriculture, primarily [[Plantation|sugar plantations]], which depended on the labor of numerous [[Slavery in the United States|enslaved Africans]] and [[African Americans]]. They made up a large percentage of the antebellum population.<ref name=":0" /> According to [[United States census|U.S. census]] data in 1830, some 41 percent of the population of Lafayette Parish was enslaved.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://www2.census.gov/library/publications/decennial/1830/1830b.pdf|title=Abstract of the Fifth Census of the United States|publisher=House of Representatives, United States of America|year=1832|location=Duff Green|publication-place=Washington DC}}</ref> By 1860, the enslaved population had increased to 49.6 percent. Some [[free people of color]] lived in Lafayette Parish, as well;<ref>{{Cite web|title=Free People of Color in Louisiana|url=https://lib.lsu.edu/sites/all/files/sc/fpoc/history.html|access-date=2021-07-31|publisher=Louisiana State University}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Ambroise|first=Trevian|title=From the shadows of the free people of color, a look into the historic Freetown|url=https://www.thevermilion.com/opinion/from-the-shadows-of-the-free-people-of-color-a-look-into-the-historic-freetown/article_873bfe18-2e67-11e9-9ce9-93aeb2dad728.html|access-date=2021-07-31|website=The Vermilion|language=en}}</ref> they made up 3 percent to a low of 2.4 percent between 1830 and 1860.

In 1884, Vermilionville was renamed for [[Gilbert du Motier, marquis de Lafayette|General Lafayette]], a French aristocrat who had fought with and significantly aided the [[Continental Army]] during the [[American Revolutionary War]].<ref name=Niles>''Niles' Weekly Register'', BALTIMORE, June 26, 1824; LAFAYETTE</ref> The city and parish economy continued to be based on agriculture into the early 20th century. After the [[American Civil War]], most of the labor was done by [[Freedman|freedmen]], who worked as [[Sharecropping|sharecroppers]]. From the 1930s, mechanization of agriculture began to reduce the need for farm workers.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Slavery by Another Name|last=Blackmon|first=Douglas}}</ref>