Editing Louisiana (section)

===Secession and the Civil War===
{{Main|Ordinance of Secession|Confederate States of America|Louisiana in the American Civil War}}
[[File:'Signing the Ordinance of Secession of Louisiana, January 26, 1861', oil on canvas painting by Enoch Wood Perry, Jr., 1861.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.35|'Signing the Ordinance of Secession of Louisiana, January 26, 1861', oil on canvas painting, 1861]]
[[File:New Orleans h76369k.jpg|right|thumb|[[Battle of Forts Jackson and St. Philip|''Capture of New Orleans'']], April 1862, colored lithograph of engraving]]

According to the 1860 census, 331,726 people were enslaved, nearly 47% of the state's total population of 708,002.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20041019003356/http://fisher.lib.virginia.edu/collections/stats/histcensus/php/state.php Historical Census Browser, 1860 US Census, University of Virginia], accessed October 31, 2007</ref> The strong economic interest of elite whites in maintaining the slave society contributed to Louisiana's decision to secede from the Union on January 26, 1861.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.knowlouisiana.org/entry/louisianas-secession-from-the-union|title=Louisiana's Secession from the Union|work=64 Parishes|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171115015107/http://www.knowlouisiana.org/entry/louisianas-secession-from-the-union|archive-date=November 15, 2017|url-status=live|last = Sacher|first = John M.|date = July 27, 2011 }}</ref> It followed other U.S. states in seceding after the election of [[Abraham Lincoln]] as president of the United States. Louisiana's secession was announced on January 26, 1861, and it became part of the [[Confederate States of America]].

The state was quickly defeated in the [[American Civil War|Civil War]], a result of Union strategy to cut the Confederacy in two by controlling the [[Mississippi River]]. Federal troops captured New Orleans on April 25, 1862. Because a large part of the population had Union sympathies (or compatible commercial interests), the federal government took the unusual step of designating the areas of Louisiana under federal control as a state within the Union, with its own elected representatives to the U.S. Congress.<ref>{{cite web|title=Munson, Underwood, Horn, Fairfield and Allied Families – Louisiana|url=http://www.brazoriaroots.com/pi715.htm|access-date=December 23, 2020|website=Brazoriaroots.com|archive-date=February 20, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210220154000/http://www.brazoriaroots.com/pi715.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=About Louisiana|url=https://myhammond.com/louisiana/|access-date=December 23, 2020|website=My Hammond {{!}} My Ponchatoula|archive-date=September 24, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180924123340/http://myhammond.com/louisiana/|url-status=live}}</ref>