Renaissance Française: The rise, fall and rebirth of French in Louisiana

Dressed in beads, feathers and masks, Mardi Gras will visit the state Tuesday, Louisiana’s long-held tradition born from French roots.The French first laid claim in 1682 to the territory that would become Louisiana. The land changed hands, but French traditions and the French language remained. In the late 19th to early 20th centuries, French-speakers in Louisiana were persecuted for their difference from other Americans, but a resurgence in the last 50 years saw the rise, once again, of the French language.READ MORE:What does Louisiana's congressional redistricting mean for LSU? A fundamental part of Louisiana's long and colorful history is its relationship with France and the French language—from religion to tradition, all the way down to the name Louisiana.The state's name, in fact, is a reference to the French monarch, King Louis XIV, who contracted the colonization of the area in the 1700s. At the time, Louisiana was part of a large territory known as New France.France, like other...