Crime in Colonial New Orleans: Terror on the Frontier

Author David Schneider takes readers into the crime history of colonial New Orleans.

The French colonial empire was a brutal money-making machine. And French society, which was carefully organized by the Church and the Crown, broke down in the environment of the Gulf Coast, from New Orleans to Biloxi. The Catholic church lost control of social morals. The colonial regime was unable, or altogether disinterested, to provide for the basic needs of colonists. In this environment, things were very tense, and very wild, but the stories are fascinating, invigorating tales of life on the edge of empire.

David Michael Schneider is a high school educator in New Orleans, Louisiana. He received his bachelor’s degree in philosophy and religious studies from Louisiana State University with a minor in political science. He practices historic forms of European swordplay with the Crescent City Historical Fencing Club and continues to work within New Orleans to discover important histories.