As sugar planters fled from the revolution in Haiti, some moved to Cuba's Oriente Province, others to North America—to Louisiana. By the time the Haitian plantation owners and overseers reached New Orleans, abolitionists were pressing to end the African slave trade. The tragedy is that this movement to end slavery did nothing to improve conditions in Louisiana. In fact, the state that slaves called Lousy Anna was the very worst place for an African in America; it was the Caribbean all over again—a death sentence.

In every single American slave state, the population of enslaved people kept rising even after the slave trade was abolished. That was because enough enslaved children were born, lived, and grew to become adults. There was just one exception to this rule: Louisiana, where the native-born enslaved population kept dropping. Sugar was a killer.

Unlike the Caribbean, Louisiana has cold snaps. That put an additional pressure on the sugar harvest. Not only did the slaves need to harvest the cane in perfect rhythm with the grinding mills, but the entire crop had to be cut down between mid-October and December. This pace only increased when growers installed improved, steam-powered mills. People needed to work faster than the weather and to keep pace with machines.