New Orleans thrived under Spanish rule (1762-1803), linked through trade and empire to the nerve centers of the circum-Caribbean. This book explores the far-reaching ways in which the Spanish influence is evident in the city to this day, in architecture, agriculture, science, and the arts. The Spanish period saw shifts in the legal landscape surrounding slavery, as well as the dramatic growth of the city's population of free people of color. The daily lives of New Orleanians, and the city's constant interaction with the Caribbean and the greater Spanish empire, are documented in the surviving examples of material culture, maps, manuscripts, and artworks presented here.