In 1807, Assumption became the eighth parish of the Orleans Territory. Its history is rooted in its waterways and its large expanse of fertile soils ideal for farming. Settled in the middle18th century by French and Spanish settlers, the area retains strong cultural ties to its past with conversational French still common among residents. Assumption was also a final destination for many of the French Acadians exiled from Nova Scotia between 1755 and 1764. After the Confederacy forced the surrender of Fort Sumter, South Carolina, in 1861, the Assumption Parish Police Jury appropriated $1,000 to provide uniforms for military volunteers against the Union. By contrast, Lafayette Parish contributed $6,000. Plaquemines Parish approved a gift of $10 to $15 per month for needy volunteer families.
Geography
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the parish has a total area of, of which is land and is water.
As of the 2010 United States census, there were 23,421 people living in the parish. 66.8% were White, 30.5% Black or African American, 0.6% Native American, 0.2% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 1.0% of some other race and 0.9% of two or more races. 2.1% were Hispanic or Latino. 38.2% were of French, French Canadian or Cajun and 9.4% American ancestry. As of the census of 2000, there were 23,388 people, 8,239 households, and 6,311 families living in the parish. The population density was 69 people per square mile. There were 9,635 housing units at an average density of 28 per square mile. The racial makeup of the parish was 67.17% White, 31.52% Black or African American, 0.31% Native American, 0.24% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.17% from other races, and 0.59% from two or more races. 1.21% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 81.14% of the population over the age of five spoke only English at home, while 17.58% reported speaking French or Cajun French . There were 8,239 households out of which 37.90% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.80% were married couples living together, 14.90% had a female householder with no husband present, and 23.40% were non-families. 20.30% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.20% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.81 and the average family size was 3.26. In the parish the age distribution of the population shows 28.50% under the age of 18, 9.80% from 18 to 24, 28.70% from 25 to 44, 22.20% from 45 to 64, and 10.90% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 93.90 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.90 males. The median income for a household in the parish was $31,168, and the median income for a family was $36,052. Males had a median income of $35,941 versus $18,065 for females. The per capita income for the parish was $14,008. About 19.50% of families and 21.80% of the population were below the poverty line, including 28.40% of those under age 18 and 21.70% of those age 65 or over.
During the "Solid South" era, conflicts over trade policy often caused Assumption Parish to deviate somewhat from overwhelming Democratic support, as did rebellion in the Acadiana region against Woodrow Wilson's perceived hostility towards France. In 1936, Assumption Parish broke heavily from state and national political trends to support GovernorAlfred Landon of Kansas, the Republican nominee for U.S. President in the race against Franklin D. Roosevelt. Though Landon received only 11.1 percent of the vote in Louisiana, he took 60.6 percent in Assumption and 41.5 percent in another sugar-growing parish, Lafourche. Since the Dixiecrat revolt, by contrast, Assumption has been a typical rural South Louisiana parish in its political behaviour. It backed Dixiecrat Strom Thurmond in 1948 and Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1956 before showing powerful pro-Catholic behaviour in 1960 and then turning powerfully against liberal Midwestern Democrats in 1968 and 1972. With the nomination of the more centrist Jimmy Carter in 1976, Assumption became again Democratic leaning until the 2000s, when, like all of the rural white South, it has turned powerfully Republican due to disagreements with the Democratic Party's liberal views on social issues.
