Claimed
much of the new world following the first voyage of Columbus.
Treaty of
Torsedillas and a papal decrees split the new world, especially South America
between the Spain and the Portuguese.
Treaty
honored until the mid 1500s.
Spanish
power faltered in the 1600s and others crept in.
Piracy on
the high seas
DeLeon,
DeSoto and Coronado led expeditions that covered much of the USA.
DeSoto in
1541 was likely the first European to see the Mississippi
Looking
for gold, but also laid claim to huge portions of N.Am. territory.
Did not
really do much in Louisiana again until the 1700s until some missionary came up
from Mexico to proselytize Indians.
Established
ties with the French establishment at Natchitoches and set up a competing post
as Los Adaes only miles away. Los Adaes
was the capital of Texas for many years.
Spain
maintained their claims over much of N. America even after the Fr and Indian
war caused the French to lose Spanish territory that they effectively occupied.
The Treat
of Fontainebleu that precluded the end of the Fr and Indian war transferred LA
to the Spanish in 1762.
Got
Florida back after 1783 following the Am Revolution.
Were
paranoid about the English, then the Americans and tried to move as many
citizens into the area, especially along the border/river during this era.
1766 a
Spanish governor arrives only to be kicked out by Fr citizens unwilling to
accept Spanish rule. 1769 Spanish
governor returns with troops.
Spanish
were better at settling the area and made is somewhat more economically viable,
but it was still a drain.
Loosened
the trade restrictions imposed by the Fr.
Spanish
settled in Terre Aux Boefs, New Iberia and on Bayou LaFourche.
Spanish
refugees from Hispaniola came in 1791 bringing expertise in cane, and another
cultural mix.
Islenos of
Delacroix Island in St. Bernard Parish, Spanish is still spoken by about 1000.
Continued
to encourage immigration and the importation of slaves.
Spanish
offered homesteading grants of small properties (Arpents) and larger land
grants to important people (like Neri Baron of Bastrop).
Spanish
welcomed settlers of many nationalities and let the French become part of the
political leadership.
Spanish
got the Florida parishes back from the British after the American
revolution…encouraged American settlement there.
New
Orleans played a key role in the western frontier war of the revolution.
Although
New Orleans was rebuilt in 1788 after a fire in the Spanish style, much of
Louisiana retained a Franco culture.
(Principle of Primary Settlement).
France got
Louisiana back via Napoleon and a marriage in 1800…was transferred again in
1803 to the Americans in the LA purchase.
arrive at
this time from Canada in 1769, really bolstering the population and
Franco-fying the culture still further. Pop at 13,500.
Came
mostly from nova Scotia.
Catholic,
French and running from the English.
Established
the Acadian coast, just north of the German coast in St. Bernard parish, but
most moved west of the Atchafalaya basin to the Teche, and to Lafouche and
Point Coupee and to Avoyelles parish.
Careful
not to overstate the connection with Canada and the effect of isolation.
Much of
the culture of the Cajuns was invented here in Louisiana.
Began
seriously violating the Spanish sovereignty in the New World in the early 1500
when Francis the 1st came to power.
Verrazano
and Cartier searching for the fabled Northwest Passage to the Orient.
Papul bull
modified after it was realized that there was far more territory over here than
first imagined.
Cartier
found the St. Lawrence river, but the French failed in their initial attempts
to settle in the region.
French
Huguenots that settled to Florida were wiped out by Spanish.
Early 1600’s
the French return to Nova Scotia and the St. Lawrence and stay.
Marquette
descended the Missippi in 1673, but didn’t make it to LA.
The French
were very interested in getting in on the bonanza of gold found by the Spanish.
LaSalle
came down the Mississippi in 1682 and built a fort, alarming the Spanish who
had neglected the area in favor of Mexico and gold.
Named the
area after Louis the 14th.
On a
subsequent voyage La Salle established an outpost in Spanish Texas, but the
whole thing was a disaster and he was killed by his own men.
Squabbled
with the Spanish over trading right in the area.
1699
Iberville and Bienville came to Louisiana, but via the Gulf. Established a fort at Biloxi Bay.
An
assistant to Bienville/Iberville St. Denis who was in charge of the
Natchitoches settlement was interested in cutting in on the Spanish claims.
LaHarpe
was another trader, who was more interested in trade with the Indians.
Was at
first held by the crown then trading companies.
There was
not a land shortage in France as their was in England and Germany and therefore
French citizens were far less likely to want to emigrate to the New World.
Disease
decimated early populations, many never made the trip over.
Orphans
and nuns and hookers made up a significant part of the early female population.
French
preferred Biloxi.
Baton
Rouge, Rapides, Natchitoches, Natchez, Pointe Coupee and Les Allemands all
count among the early settlements.
Natchitoches
the earliest settlement in 1714.
NO f. in
1718.
Capital
moved to NO in 1721.
Very few
people (7000?) ever survived in New France (south).
Barely
self sufficient in agriculture
Tried to
establish plantations specializing in cane, indigo, rice and cotton and
tobacco.
Only rice
worked well at first.
Trading routes
insecure and poorly developed, though trade did occur with the Engl. and the
Indians.
Very
little labor and less skilled labor.
Shortage
of work animals too.
Poor
political leadership.
Storms and
Indian threats a constant nuisance.
Restrictive
trading policies (mercantilism).
Was
generally a financial disaster.
Lost their
claim after losing the Seven Years war to the English in 1763.
They lost
everything east of the Mississippi to the English and they lost French Canada
as well.
They gave
Spain everything west of the Mississippi, plus the Isle of Orleans in the
secret treaty of Fontainebleu a year earlier.
Objected
almost immediately to any French claims in the St. Lawrence region.
Beat the
French and got everything east of the Miss after 1763.
Were
beaten by the Americans 1776-1783 and lost much of their claims east of the
Appalachian and their former possession in Florida to the Spanish who sided
with the Americans.
Retained
control over much of the interior of the Midwest, even though American settlers
were pouring in. There was a treaty
(1763) keeping the Americans out, but it was ignored.
Germans
were recruited by the French entrepreneurs to come settle Louisiana.
1720 came
Germans and Swiss
Settled
north of Louisiana in an area known as the German Coast. St. Charles and St. John the Baptist
parishes.
Impact
mitigated by their small numbers vis a vis the French.
Were
prosperous.
Slaves may
have arrived as early as 1708, many years after the arrival of Africans to the
Jamestown colony (1609?).
500 slaves
arrived in LA in 1716
A slave
trading house was established in Algiers across river from NO.
Desperately
needed to offset the labor shortage.
Were
mostly in the North but really wanted to trade with the South and the Miss R
was the best trade route available to those west of the Appalachians.
Established
a treaty with the British, then later the Spanish (1795) to open up trade on
the Mississippi river.
Right of
deposit law established…free trade zone, no tariffs or duties. Continues to this day. Provides jobs at the docks etc.