This document is posted to help you gain knowledge. Please leave a comment to let me know what you think about it! Share it to your friends and learn new things together.
Transcript
Louisiana: Louisiana: The History of an American StateThe History of an American State
Chapter 6Chapter 6Louisiana’s French Colonial Louisiana’s French Colonial
Era: Era: Struggle and SurvivalStruggle and Survival
• 1714: Natchitoches founded• 1717: Company of the West became
Louisiana proprietor• 1718: New Orleans founded• 1729: Natchez uprising• 1736: Chickasaw War
Exploring the Mississippi• 1682: exploration of La Salle, to find water route
to China & spread religion of France– All land drained by Mississippi River claimed by La
Salle for Louis XIV– Land named Louisiana (“Land of Louis”)
• Return of La Salle to France to report discovery• Continuation of La Salle’s mission (a failure)
– Off-course route of fleets– Frustration / deaths of many colonists– La Salle’s men mutinied & he was murder by his men
The French Colony
• Set in motion by La Salle• French fort needed to guard Mississippi
River (recognized by Louis XIV)• Spanish fort built on the Gulf of Mexico at
Pensacola Bay• British hoped to build at the mouth of the
Mississippi River• French interests represented by French
Commander Pierre Le Moyne and his younger brother, Jean Baptiste Le Moyne
Fort Maurepas• Fort at Pensacola: held by Spanish – the
best harbor near the Mississippi River• Ship Island claimed by Iberville• Primitive huts built as a temporary camp• Letter to La Salle found in 1685 – proof 13
years later of French discovery of Mississippi River
• Gulf Coast: a better location for Iberville’s fort (near present-day Biloxi)
• Trees plentiful to build the fort
A Struggling Colony
• Challenges facing French colonists:– the British– the local Indian tribes
• Bienville successfully bluffed a British captain into leaving the Mississippi River
• English Turn, along the Mississippi River, still on today’s map
• Blended with the Indians at first, but conflicts later initiated to keep them from unifying against the French
Other Forts• Fort Mississippi built 54 miles above the
mouth of the river
• Fort Maurepas, French headquarters, moved due to flooding
• New fort, Fort Louis: built to keep the English out of Mobile Bay – later became the city of Mobile– Commanded by Henri de Tonti until his death
• Need still for more settlers– Prisoners sent to colony rather than jail– Arrival of dangerous criminals (unable or unwilling
to work)• Problems in the colony
– Vagrants (homeless people) shipped to colony– Goods not often sent to colony by the Company– Available goods more costly
The Collapse of the Mississippi Bubble
• Continued investments / expansion of the Company
• 1721: Collapse of the Company (called Mississippi Bubble)
• The Company of the Indies (in charge of colony)
• Continuation of Bienville as governor• Needs of Louisiana
– an adequate army– more dependable settlers– a good export crop
The Code Noir• 1716: Beginning of slavery in Louisiana (to
provide workers for colony)– slaves from West Africa– rice added as staple food for colony
(assistance from slaves)• Indigo & tobacco (Louisiana’s 1st cash
crops)• 1724: Code Noir established by Bienville
– governed conduct / treatment of slaves– protected slaves as property
A New Governor
• Complaints about Bienville as governor
• Etienne de Perier – new governor
– Mission: to bring harmony to colony
– Well-respected in French navy
– Saw potential in Louisiana’s forests– Desired to improve trade with French
colonies of West Indies
The Natchez Uprising • Peaceful relations between colonists and
Indians at Fort Rosalie (built 1716: Fort Rosalie built on land belonging to Natchez Indians)
• Good land seized from Natchez Indians by fort’s commander
• Natchez Indian attack of Fort Rosalie (called “Natchez Uprising” – deaths of 250+ colonists)
• Loss of farms / tobacco plantations / desire to stay in colony
• 1731: Colony returned to King by Company of the West
Click here to return to Main Menu.
Section 3:Section 3:A Royal Colony AgainA Royal Colony Again
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:–What problems were faced by the
various groups that attempted to colonize French Louisiana?
Section 3:Section 3:A Royal Colony AgainA Royal Colony Again
What word do I need to know?
1. casket girls
Bienville Returns
• Challenges facing Bienville upon return as governor:– Calm the settlers / restore ties with
Indians– Shortage of livestock & good tools– Inadequate supply of money– Few ships available to transport goods
• Food rationing in colony & reliance on barter and warehouse credit
War with the Chickasaw• Conflicts between tribes used often to advantage of
French and British– French goods generally preferred by Choctaw– British (trading partners & allies with Chickasaw)– Chickasaw (enemies of French & Choctaw)
• French fearful of peaceful relations between Chickasaw and Choctaw
• France’s colony threatened by possible trading partnership between Choctaw and British
• Eventual war lasting for several years between Chickasaw and French– Several defeats suffered by Bienville– 1742: Retirement of Bienville as governor of colony
A Different Kind of Governor
• 1742: New governor (Pierre Francois de Rigaud,
Marquis de Vaudreuil)– Halted Indian raids on settlements– Worked out peace agreement with Chickasaw – Used kindness and dignity to calm internal conflicts in
colony
• Improved living conditions & prosperity for colony
The Last French Years• 1752: Vaudreuil designated as governor of
Canada• Louis Billouart, Chevalier de Kerlerec
appointed governor of colony– Tensions between French and British
increasing– Stage set for French and Indian war– Caught in middle of squabbles with
commissary commissioner• 1762: Colony given to Spain
Life in the ColonyLife in the Colony
• Began as a struggle in French colonial Louisiana in the wilderness
• Challenging environment• Adaptation of people to suit location• Daily hardships faced by colonists• Elements of culture added to improve
their lives
The PeopleThe People
• Early explorers and promoters (hardy French Canadians)– Free-spirited woodsmen (coureur-de-bois –
“woods runner” in French– Preferred independent lifestyle to settling in
colony• Early French colonists
– Lacked survival skills for harsh environment– Many interested in search for gold & silver
• German farmers (hardy, saved colony)
The PeopleThe People
• African slaves (hard labor, created economic growth in colony)
• Soldiers (considered as rejects of army)• Women
– Scarce in the colony– Absence, causing instability in colony– 1728: Arrival of “casket girls”– Some women of bad reputation sent
from the streets of Paris
ReligionReligion• Roman Catholic: official religion of France
and the Louisiana colony
• Church supported by the government
• Nuns & priests provided for the colony
• Few of the early priests lived among the Indians as missionaries
• Schools established by nuns & priests
• Early days: Mardi Gras & other church holidays celebrated
LifestylesLifestyles
• Early population of Louisiana between 6,000 & 7,000 when colony given up by France
• Gambling & card playing main entertainment• Few elegant homes, majority of logs or bricks• Ignorant about diseases / health awareness• Jean Louis: money left in will (provisions for a
charity hospital in New Orleans)• Clothing: made mostly from imported cloth –
elegant clothing (from France) worn by wealthy
Success or Failure• Factors contributing to success or failure
of French colony of Louisiana– Colony under regulations of France– Colony affected by hurricanes, mosquitoes,
heat, & humidity– The first colonists – a poor choice? – Leaders of the colony
• Those seeking to benefit colony• Those seeking profits for themselves