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Home > Catholic Encyclopedia > L > Louisiana


LOUISIANA

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COLONIAL

The history of Louisiana forms an important part of the history of the United
States, and is romantic and interesting. It is closely connected with the
history of France and of Spain, somewhat more with that of England, and for this
reason is more picturesque than the history of any other state of the American
Union. Alvarez de Pineda is said to have discovered the Mississippi River in
1519, but his Rio del Espiritu Santo was probably the Mobile River, and we have
to leave to Fernando de Soto the honour of having been in 1541 the discoverer of
the mighty stream into which his body was projected by his companions after the
failure of this expedition, undertaken for the conquest of Florida. Some time
before the discovery by De Soto, Pamphilio de Narvaez had perished in
endeavouring to conquer Florida, but five of his followers had succeeded in
reaching Mexico. One of them, Alvar Nuñez Cabeza de Vaca, described their
wanderings, in which they must have crossed the Mississippi. Many years after de
Soto the great Mississippi was rediscovered in 1673 by the Canadian trader Louis
Joliet, and by the saintly missionary, father Jacques Marquette, forerunners of
Robert Cavelier de La Salle, the celebrated Norman explorer. The latter floated
down in Illinois River in 1682, and, entering the Mississippi, followed the
course of the river to its mouth, and on 9 April took possession, in the name of
Louis XIV, of the country watered by the Mississippi and its tributaries. To
that vast region he gave the name of "Louisiane" in honour of the King of
France, who carried royal power to the highest point, and who was always firm,
energetic, and courageous. Among La Salle's companions were the chivalric Henry
de Tonty and Fathers Zénobe Membré and Anastase Douay. The name Louisiane is
found for the first time in the grant of an island to François Daupin, signed by
La Salle, 10 June, 1679.



Louis XIV wished to colonize Louisiana, and unite it to his possessions in
Canada by a chain of posts in the Mississippi valley. England would thus be
hemmed in between the Atlantic Ocean and the Appalachian range of mountains. la
Salle endeavoured in carry out this scheme in 1684, but his colony, Fort Louis,
established by mistake on the coast of what is now Texas, perished when its
founder was murdered on the Trinity river by some of his own men on 19 March,
1687. In 1688 James II was expelled from England, and the war which ensued
between Louis XIV and William III lasted until 1697. When there was peace, the
King of France thought once more of settling the land discovered by La Salle,
and his Minister Maurepas chose Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville as the man best
fitted to accomplish that task. Iberville was the third son of Charles Le Moyne
d'Iberville, a Norman established in Canada. He was a native of Villemarie
(Montreal), was "as military as his sword", and was a brave and able marine
officer. He left Brest on 24 Oct., 1698, and that date is of great importance in
the history of the United States, for on board the small frigates, the Badine
and the Marin, were the seeds from which was to grow Louisiana, the province
which was to give the American Union thirteen states and one territory and to
exert a great influence on the civilization of the United States. In February,
1699, Iberville, and his young brother Bienville saw the beautiful coast of the
Gulf of Mexico, where are now Biloxi and Ocean Springs, and after having found
the mouth of the Mississippi on 2 March, 1699, and explored the "hidden" river,
they built Fort Maurepas and laid the foundation of the French colony on the
Gulf Coast, on the Ocean Springs side of the Bay of Biloxi. Iberville ordered a
fort to be built fifty-four miles from the mouth of the Mississippi. This was
the first settlement in the present state of Louisiana, and was abandoned in
1705. On 4 May, 1699, Iberville sailed for France on board the Badine, with the
Count de Surgères who commanded the Marin. Sauvole, a young French officer, had
been given command of the fort at Biloxi, and Bienville had been appointed
lieutenant (second in command). Sauvole, who may be considered the first
governor of Louisiana, died on 22 August 1701, and Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de
Bienville succeeded him in the command of the colony. Iberville ordered
Bienville to remove the seat of the colony from Biloxi and form an establishment
on the Mobile River. This was done in January, 1702, when Fort Louis de la
Mobile was constructed at a point eighteen leagues from the sea. In 1711 the
settlement was moved to the site which is now occupied by the city of Mobile. In
1704 the devoted friend of La Salle, Henry de Tonty, died at Mobile, and on 9
July, 1706, Iberville, the founder of Louisiana, died at Havana of yellow fever.

The founders of Louisiana had made the mistake of neglecting the banks of the
Mississippi, when the fort on the river was abandoned in 1705, and, although
there was Old Biloxi and Mobile, the settlement could not proposer as long as it
was limited in its site to the land on the gulf. The colony might not have been
permanent had not Bienville, in February, 1718, twelve years after the death of
Iberville, founded New Orleans, so admirably situated between the deep and broad
Mississippi and beautiful lake Pontchartrain. In 1722 the seat of the colony was
transferred from New Biloxi, which had been founded in 1719, to New Orleans, and
the future of Louisiana was assured. It was then directed by the Western
Company, had received for a time the help of the bank of John Law, and from 1712
to 1717 had been conceded to another banker, Crozat, who had agreed to develop
the resources of the colony, but who had failed his enterprise. On 10 January,
1722, Father Charlevoix, in a letter dated from New Orleans says: "This wild and
desert place, which the weeds and trees still cover almost entirely, will be one
day, and perhaps that day is not distant, an opulent city, and the metropolis of
a rich and great colony." The distinguished historian based this hope "on the
situation of this town thirty-three leagues from the sea, and on the bank of a
navigable river, which one can ascend to this place in twenty-four hours; on the
fertility of its soil, and the mildness and goodness of its climate, at a
latitude of thirty degrees north; on the industry of its inhabitants; on the
proximity of Mexico, where one can go in two weeks by sea; on that of Havana,
which is still closer, of the most beautiful islands of America and of the
English colonies."



It was no easy matter to establish a successful colony in the New World, and the
French under Iberville and Bienville, and the descendants of these men, were
just as energetic as the Englishmen who settled in Virginia and Massachusetts.
There were on the banks of the Mississippi primeval forests to be cut down, in
order to cultivate properly the fertile land deposited by the great river in its
rapid course toward the gulf. The turbulent waters of the river were to be held
in their bed by strong embankments, and the Indians had to be subdued. It was
only then that the work of civilization could be begun, and the admirable
culture of the French extended to the Mississippi Valley. The elegance and
refinement of manners of Paris in the eighteenth century were found in New
Orleans from the every foundation of the city, and the women of Louisiana were
mentioned by the early chroniclers with great praise for their great beauty and
charm. They owed, to a great extent, their mental and moral training to the
instruction and education they received at the convent of the Ursuline nuns. The
sons of wealthy colonists were set to France to be educated, or were taught at
private schools at home, such as the one kept in 1727 by Father Cécile, a
Capuchin monk. As girls could not be sent to Europe to obtain an education, a
school for them was absolutely necessary in New Orleans, and Bienville, at the
suggestion of the Jesuit Father de Beaubois, asked that six Ursuline nuns be
sent from France to attend to the hospital and to open a school for girls. The
nuns arrived in July, 1727, and were received with great kindness by Governor
Périer, his wife, and the people of the town. In her letters to her father
Sister Madeline Hachard gives an interesting account of New Orleans in 1727,
speaks of the magnificent dresses of the ladies, and says that a song was
publicly sung in which it was said that the city had as much "appearance" as
Paris, and she adds quaintly, "indeed, it is very beautiful, but besides that I
have not enough eloquence to be able to persuade you of the beauty which the
song mentions, I find a difference between this city and that of Paris. It might
persuade people who have never seen the capital of France, but I have seen it,
and the song will not persuade me of the contrary of what I believe. It is true
that it is increasing every day, and may become as beautiful and as large as the
principal towns of France, if there still come some workmen, and it become
peopled according to its size. Sister Madeline was prophetic, as Father
Charlevoix had been in his letter quoted above (in 1722). In 1734 the Ursulines
occupied the convent, built for them by the Government, which is still standing
on Chartres street. They remained there until 1824, when they moved to another
building down the river. Their services as educators of the girls of Louisiana
in colonial times were invaluable.

The Province of Louisiana had been divided on 16 May, 1722, into three spiritual
jurisdictions. The first, comprising all the country from the mouth of the
Mississippi to the Wabash, and west of the Mississippi, was allowed to the
Capuchins, whose superior was to be vicar-general of the Bishop of Quebec and
was to reside in New Orleans. The second extended north from the Wabash and
belonged to the Jesuits, whose superior, residing in the Illinois country, was
also to be vicar-general of the Bishop of Quebec in that department. The third
comprised all the country east of the Mississippi from the sea to the Wabash,
and was given to the Carmelites, whose superior was also vicar-general and
resided usually at Mobile. The Capuchins took possession of their district in
1722. The Jesuits had already been in theirs a long time. The jurisdiction of
the Carmelites was added to that of the Capuchins on 19 December, 1722, and the
former returned to France. In December, 1723, the jurisdiction of the Capuchins
was restricted to the country on both sides of the river from Natchez south to
the sea, as the Capuchins were not very numerous. It was, however, decided in
1725 that no monks or priests could attend churches or missions within the
jurisdiction of the Capuchins without the consent of the latter. A little later
the spiritual care of all the savages in the province was given to the Jesuits,
and their superior was allowed to reside in New Orleans, provided he performed
no ecclesiastical functions without the consent of the Capuchins. Several
Jesuits arrived in New Orleans with the Ursuline nuns, and Father de Beaubois
soon became their superior. It was the Jesuits who in 1751 introduced the sugar
cane into Louisiana from Hispaniola. They cultivated on their plateau the sugar
cane, indigo, and the myrtle-wax shrub.

The tribes with which the early colonists had principally to deal were the
Natchez, the Chickasaws, and the Choctaws. The last named were very numerous but
not warlike, and were generally friendly to the French, while the Natchez and
the Chickasaws were often at war with the colonists, and the former had to be
nearly destroyed to insure the safety of the colony. The village of the Natchez
was the finest in Louisiana, and their country was delightful. The men and women
of their tribe were well-shaped and very cleanly. Their chief was called the
Great Sun, and inheritance of that title was in the female line. They had a
temple in which a fire was kept burning continually to represent the sun which
they adored. Whenever the Great Sun died, or a female Sun, or any of the
inferior Suns, the wife or husband was strangled together with the nearest
relatives of the deceased. Sometimes little children were sacrificed by their
parents. The Natchez were defeated by Périer and by St. Denis, and what remained
of the tribe were adopted by the Chickasaws. The name of the Natchez as a nation
was lost, but it will live forever in the literature on account of the charming
pages devoted to them by Chateaubriand. Bienville wished to compel the
Chickasaws to surrender the Natchez who had taken refuge among them, and his
ill-success in two campaigns against that powerful tribe was the cause of his
asking in 1740 to be allowed to go to France to recuperate his exhausted health.
He left Louisiana in May, 1743, and never returned to the colony which he and
Iberville had founded. He had endeavoured to establish in New Orleans a school
for boys, but had not been successful. La Salle, Iberville, and Bienville are
the greatest names in the history of French Louisiana.

Pierre Rigaud, Marquis de Vaudreuil, arrived in Louisiana on 10 May, 1743. He
was known as the "Grand Marquis", and his administration was very popular. In
1752 he became governor of Canada, where he was not as successful as he had been
in Louisiana. The time had come to settle forever the question of the supremacy
on the American continent between France and England, and the brave Montcalm and
his able lieutenant Lévis could not prevent the British from capturing Quebec
and Montreal. On the plains of Abraham in 1759, where both Wolfe and Montcalm
fell, the fate of Canada was decided, and the approaching independence of the
English colonies might have been foreseen. By the Treaty of Paris in 1763,
Canada was ceded by France to England, as well as the city of Mobile, and the
part of Louisiana on the left bank of the Mississippi River, with the exception
of New Orleans and the island of Orléans. Spain, in her turn, ceded to Great
Britain the province of Florida and all the country to the east and south-east
of the Mississippi. Already, by the secret Treaty of Fontainebleau (3 Nov.,
1762), the wretched Louis XV had made to Charles III of Spain a gift of "the
country known by the name of Louisiana, as well as New Orleans and the island in
which that city is situated." This was the province which was retroceded to
France in 1800, and ceded by France to the United States in 1803. Although the
King of Spain had accepted, on 13 Nov., 1762, the gift of his gracious cousin,
the Treaty of Fontainebleau was announced to the Louisianians only in 1764 by a
letter from the King of France to the Director-General d'Abbadie, dated at
Versailles, 21 April. The selfish monarch who cared nothing for his subjects in
Europe, in India, or in America, ended his letter with these hypocritical words:
"Hoping, moreover, that his Catholic Majesty will be pleased to give is subjects
of Louisiana the marks of protection and good-will which they have received
under my domination, and which only the fortunes of war have prevented from
being more effectual." The Louisianians were remote from France and they were
attached to their sovereign, whose defects they really did not know. They
wished, therefore, to remain Frenchmen and sent Jean Milhet as their delegate to
beg Louis XV not to give away his subjects to another monarch. It was in vain
that Bienville went to see Minister Choiseul with Milhet. They were kindly
received, but they were told that the Treaty of Fontainebleau could not be
annulled. In the meantime Don Antonio de Ulloa had arrived in New Orleans on 5
March, 1766, as governor, and the Spanish domination had begun.



The rule of the Spaniards was more apparent than real, for Ulloa came with only
two companies of infantry, and did not take possession officially of the colony
in the name of the King of Spain. Indeed the Spanish banner was not raised
officially in the Place d'Armes in New Orleans, the capital of Louisiana, and
the orders of Ulloa were issued through Aubry, the French commandant or
governor. The colonists should have been treated with gentleness at the very
beginning of a change of regime, but Ulloa, who was a distinguished scientist,
lacked tact in his dealings with the Louisianians and issued unwise commercial
regulations. Jean Milhet returned from France at the end of 1767, and the
colonists were greatly excited by the narrative of the failure of his mission.
The inhabitants of Louisiana resolved to expel the foreign governor, and held a
meeting in New Orleans, where it was decided to present a petition to the
Superior Council on 28 Oct., 1768. The colonists said that they would "offer
their property and blood to preserve forever the sweet and inviolable title of
French citizen." Nicolas Chauvin de Lafrénière, the attorney-general, who had
been the principal speaker at the great meeting in New Orleans, addressed the
council in favour of the petition, and delivered a bold and eloquent discourse.
On 29 Oct., 1768, the council rendered a decree in compliance with the demands
of the inhabitants and the conclusions of Lafrénière. Aubry protested against
the decree, but the council ordered its enforcement, and on 31 October Ulloa
embarked aboard a French ship which he had chartered. The next day the cables of
the vessel were cut by a Louisianian named Petit, and the foreigner was
expelled. It was a real revolution. The colonists were actuated by the highest
and most patriotic motives, resistance against oppression and love of country.
They endeavoured by all means in their power to induce the King of France to
keep them as his subjects, and, not succeeding in their efforts, they thought of
proclaiming a republic on the banks of the Mississippi in New Orleans. This
contribution of a spirit of heroism and independence to the civilization of the
future United States is of great importance, and deserves to be carefully noted.

The Louisianians were not successful in the revolution of 1768, for the Spanish
government sent powerful troops to subdue the insurgents. General Alexander
O'Reilly arrived in New Orleans with 3,000 soldiers on 17 Aug., 1769, and raised
the Spanish flag in the Place d'Armes. At first he treated the chiefs of the
insurgents with great politeness, and led them to believe that he would take no
harsh measures with regard to the even of October, 1768. He acted, however, with
great duplicity, and caused the principal insurgents against Ulloa to be
arrested while they were attending a reception at the governor's house. Villeré,
who was a planter on the German coast and one of the leaders of the revolution,
was killed while resisting arrest, and Lafrénière, Marquis, Noyan, Carresse, and
Joseph Milhet were condemned to be hanged. No one was found in the colony to act
as executioner, and the five heroic men were shot by Spanish soldiers on 25
Oct., 1769. Six others of the insurgents were condemned to imprisonment in Morro
castle at Havana. Among them were Jean Milhet, the patriotic merchant. O'Reilly
acted with unpardonable severity, and his victims are known as "the Martyrs of
Louisiana". Although the Spanish domination began with cruelty, it was
afterwards mild and paternal, and at one time glorious. Most of the officials
married creole wives, women of French origin, and the influence of charming and
gentle ladies was most beneficial. Unzaga, who succeeded O'Reilly in the
government of Louisiana, acted with great tact in dealing with the Louisianians,
and Bernardo de Galvez gave them prosperity and glory and reconciled them to the
rule of Spain. In 1779 the war between the United States and Great Britain was
at its height. France had recognized the independence of the new republic, and
Lafayette had offered his sword to aid Washington in his great work. Spain came
also to the help of the Americans, and declared war against England on 8 May,
1779. On 8 July Charles III authorized his subjects in America to take part in
the war, and Galvez, who had thus far acted as provisional governor, received
his commission as governor and intendant. He resolved immediately to attack the
British possessions in West Florida, and refused to accept the advice of a
council of war, that he should not begin his operations until he had received
reinforcements in Havana. He had already aided the cause of the Americans by
furnishing ammunition and money to their agent in New Orleans.

He called a meeting of the principal inhabitants in the city and told them he
could not take the oath of office as governor, unless the people of Louisiana
promised to help him in waging war against the British. This was assented to
with enthusiasm by all the men who were at the meeting, and Galvez made
preparations to attack Baton Rouge, which the British had named New Richmond,
and which for a time had been called Dironville by the French from Diron
d'Artaguette, an early official of the colony. On 27 Aug., 1779, Galvez marched
with an army of 670 against Baton Rouge, and sent his artillery by boats on the
river. On 7 September he took by storm Fort Bute at Manchac, and on 21 September
captured Baton Rouge. It was agreed that Fort Panmure at Natchez should
capitulate also. The campaign of Galvez was glorious, and the greater part of
his army was composed of Louisianian creoles of French origin, and of Acadians
who wished to take vengeance upon the British for their cruelties against them,
when they were so ruthlessly torn from their homes in 1755. The heroism of
Galvez and his army in 1779 inspired Julien Poydras to write a short epic poem,
"La Prise du Morne du Baton Rouge par Monseigneur de Galvez", a work which was
published in New Orleans in 1779, and was the first effort of French literature
in Louisiana. In 1780 Galvez attacked Fort Charlotte at Mobile and captured it,
and in 1781 he resolved to make the conquest of Pensacola and to expel the
British entirely from the country adjoining New Orleans. He went to Havana and
obtained men and a fleet for his expedition. Among the ships was a man-of-war,
the "San Ramon", commanded by Commodore Calbo de Irazabal. When an attempt was
made to cross the bar and enter the harbour of Pensacola the "San Ramon" ran
aground. Irazabal, thereupon, refused to allow the frigates of his fleet to
cross the bar. Galvez, who understood how important it was that the fleet should
enter the port, in order that the army should not be left without subsistence on
the island of St. Rosa, resolved to be the first to force entrance into the
port. He embarked aboard the brig "Galveztown", commanded by Rousseau, a
Louisianian, and which was directly under his orders, and, followed by a
schooner and two gunboats, he boldly entered the port. He had caused his pennant
to be raised on the "Galveztown", that his presence on board might be known, and
acted with such valour that the Spanish squadron followed the next day and
crossed the bar. After a siege of several months Fort George and Fort Red Cliff
in the Barrancas were captured, and Pensacola surrendered on 9 May, 1781. For
his exploits against the British the King of Spain made Galvez a
lieutenant-general and captain-general of Louisiana and West Florida, and
allowed him to place as a crest on his coat of arms the brig "Galveztown" with
the motto "Yo Solo" (I alone). The campaigns of Galvez gave Louisianians the
right to claim the honour of having taken part in the war for American
independence, and the help given the Americans by the Spaniards was acknowledged
by Washington in letters to Galvez. The heroic governor of Louisiana became
Viceroy of Mexico in 1785 and died in 1786, aged thirty-eight.

During the Spanish domination, besides the exploits of Galvez, we may mention as
being of importance in the history of the United States the attempts made by
governor Miró of Louisiana in 1788, and Governor Carondelet in 1797, to separate
the western country from the United States and join it to the Spanish
possessions in the south. The Mississippi River was absolutely necessary to the
people in the West for their exports, and the right of deposit of their product
at New Orleans was guaranteed to them by a treaty between Spain and the United
States in 1795. In 1800, however, Louisiana became French again by treaty, and
the Americans seemed destined to have much more powerful neighbours than the
Spaniards had ever been. France was at the time under the rule of Napoleon
Bonaparte. He wished to revive the colonial empire of France, lost during the
wretched reign of Louis XV. He easily obtained that province from Charles IV. By
the secret treaty of St. Idefonso, 1 Oct., 1800, confirmed by that of Madrid, 21
March, 1801, Louisiana was retroceded to France, and Bonaparte made great plans
for the administration and development of the province. He wished it to be a
kind of storehouse for Santo Domingo, which he intended to reconquer from the
blacks, and he appointed as captain-general of Louisiana one of his most
distinguished officers, Victor, who later became Duke of Bellune and Marshall of
France.

The plans of Bonaparte in regards to Louisiana were frustrated by the subsequent
outbreak of hostilities between France and England. Victor never reached the
province he was given to govern, and when Pierre-Clément de Laussat, the
colonial prefect, arrived in New Orleans in March, 1803, Louisiana was on the
point of becoming American. The right of deposit in New Orleans had been twice
withdrawn by the Spanish intendant, and the people of the West feared they would
lose the natural outlet for their products. There was great agitation on the
subject in Congress, and President Jefferson sent James Monroe to France in
March, 1803, to co-operate with Robert R. Livingston in the negotiations
concerning the cession to the United States of New Orleans, and of the island of
Orléans. Bonaparte, meanwhile, made up his mind to offer the whole province to
the American negotiators, and on 30 April, 1803, Monroe, Livingston, and
Barbé-Marbois signed the Treaty of Paris, by which Louisiana was ceded to the
United States for about $15,000,000. Bonaparte himself prepared the third
article of the treaty, which reads as follows: "The inhabitants of the ceded
territory shall be incorporated into the Union of United States and admitted as
soon as possible, according to the principles of the Federal Constitution, to
the enjoyment of all the rights, advantages and immunities of citizens of the
United States, and in the mean time they shall be maintained and protected in
the free enjoyment of their liberty, prosperity, and the religion which they
profess." In the old Cabildo building in New Orleans the province was
transferred on 30 Nov., 1803, by the Spanish commissioners Casa Calvo and
Salcedo to Laussat, the representative of France; and the latter, at the same
place, transferred the sovereignty of Louisiana on 20 Dec., 1803, to the
American commissioners Wilkinson and Claiborne. There was no longer a colonial
Louisiana. In 1804 the territory of Orléans was organized, which became on 30
April, 1812, the State of Louisiana.


THE STATE OF LOUISIANA

The State of Louisiana, lying at the mouth of the Mississippi, was so named in
honour of Louis XIV in 1682. Louisiana of the seventeenth century extended from
the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains, and from the Rio Grande and Gulf
of Mexico to British America. The present state of Louisiana is bounded on the
south by the Gulf of Mexico; on the east by the state of Mississippi; on the
west by the State of Texas, and on the north by the State of Arkansas. The
thirty-third parallel of latitude forms the boundary between Louisiana and
Arkansas.


PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS

The area of the state is 45,420 square miles, of which 2328 are water surface.
The Red River enters the state from Texas a few miles south of the northern
boundary, and traverses the whole state in a south-easterly direction, emptying
itself into the Mississippi at the thirty-first parallel of latitude. The
northern portion of Louisiana is mainly forest area with numerous small farms,
but in the eastern portion, north of the Red River and for some distance south
of its mouth, there are large cotton plantations on alluvial soil, while below
the mouth of the Red River stretches the sugar country, all the south-eastern
portions of Louisiana with small exceptions being devoted to sugar cultivation.
In the south-western portion are the great salt and sulphur mines, oil-wells,
and rice-fields. With means of communication from one part of the state to the
other, Louisiana is probably better provided than any other state in the Union.
Within the borders of the state are 3771 miles of navigable water, and 6162
miles of railroad (including 2000 miles of side-tracks). The alluvial lands
along the rivers and larger streams are protected by 1430 miles of embankments,
locally called levees and maintained by the state.


INDUSTRIES

Agriculture is the chief resource of Louisiana, although of late salt, oil, and
sulphur are beginning to produce large returns. The report of the Louisiana
State Board of Agriculture form 1908, gives the agricultural output as follows:

 * Total area under cultivation: 4,730,148 acres
 * Cotton: 517,796 bales (1,845,300 acres)
 * Corn: 20,308,717 bushels (1,537,135 acres)
 * Sugar: 444,241,800 pounds (401,461 acres)
 * Molasses: 21,549,059 gallons
 * Cleaned Rice: 170,096,700 pounds (373,866 acres)
 * Sweet Potatoes: 3,010,615 bushels (54,221 acres)
 * Irish Potatoes: 729,354 bushels (27,333 acres)
 * Oranges: 106,440 boxes (2,200 acres)

The mineral products are chiefly sulphur, salt, and petroleum. The largest
sulphur deposits in the world are at Sulphur City, whence 1000 tons a day are
shipped. It is estimated that there are forty million tons of sulphur in this
deposit. At Avery's Island is found a deposit of pure salt, 500 tons daily being
mined. In this section the augur went down 1800 feet through salt. Large
quantities of petroleum are piped out of wells in the south-western and
northwestern parts of the state.


HISTORY

The history of Louisiana as a colony has already been traced from the first
settlements, and the growth of the population up to its admission to the Union.
The cession of Louisiana by France to the United States took place on 20
December, 1803, and in 1804, Congress organized the territory of Orléans, which
comprised a portion of the great district of Louisiana. In 1806 there were but
350 English-speaking white men in New Orleans. Between 1806 and 1809, 3100
Americans arrived. In 1809-10 came the immigration from the West Indies, due to
the Santo Domingo and Haitian negro uprisings. In 1810 the Irish began to come,
and they kept coming steadily for over forty years. The Civil War (1861-5)
stopped all immigration until about 1900, since which time Italians are arriving
in great numbers. The first steamboat, the "Orleans", from Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania, arrived in New Orleans, 10 January 1812.

In 1811 Congress authorized the inhabitants of the territory to draw up a
constitution, with a view to establish a state government. The constitution was
adopted in 1812, and immediately thereafter, on 30 April, 1812, Congress
admitted Louisiana to the Union. Almost simultaneously with her admission, the
war with England broke out, and on 8 January, 1815, the famous battle of New
Orleans, between 12,000 English soldiers under Pakenham and 5000 American
recruits under Andrew Jackson, was fought within a few miles of the city of New
Orleans, resulting in the overwhelming defeat of the British. The commercial
position of New Orleans being very advantageous, her growth was phenomenal. In
1840 she was the third city in population in the United States the Mississippi
and its tributaries pouring great commercial wealth into Louisiana. However, as
the railroads began to be built, much of this river commerce was carried by them
to northern and eastern marts. On 26 January, 1861, an ordinance of cession was
passed, withdrawing Louisiana from the Union, and on 21 March 1861, the
Convention of Louisiana ratified the Confederate Constitution and joined the
Confederacy. The Civil War laid waste to Louisiana in common with her sister
states of the south. In April, 1862, the city of New Orleans was captured by the
Union forces. In 1864, under the auspices of the federal troops, a convention
was held to draw up a new constitution for the state, preparatory to its
re-admission to the Union. Under Federal auspices it was ratified by a vote of
the people in September, 1864. This constitution, although adopted under the
auspices of the United States Government, was not satisfactory to that
government, and in December, 1867, another convention was called and prepared a
constitution that was adopted on 6 March, 1868, whereby Louisiana was against
admitted to the Union upon condition of ratifying the Fourteenth Amendment to
the Federal constitution. Thus was done on 9 July, 1868, and on 13 July the
state was transferred from the military to the civil powers.

Then began the period of reconstruction, which was practically a seven years'
orgy. Adventurers from the north, camp-followers left being by the Union armies,
and renegade southerners, under the protection of federal bayonets, welded the
recently emancipated negro slaves into a political party, and the disgraceful
scenes, which form that blot upon American history known as the "Reconstruction
Era", cost Louisiana millions of treasure and hundreds of lives. In September,
1874, a revolt occurred which overthrew the state government and placed the
intelligent people of the state in office. Three days afterwards the United
States troops expelled the popular government, and replaced the negroes and
adventurers in office. In the election of 1876, the Democratic party carried the
state for both state offices and for presidential electors. Then began the
national dispute in Congress which resulted in a compromise being made, whereby
the vote of Louisiana for President and Vice-President of the United States was
counted for the Republican party, and the vote for state offices and legislature
was counted for the Democratic party. The carrying out of this compromise by the
seating of President Hayes in the White House, and the forming of a Democratic
or white man's government in Louisiana, marked the end of the long period of
misrule. The great moral movement against the Louisiana State Lottery, ending in
its abolition in 1892, is probably the most creditable even in the history of
the state.




PRINCIPAL RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS

The latest available statistics for religious denominations are given in the
U.S. Census Bulletin for 1906, from which we take the following table, except
that the number of Jews is taken the "Jewish Year Book" for 1907: Catholics,
477,774; Baptists, 185,554; Methodists, 79,464; Jews, 12,000; Protestant
Episcopalians, 9070; Presbyterians, 8350; Lutherans, 5793; German Evangelicals,
4354; Disciples, 2458; Congregationalists, 1773; all other denominations, 4222.
It must be borne in mind that these figures do not give us a proper comparative
view, because the bases of various denominations are different. For example,
most Protestant bodies count as members only persons officially enrolled as
members. And, in counting Catholics, the Census Bureau counts only those over
nine years of age; whereas, in the figures given elsewhere in this article we
count all those who have been baptized.


CATHOLICISM

Because of her Latin origin, Catholics and Catholic influences have always been
predominant in Louisiana. Her first governor, Clairborne, was a Protestant from
Virginia, but nearly all his descendants were Catholics. Amongst noted
Louisianians of the Catholic Faith we may include F. X. Martin, presiding judge
of the Supreme Court for forty years, Bermudez, one of his successors, the
present (1909) incumbent, Thomas J. Semmes, the eminent jurist and Confederate
senator, Alexander Dimitry, who in 1847 organized the public school system of
the state, Adrien Rouquette, the poet-priest and Indian missionary, Charles
Gavarre, the historian, Justice E. D. White, now on the United States supreme
bench, Paul Morphy, the famous chess-player, Father Etienne Vial, the first
native-born Catholic priest (b. 1736).

The state comprises the Archdiocese of New Orleans (the southern half), and the
Diocese of Natchitoches (the northern half). The "Catholic Directory" for 1909
gives the following figures: 1 archbishop; 1 bishop; 1 abbot; 181 secular and
132 regular priests; 152 churches with resident priests; 212 missions, stations,
and chapels; 1 preparatory seminary with 30 students; 11 colleges and academies
for boys with 2253 students; 29 academies for young ladies with 3519 students;
111 parishes have parochial schools. The Catholic population is 556,431, but no
statistics are available to show its racial classification; the baptisms of 1908
were 15,853. Of the 3935 marriages only 472 were mixed.


LAWS AFFECTING RELIGION AND RELIGIOUS WORK

There is, of course, absolute freedom of worship recognized by law and
practically carried out throughout the state. There is a Sunday Law prohibiting
the opening of any place of business, except of certain classes, such as
drug-stores, barber-shops, etc. All liquor saloons are kept closed. Theatres,
however, are permitted to open on Sunday. In all the courts the oath is
administered on the Bible to all witnesses. Blasphemy and profanity are
prohibited by law. The Legislature opens each session in each house with prayer,
clergymen of different denominations officiating. Among the legal holidays
prescribed by law, on which all public offices are closed, we find New Year's
Day, Shrove Tuesday, Good Friday, All Saints' Day, Christmas, and of course
every Sunday. The Catholic churches of the state are not all incorporated. For
instance, in the northern diocese called the Diocese of Natchitoches, all
parochial property vests in the bishop; whereas, in the southern portion of the
state, in the Archdiocese of New Orleans, every church is incorporated. There is
a separate corporation for each church, the directors being the archbishop, the
vicar general, the parish priest, and two laymen from the congregation, and this
corporation holds title to all parish property. Church property used for the
purpose of public worship, the actual residence of the pastor, the parochial
school buildings and grounds, and, of course, all hospitals, asylums, and
charitable institutions are exempt from all taxation. Cemeteries and places of
public burial are exempt from all taxes and from seizure for debt.

All clergymen are exempt from jury and military service, and in fact from every
forced public duty. The supreme court has held that, while public funds cannot
be given to public institutions, yet the government may contract with religious
institutions for the care of the sick or the poor, and for such pay them
compensation. In all prisons and reformatories clergymen of all denominations
are welcomed and given access to the inmates, and in most of the large
institutions, where there are many Catholic inmates, Mass is celebrated every
Sunday. Bequests made to priests for masses have been held as valid, and
although there is an inheritance tax levied on inheritances in Louisiana, yet
legacies, made eo nomine to churches and charitable institutions, are exempt
from this tax, although a legacy left to a priest in his own name would be
subject to the inheritance tax. Under the first Constitution of Louisiana (1812)
no clergyman could hold a public office. The second Constitution (1845) excluded
them only from the legislature. The third Constitution (1852) abolished the
restriction, which has not been re-enacted in the subsequent Constitutions of
1868, 1879, and 1898.


MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE

The marriage and divorce laws of Louisiana are not so loose as those of some
other states. Marriages between whites and blacks is prohibited by law. Any
clergymen has the power to perform a marriage ceremony, but, before doing so, he
must be handed a license issued by the local secular authorities authorizing the
marriage, and must have the marriage registered within ten days after its
solemnization. Absolute divorce is permissible for the following causes: (1)
adultery; (2) condemnation to an infamous punishment; (3) habitual intemperance
or cruelty of such a nature as to render living together insupportable; (4)
public defamation of the other by husband or wife; (5) desertion; (6) attempt of
one spouse to kill the other; (7) when husband or wife is a fugitive from
justice, charged with an infamous offense, but proof of guilt must be made. For
the first and second mentioned causes immediate divorce is granted. For the
other causes only a separation, which ripens into a divorce at the expiration of
one year on the application of the plaintiff, provided no reconciliation has
taken place, or also at the expiration of two years on the application of the
defendant.


POPULATION

The growth of population, as shown by the United States Census, is as follows:

 * 1810: 76,556
 * 1820: 153,407
 * 1830: 215,739
 * 1840: 352,411
 * 1850: 517,762
 * 1860: 708,202
 * 1870: 726,915
 * 1880: 940,236
 * 1890: 1,118,587
 * 1900: 1,381,625
 * 1906 (U.S. Census Est.): 1,539,449


EDUCATION

The educational system of Louisiana is under the control of the State Board of
Education, and subordinate boards in the various parishes (such being the
Louisiana name for counties):

 * Educable youth: white 275,087; coloured 221,714; total, 496,801.
 * Enrollment in schools: white 163,603; coloured 80,128; total, 243,731.
 * Teachers employed in public schools: white 4812; coloured 1168; total, 5980.
 * Teachers employed in private schools: 1125.
 * Number of public schools: white 2316; coloured 1167; total, 3483.
 * Number of private schools: white 274; coloured 154; total, 428.
 * Receipts from public school funds in 1907 (including $563,153.24 on hand, 1
   January, 1907), $3,856,871.09; disbursements, $3,481,275.59.

At the head of the system is the Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, the
state capital, with 57 instructors and 657 students. Tulane University, in New
Orleans, is a semi-official institution, with an endowment of $5,454,423.83, 225
instructors, and 1600 students. The public school system, besides primary,
grammar, and high schools, includes the following institutions:--State Normal
School, with 32 instructors and 700 students; Audubon Sugar School for
instruction in sugar making; three experimental stations for agricultural
instruction; Ruston Industrial Institute, with 31 instructors and 500 students;
Lafayette Industrial Institute, with 18 instructors and 250 students; State
Institute for Deaf and Dumb; State Institute for the Blind; Gulf Biologic
Station, located on Gulf Coast; Southern University for coloured youth, with 397
students.




SOURCES

I. FORTIER, History of Louisiana (Paris 1904); Report of Louisiana State
Superintendent of education (1907); Report of Louisiana Commissioner of
Agriculture (1908); Bulletin No. 103 of U. S. Census Bureau (1909); Jewish Year
Book (1907); Catholic Directory (1909); GAYARRâ, History of Louisiana (New
Orleans, 1903).

II. French and Spanish manuscripts in archives Louisiana Historical Society, New
Orleans; transcripts from French and Spanish archives, among which are PIERRE
MARGRY's Documents sur la Louisiane; manuscript memoir of FRANCISCO BOULIGNY,
Military Governor of Louisiana in 1799 (1776); official royal orders,
regulations, and edicts, in archives Louisiana Historical Society; Le Moniteur
de la Louisiane (1794 to 1803). Consult MAGRY, Origines françaises des Pays
d'Outre-Mer (6 vols., Paris, 1881); BENARD de LA HARPE, Journal Historique de
l'établissement des Français à la Louisiane (New Orleans, 1831); LE PAGE DU
PRATZ, Histoire de la Louisiane (3 vols., Paris, 1758); DUMONT, Mémoires
Historiques sur la Louisiane (3 vols., Paris, 1753); Charlevoix, Journal d'un
Voyage dans l'Amerique Septentrionale, VI (Paris, 1744); GRAVIER, Relation du
Voyage des Ursulines (Paris, 1872); LAUSSAT, Mémoires (Pau, 1831); MARTIN,
History of Louisiana (2 vols, New Orleans, 1827); MONETTE, History of the Valley
of the Mississippi (2 vols., New York, 1846); GAYARRâ, Histoire de la Louisiane
(2 vols., New Orleans, 1846-47); Idem, History of Louisiana (4 vols., New
Orleans, 1854-6); KING, Sieur de Bienville (New York, 1893); HAMILTON, Colonial
Mobile (Boston, 1898); Fortier, Louisiana Studies (New Orleans, 1894); Idem,
History of Louisiana (4 vols., New York, 1904).


ABOUT THIS PAGE

APA citation. Fortier, A., & McLoughlin, J. (1910). Louisiana. In The Catholic
Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09378a.htm

MLA citation. Fortier, Alcée and James McLoughlin. "Louisiana." The Catholic
Encyclopedia. Vol. 9. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910.
<http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09378a.htm>.

Transcription. This article was transcribed for New Advent by M. Donahue.

Ecclesiastical approbation. Nihil Obstat. October 1, 1910. Remy Lafort, Censor.
Imprimatur. +John M. Farley, Archbishop of New York.

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