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New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Shreveport, Lafayette, Metairie, Lake Charles, Monroe, Alexandria, Bossier City, Slidell, Hammond, Houma, Kenner, Covington, Denham Springs, Gretna, Leesville, Mandeville, Natchitoches, New Iberia, Pineville, Ruston, Sulphur, Thibodaux, West Monroe, Angie, Baker, Bastrop, Abbeville, Bogalusa
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Louisiana has
a rich, colorful historical background. The state has been
governed under 10 different flags beginning in 1541 with
Hernando de Soto's claim of the region for Spain. La Salle
later claimed it for Bourbon France and over the years
Louisiana was at one time or another subject to the Union
Jack of Great Britain, the Tricolor of Napoleon, the Lone
Star flag of the Republic of West Florida and the fifteen
stars and stripes of the United States. At the outbreak of
the Civil War, Louisiana became an independent republic for
six weeks before joining the Confederacy.
The Louisiana region was settled by Indians in prehistoric
times, at least as early as 6,000 years ago. At the time of
European exploration in the 16th century, there were more
than 10,000 Indians in Louisiana. Tribes of the Muskhogean
language family occupied the east-central and south-east
region, Tunican tribes lived along the coast and in the
northeast, and tribes of the Caddoan group inhabited the
north and northwest.
In 1519 Alonso Alvarez de Pineda led an expedition along the
northern shore of the Gulf of Mexico and discovered the
mouth of a great river which may have been the Mississippi.
The Spanish adventurer Hernando de Soto died on the shores
of the Mississippi River near present-day Memphis while
exploring the southeastern United States. Each year the
Mississippi, an Ojibwa Indian word meaning "big river"
carries 400,000,000 tons of sediment into the Gulf of Mexico
and discharges more water than all European rivers combined.
Authentic recorded history of this area doesn't actually
begin until 1682. It was then that Sierra de La Salle, the
French explorer, reached the mouth of the Mississippi,
claimed all its drainage basin for France, and named the
area Louisiana to honor Louis XIV.
Louis Juchereau de St. Denis founded Fort St. Jean Baptiste
in 1714, present-day Natchitoches, the first permanent
settlement in Louisiana.
During the period from 1717 to 1731 Louisiana experienced a
surge of growth and development as a colony of the Company
of the West and, after 1719, its successor the Company of
the Indies. The Company of the West was an elaborate
colonization scheme of the Scotsman John Law, endorsed by
the French government, which wreaked havoc on the entire
economy of France.
Sieur de Bienville began building New Orleans as a company
town for the Company of the West in 1718 . By 1721 New
Orleans had a population of more than 370 people, including
147 male colonists, 65 female colonists, 38 children, 28
servants, 73 slaves and 21 Indians.
In 1792 France ceded to Spain the Louisiana region west of
the Mississippi, along with the New Orleans area. The
remaining land east of the river was ceded to Britain by the
Treaty of Paris (1763). In 1800 Spain was forced by Napoleon
Bonaparte to give back to France the Louisiana territory,
including New Orleans. The United States acquired the area
from France in 1803 through the Louisiana Purchase. In 1804
the region was divided into two sections- the District of
Louisiana (later Missouri Territory), north of the 33rd
parallel; and the Territory of Orleans, south of the
parallel.
Earlier, in 1803, Louisiana had become a part of the United
States because of the region's importance to the trade and
security of the American mid-west. New Orleans and the
surrounding territory controlled the mouth of the
Mississippi River down which much of the produce of the
mid-west travelled to reach market. To get the vital region
in American hands, President Thomas Jefferson negotiated the
Louisiana Purchase with Napoleon.
Soon after Louisiana became a state on April 30, 1812, war
broke out with Great Britain. In 1812 the Territory of
Orleans and a small part of West Florida, still claimed by
Spain, were admitted to the Union as Louisiana, the 18th
state. Spain ceded West Florida in 1821. In January 1815,
the British attacked New Orleans, unaware that a peace
treaty to end the War of 1812 had been signed two weeks
earlier. They were defeated by Unites States forces under
Andrew Jackson. The victory unified the Spaniards, French,
Americans, and others who made up the population of the
State.
With the acquisition of Louisiana, Jefferson nearly doubled
the size of the fledgling U.S. and made it a world power.
Later, 13 states or parts of states were carved out of the
Louisiana Purchase territory.
In 1849, Baton Rouge replaced New Orleans as the state
capital. The capital was transferred in1850 to Baton Rouge
from New Orleans where a new statehouse was waiting. Built
at a cost of $100,000, the American gothic design of the
building was very much in vogue. Mark Twain said about the
building, "...this little sham castle ... this architectural
falsehood ... this whitewashed castle with turrets and
things would never been built in this otherwise honorable
place had it not been for the medieval romances of Sir
Walter Scott."
On Jan. 26, 1861, Louisiana seceded from the United States
and joined the Confederacy a few months later. During the
Civil War (1861-1865), over 56,000 soldiers fought in the
Confederate Army from Louisiana.
For a year after the Civil War broke out Louisiana was
undisturbed. Only three other states experienced more loss
and destruction.In 1862, however, New Orleans was captured.
In 1863 the longest siege in American military history took
place at Port Hudson, the southernmost point of the
Confederacy's hold on the Mississippi.
After the war Louisiana was readmitted to the Union in 1868,
but forced to accept a new constitution giving rights to
African-Americans."The Reconstruction Period" ended in 1877
in Louisiana when President Rutherford B. Hayes withdrew
United States Army units from the state after the longest
occupation of any of the southern states.
Through much of its early history Louisiana was a trading
and financial center, and the fertility of its land made it
one of the richest regions in America as first indigo then
sugar and cotton rose to prominence in world markets. Many
Louisiana planters were among the wealthiest men in America.
The plantation economy was shattered by the Civil War
although the state continued to be a powerful agricultural
region. The discovery of sulphur in 1869 and oil in 1901,
coupled with the rise of forestry sent the state on a new
wave of economic growth. Eventually, Louisiana became a
major American producer of oil and natural gas and a center
of petroleum refining and petrochemicals manufacturing,
which it remains to this day.
World War II (1939-1945) helped the economy by bringing new
industries to Louisiana. Fuel, oil, and boats were required
for the U.S. Navy. Shipbuilding, oil, and gas industries
continued to grow during the 1950s. New factories were built
and shipping increased greatly at the Port of New Orleans.
Racial problems escalated during the end of the 1950s and
1960s. The Louisiana State University became integrated in
1950. Segregation on buses in New Orleans ended in 1958.
Soon afterward, all schools, restaurants, and state
facilities were required to integrate. In 1977, Ernest N.
Morial became the first black mayor of New Orleans.
Industry in Louisiana continued to grow until the mid-1980s.
Oil prices fell, hurting both the oil and service
industries. The aerospace industry also slowed when the
space shuttle Challenger exploded. Thousands lost their jobs
and unemployment in the state reached a national high.
Gambling was legalized in 1992, and new casinos have
provided many Louisianans with jobs. The tourism industry
has also increased.
At the Present:
Agriculture: Louisiana is one of the nation's largest
producers of cotton, sugarcane, rice, sweet potatoes and
pecans. The state is also a major producer of soybeans and
corn. The biggest land-based industry in the state is
forestry, with an economic impact from paper-making and wood
producrs greater than all other crops combined. Poultry is
the largest livestock industry, followed by dairy and beef
cattle. Louisiana is also the nation's largest producer of
alligator hides and crawfish. (Source: Agriculture &
Forestry Commissioner Bob Odom's Office)
Industry: In 1997, Louisiana's 4,562 manufacturing units
employed 191,327 workers whose annual earnings totaled
$7,046,381,641. Average weekly wages in manufacturing
increased by $44.69, or 6.6%, between 1996 and second
quarter 1998. Louisiana's overall employment and number of
employees reached record high levels in 1998. The rate of
growth in total employment in Louisiana in 1998 increased at
twice the national rate of growth of total employment.
(Source: Secretary of Labor Garey Forster's Office)
Tourism: As Louisiana's second largest industry, tourism
employed 110,000 people and generated $7.8 billion in
revenue for 1998. The tourism industry took immense pride in
the state's historic places, unique arts and crafts, natural
re- sources and rich heritage as part of its efforts to
accomodate the 25.5 million visitors traveling to Louisiana
last year. (Source: Lt. Gov. Kathleen Blanco's Office)
Mineral Production: Principal mineral products are
petroleum, natural gas, salt (largest salt mine is in
Louisiana), sulphur, carbon black and gravel. Louisiana
ranks second in the nation in oil production.
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