LOUISIANA’S FRENCH
COLONIAL ERA
THE FRENCH COME TO LOUISIANA
 Rene Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle had long
dreamed of finding a water route to China. He
partnered with Henri de Tonti and they set out from
Canada with soldiers, priests, and Indians.
 They entered the Upper Mississippi River in
February and reached the mouth in April.
 La Salle claimed all the land drained by the
Mississippi River for Louis XIV, naming the land
Louisiana “Land of Louis”
 They wanted to spread the official religion of
France so they brought Catholic priest.
THE FRENCH COME TO LOUISIANA
 La Salle returned to France to report his discovery
to King Louis XIV. The king rewarded him with a
small fleet of ships and 300 colonist and directed
him to establish a new colony – group of people
who settle in a distant land but who still keep their
ties to their native land.
 When La Salle returned, he missed the mouth of
the Mississippi River and ended up in Texas. Many
colonists had died at sea and were frustrated after
being lost. La Salle decided to lead them to
Canada. The journey ended horribly when the
colonist murdered La Salle.
THE FRENCH COME TO LOUISIANA
 La Salle failed to establish a colony on the Gulf Coast,
but his claim of land in the name of France set off a
chain of events that led to the first French Colony.
 When other European kings heard that France had
claimed the Mississippi, they reacted strongly. France’s
claim was a threat to the New World colonies of Spain
and Great Britain.
 When Louis XIV heard Spain and Great Britain were
building forts to protect their colonies, he decided he
needed a fort to guard the Mississippi.
 Louis XIV is going to send out d’Iberville and Bienville
QUESTIONS
1. Why was a priest with La Salle?
2. What did the king do when La Salle
reported his discovery?
BELLRINGER
 1. Who explored the Mississippi River and claimed the
land that it touched for King Louis of France?




Marquette and Joliet
La Salle
Bienville
Iberville
 2. Which of the following is responsible for establishing
the first colony in Louisiana?




Marquette and Joliet
La Salle
Bienville
Iberville
 3. Which of the following is responsible for being
Louisiana’s first governor?




Marquette and Joliet
La Salle
Bienville
Iberville
THE
THEFRENCH
FRENCHCOME
COMETO
TOLOUISIANA
LOUISIANA
 Recap: La Salle claims the land for France but is
murdered before he can establish a colony. Iberville
leads a group to colonize Louisiana. He finds Baton
Rouge and establishes the first permeant settlement at
Fort Maurepas.
 When the fort at Maurepas was finished. Iberville
returned to France to get more supplies, soldiers, and
settlers. While Iberville was in France, Bienville explored
the Mississippi River.
 On one of his trips, Bienville ran into a twelve gun
British vessel coming up the river toward his tiny boat.
He told the British captain that he was in charge of the
river and had many troops that would attack if the
British did not leave. The British believed Bienville and
left. This spot became know as English Turn.
THE FRENCH COME TO LOUISIANA
 The incident at English Turn convinced Iberville that
the French needed a fort on the Mississippi River.
He built Fort Mississippi and placed Bienville in
charge.
 He also establishes a fort in Mobile, AL named Fort
Louis. Iberville places Henri de Toni in charge of
Fort Louis.
 Iberville returns to France again to get supplies for
the Louisiana colony but war had broken out in
France. Iberville was required to stay for military
duty. The colony at Louisiana was completely
abandoned without proper defense or adequate
supplies.
 Iberville never returned to Louisiana. He left France
attempting to return but contracted Yellow Fever
and died. Bienville became the leader of the colony.
LOUISIANA AS A PROPRIETORSHIP
 After the costly war in Europe ended, the French
King and his government could no longer afford to
maintain Louisiana. France began searching for new
ways to fund the colony.
 King Louis XIV decided to turn Louisiana into a
proprietorship – a system that gave an individual a
charter to operate a colony as a business. The
proprietor was required to send supplies and
settlers to the colony regularly and the colonial
government had to follow French Law.
LOUISIANA AS A PROPRIETORSHIP
 In 1712, the French royal government gave the
proprietorship of Louisiana to Antoine Crozat. Crozat
became the proprietor of the Louisiana colony because
he hoped he would find gold and silver in the colony. His
motive was to make a profit off of the colony.
 He decided appoint Sieur de Cadillac as the new
governor of the Louisiana colony. Prior to becoming the
governor of Louisiana, Cadillac successfully established
a fort that later became Detroit, Michigan.
 However, in the Louisiana colony, Cadillac had
difficulties as a leader. His troubles began when he
visited an Indian village and refused to participate in the
ceremonial smoking of a pipe. His refusal was more than
an insult, it was like a threat of war.
LOUISIANA AS A PROPRIETORSHIP
 People often complained about
Cadillac being rude.
 He also had trouble with
government officials
 Despite these complaints,
Cadillac is credited for
creating the Superior Council
– which was in charge of
judicial matters and was
presided over by the
commissary commissioner to
help govern the colony.
LOUISIANA AS A PROPRIETORSHIP
 Cadillac had a lot of crazy ideas but every once in a
while he would have a good one. He came up with the
idea of grown tobacco and indigo to sell.
 The Louisiana colony continued to struggle and when
King Louis XIV dies in 1715 so did the government
support for the colony.
 Louisiana colonist were not interested in farming.
Trading with the Indians was a failure because the
British paid more for the furs and sold European goods
to the Indians cheaper than the Louisiana colonist
could.
 Crozat failed to make a profit from the colony. He never
sent enough supplies. He considered all the money he
spent an expense and not an investment for future
profits.
 Crozat givers up after 5 years.
LOUISIANA AS A PROPRIETORSHIP
 The next proprietor of the colony was not one person
but a group of investors. The head of the group – John
Law – had organized the Bank of France and developed
the paper money system for France. Law was a well
known banker but he also was a gambler and risk taker.
 John Law created the Company of the West in 1717 to
operate the Louisiana colony. He sold shares of
ownership in the company to investors. He planned to
make money for the investors and for the French
government. He promised the investors a huge profit
from the Louisiana colony.
LOUISIANA AS A PROPRIETORSHIP
 1. How was Cadillac a good leader for the Louisiana
colony?
 2. How was he a bad leader for the Louisiana colony?
LOUISIANA AS A PROPRIETORSHIP
 Meanwhile, Law puts Bienville back in place as the
governor. He also began building a trading center for
the Mississippi Valley.
 He chose New Orleans as the location for the trading
center.
 He begins offering land grants, giving land to people
who are in turn required to bring settlers to live on the
land.
 People were not exactly lining up to come to Louisiana
because they knew life would be tougher than what
they had in France. John Law decided to change the
image of the Louisiana colony.
 He began advertising Louisiana as a paradise using
pamphlets in France.
LOUISIANA AS A PROPRIETORSHIP
 When the French still wouldn’t come, he began
targeting people who lived in a place where war made
life difficult. Germany was one of those places and so
Germans began settling in the Louisiana colony.
 The Germans are experienced and hardworking
farmers. They saved the colony by growing enough food
to keep the people from starving.
 John Law still needed people to come to Louisiana and
when no one volunteered, he sent prisoners to
Louisiana.
LOUISIANA AS A PROPRIETORSHIP
 Colonist began complaining about the conditions. They
did not like that criminals were being sent to the
colony. The were always running out of flour, fabric,
wine, brandy, shirts, or shoes. When goods were
available, they cost four times as much as they had in
France. Often when the flour arrived, it was bug
infested.
 While the colony is struggling, John Law still has
people convinced the colony would make a profit.
 However, in 1721, investors began to suspect that their
stock was worthless and demanded their money. The
company could not pay back the money and so it
collapsed.
THE CODE NOIR
 Slavery began in Louisiana in the early colonial days as way
to provide workers for the colony. A slave is a person who is
bound to a life of service to others and who is considered
property.
 Slaves worked on plantations – large farms that grew only
one type of crop for profit. At this time, slavery was
considered an acceptable way to obtain the large number of
workers needed for the plantations.
 Slaves were essential to building New Orleans. Without their
skills in carpentry and metalwork, the colony would not have
succeeded.
THE CODE NOIR
 With the increasing number of slaves, legal regulations
were needed. Bienville established the Code Noir – a set
of laws governing the conduct and treatment of slaves.
 The purpose of the Code Noir was to protect slaves as
property.
 Rules were established for food, clothing, and health care.
Slaves could not be forced to work on Sundays. Slaves
were not allowed to carry weapons unless they were
hunting. They could not gather in crowds.
 Harsh penalties were set for runaway slaves.
A NEW GOVERNOR
 During the years, Bienville faced constant complaints.
Because he was the governor, people blamed him when
things went wrong. He was ordered back to France to
explain to the king why the colony was failing.
 Etienne de Perier was chosen as the new governor. He was
sent to be harmony to the colony.
 Governor Perier wanted to find new settlers, more raw
materials for exports, and improve trade with the colonies
of the West Indies
THE NATCHEZ UPRISING
 In 1716, Bienville had built Fort
Rosalie (present day Natchez)
on land belonging to the
Natchez Indians. The Natchez
Indians allowed the fort on their
land and were helpful to the
colonist.
 A fort commander wanted the
good land where the Natchez
sacred village stood. He
demanded that the Natchez
move.
THE NATCHEZ UPRISING
The Natchez decided the French would never stop
intruding on their land so they attacked Fort Rosalie
without warning.
This attack is
called the
Natchez Uprising.
Over 250 colonist
were killed.
THE NATCHEZ UPRISING
 The colonist blamed Governor Perier because they thought
he should have stepped in when the commander first
angered the Natchez.
 With the loss of so many colonist and tobacco plantations
the Company returned the colony to the King. The colony
never made a profit.
 Louisiana becomes a royal colony again
BELLRINGER
 1. Identify two ways John Law attempted to bring colonist to
the Louisiana colony.




By
By
By
By
offering land grants
telling people about the abundance of gold
advertising to war-torn countries
selling large amounts of land for small prices
 2. Brittany has $10 to spend. She can either go to the movie
and have fun or she can buy a new shirt. She decides to buy
a ticket to the movies.
 What is the opportunity cost? ___________________________
 What is the opportunity benefit? ________________________
BIENVILLE RETURNS
 Read “Bienville Returns” on page 196.
 Answer the following question:
What three challenges did Bienville face when he
returned to the colony as governor?
WAR WITH THE CHICKASAW
 The biggest problem Bienville faced was keeping peace
between the colonist and the Indians.
 Even before the Europeans came, relations between the
tribes were not always peaceful. Some of the hostilities were
long-standing. Others were more recent.
 The Choctaw generally preferred the French even though
the British trade goods were of better quality.
 French ties with the Choctaw became weakened by
Governor Perier. He insisted on the right to choose the chief
and disrupted the tribal ways
 The Chickasaw tribe traded with the British and were
enemies of the French and the Choctaw.
.
WAR WITH THE CHICKASAW
 The French became nervous when the Chickasaw appeared
to be making peace with their former enemies, the Choctaw.
 When Bienville returned as governor, he was order to defeat
the Chickasaw or sign a peace treaty.
 Bienville demanded that the Chickasaw stop giving refuge to
some of the Natchez and turn them over to the French
immediately. When they refused, a war began.
 After several years of fighting, Bienville believed the
Chickasaw War was a failure. He retired as governor in 1742
having lost the war, friends, and his confidence.
CAUSE AND EFFECT
Using your notes, identify the cause of the War with the
Chickasaw. Then identify the effect. Create the boxes
below on the right side of your note book.
Cause:
Effect:
A NEW GOVERNOR
 In 1742, The French government sent
Pierre Francois de Rigaud, Marquis de
Vandreuil to Louisiana as the next
governor. His dreamed of one day
becoming the governor of Canada and
hoped his time serving as a leader in the
Louisiana colony would help him achieve
that goal.
 He was able to calm some of the internal
conflicts in the colony. He also stopped
Indian raids on settlements up and down
the Mississippi River.
 As the Indian threat decreased, living
conditions for colonist improved.
Vandreuil is even credited with having
the first Mardi Gras ball.
A NEW GOVERNOR
 In 1752, Vaudreuil achieved his dream of
becoming the governor of Canada. To
replace him, Louis Billouart, Chevalier
de Kerlerec was appointed governor of
the colony because of his strong military
reputation.
 When Kerlerec took office, tensions
between the French and the British were
rising. The stage was being set for what
would later become the French and
Indian War. The colonies defenses would
need to be strengthened.
 Even though there were many complaints
sent to France about Governor Kerlerec,
he stay the governor of the colony until
the colony was given to Spain.