Chapter 6: Spanish
Louisiana
Themes:
• Louisiana and the World Timeline (pp.
124-125)
• Spanish Government Begins; New Laws
(pp. 126-130)
• Unzaga; Gálvez; Miró (pp. 131-135)
• The Acadians (pp. 136-137)
• The New Orleans Fires (pp. 138-139)
• Carondelet; Economics (pp. 140-141)
Themes:
• End of Spanish Louisiana; Louisiana
Purchase (pp. 142-146)
• Review (p. 147)
I. Spanish Government Begins
• Creoles were outraged when they learned
of the Spanish control
GLEs: 64, 65, 66, 72, 73, 76,
77
A. Antonio de Ulloa
1. Spain owned the colony but France continued
to run it
2. A famous scientist and engineer who was
appointed Spain’s first governor in Louisiana.
3. Viewed as weak, distant, and a poor manager,
he was ousted from power during the Creole
Revolution.
4. He was an introvert and distant from the
people.
B. French Colonial Government
Remains
1. Rather than making a bold transition, he
chose to forego a formal public ceremony
celebrating the transfer of control from
France to Spanish control.
2. He planned to rule behind the scenes
C. Unrest in the Colony
1. He married a mestizo woman and many felt
he had violate the Code Noir.
2. New economic regulations destroyed
traditional trade ties.
3. Inflation was out of control so he set fixed
prices
4. Merchants did not like being told how much
they could charge for goods
5. Superior Council hated him and began
plotting to rebel
D. The Creole Revolution
1. October 28, 1768, a mob of locals disabled the
cannons protecting New Orleans.
2. 400 Creoles and German Coast residents stormed
the city, and the Superior Council ordered Ulloa to
leave
3. Ulloa left and the French flag flew once again
4. They wrote a letter to the French king asking to be
taken back by France—The king did not respond
5. Spain was going to strike back
Spanish soldier
re-enactor
E. The Spanish Return to Louisiana
1. 1 year later, Spanish fleet with 2,000
soldiers arrived in New Orleans to take
back control
2. Commanded by General Don Alejandro
O’Reilly
3. Spanish flag was raised
F. “Bloody” O’Reilly
1. Although Irish, he served Spain, and with
his troops returned Louisiana to Spanish
control after the Creole Revolution.
2. He executed and imprisoned the revolt’s
leaders and served as Louisiana’s
governor for a year.
3. Became know as “Bloody” O’Reilly
4. he served as governor for about a year
Don Alejandro
O’Reilly
II. New Laws
• The Spanish government was more
effective than that of the French
A. Something Old, Something New
1. Spanish officials were specifically trained for their jobs
so the government was more efficient than under
French rule.
2. Checks and balances reduced political corruption
among officials.
3. Two lieutenant governors assisted the governor.
4. The colony was divided into 12 districts with a
commandment in each to enforce the law and judge
minor cases.
5. 12 parishes were established. Each had a Catholic
church and a priest.
6. The colony’s economic affairs were controlled by the
intendant.
B. The Cabildo
1. Replaced the Superior Council and passed
laws for the city of New Orleans
2. It included members who were appointed
(even Creoles), as well as some who paid for
their positions.
3. Each member had specific responsibilities.
4. If someone was convicted of a crime, they
could appeal the conviction to the Cabildo
C. The Legal System Improves
1. French customs of Paris is replaced with
the O’Reilly Code
2. The O’Reilly Code was the name of the
new Spanish legal system
3. It had various levels of courts and judges
who were trained for their positions
D. Changes to the Code Noir
1. Spanish Code Noir was similar to French, but included
more rights for slaves
2. Freed slaves had the same rights as whites
3. Slaves could now testify in court
4. They were guaranteed a 30-minute lunch break and
two-hour dinner breaks.
5. Owners could now free slaves without government
permission.
6. Slaves had the right to buy their own freedom by
splitting any wages they earned with their owners.
7. These changes resulted in a steady increase in the
number of freed slaves.
8. Most became small merchants or craftsmen
E. French Culture Survives
1. the Creoles tolerated the Spanish and
then began to appreciate them
2. O’Reilly established language schools,
but he did not force Creoles to adopt
Spain’s language or customs
3. They could maintain French customs and
traditions as long as they did not conflict
with the Spanish
III. Luis de Unzaga
• Replaced O’Reilly as governor of
Louisiana.
• His calm manner and marriage to a local
woman along with allowing floating
warehouses helped the colony prosper.
• Allowed English trading vessels, called
floating warehouses, to come down the
Mississippi River and trade goods even
though it was illegal
GLEs: 64, 65, 66, 72, 73, 74,
76, 78, 80
A. The American Revolution
1. 13 colonies on the eastern seaboard had been
arguing with Great Britain for years
2. Fighting erupted
3. July 4, 1776, colonial delegates approved a
document declaring their independence as a
separate nation
4. Spain did not officially support either side, but
hoped the colonies would win
5. Unzaga offered the colonies help
6. provided Oliver Pollock, an American merchant
with wheat to aid the colonies
IV. Bernardo de Gálvez
• Became governor after Unzaga.
• He was popular with the citizens of
Louisiana and secretly helped the colonies
as they fought for independence.
• Worked secretly with Pollock to provide
aid to the colonies
• Shipped medicine, clothing, and weapons
up the Mississippi to the rebels
A. The Willing Expedition
1. James Willings, an American, launched a military raid
on British West Florida
2. attached English plantations around Natchez and Baton
Rouge
3. They burned, looted, stole private property, and
captured and English warship
4. Willing then transported goods to New Orleans to sell
5. Galvez was caught in the middle
6. Willings’ action turned West Florida residents to the side
of the English due to his brutal treatment
B. Taking Sides
1. France and Spain decided to join the colonies in their
war against England
2. Galvez raised an army and marched for Baton Rouge
3. Army included Spanish soldiers, Creoles, black
militiamen, and Indians
4. Galvez captured Fort Bute, Fort Richmond, an English
regiment at Mobile, and Pensacola
5. Treaties ending the Revolutionary war forced England to
give:
– Independence to Americans
– Florida to Spain
6. Baton Rouge and the rest of West Florida continue to
be separate from Louisiana
7. Spain owned the entire Gulf Coast
North
America,
1783
V. Esteban Rodríguez Miró
• A Louisiana governor fluent in seven
languages.
• More settlers came to Louisiana during his
term than during that of any other Spanish
governor.
A. The Colony Grows
1. the population grew under Spanish
control
2. Grew because the Spanish wanted to
move in large numbers of people to
protect the gold and silver mines in
Mexico
B. Land Grants
1. Spain built colonies population by
offering land grants which was a parcel
of land promised to each family who
would settle in Louisiana
2. Government also provided tools, a
rooster, two hens, two pigs, and supplies
for a year
C. The Isleños- “Islanders”
1. Spanish group from the Canary Islands
2. settled mostly in areas of St. Bernard,
Ascension, and Plaquemines Parishes
and made their livings by fishing and
trapping
D. Settling Northeast Louisiana
1. settled by a few French hunters and their
families
2. they complained that the English and
their Indian allies were raiding the area
3. Spanish official took action
4. Miro sent Captain Don Juan Filhiol up
the Ouachita River to organize the
French families into settlements
E. The Kaintocks
1. tensions over the Mississippi grew
2. Americans frequently traveled down the river to trade in
New Orleans
3. Most came from Kentucky, the Creoles called all of
them Kaintocks
4. they came into the city, drank too much, got into fights,
and generally caused trouble
5. Due to this Miro closed the river to most American trade
6. Sometimes they let them through and sometime they
didn’t
7. Kaintocks were furious with this inconsistency
F. The Spanish Conspiracy
1. Miro was involved
2. General James Wilkerson, an American and former
American Revolution general, was an ambitious and
untrustworthy man
3. He was forced to resign from the army
4. Wilkerson moved to Kentucky Territory
5. he traveled to New Orleans and met secretly with
Governor Miro
6. he swore allegiance to Spain
7. Tried to get Kentucky to break away from the United
States and join the Spanish territory
8. Failed and Kentucky became a US state
VI. The Acadians
• One of the largest group of settlers
• French-speaking Catholic colonists who lived in
the French Canadian province of Acadia, which
is modern-day Nova Scotia
• England acquired Acadia during one of the
colonial wars, but the Acadians did not like the
English Protestants
• The French and Indian War erupted and the
English were afraid the Acadians would help the
French, so they were deported
GLEs: 64, 65, 74, 75, 78, 81
General James
Wilkinson
A. Le Grand Deŕangement
1. 1755, the English government called a
meeting and forced about 6,000
Acadians aboard a ship
2. It was tramatic and life-shattering
3. no one wanted the Acadians
4. People thought they were a burden and
were competitors for jobs
B. Acadians Find Refuge in
Louisiana
1. After many year in exile, Spain realized
they would help populate the colony
2. Spanish offered to pay their way to
Louisiana
3. 1769-1785: perhaps as many as 10,000
Acadians came to the colony
4. Settled in the prairies of southwest
Louisiana and along Bayou Teche
**Acadians and Cajuns (Read
more about it on page 137)
**”Evangeline” and Bayou
Teche (Read more about it on
page 137)
Evangeline
Oak
**New Orleans Fires of 1788 and 1794
(Read more about it on page 138)
• When a priest knocked over a candle the curtains caught
fire
• Since it was Easter, bells were kept quiet so it took
longer to notify the fire department
• Because the firemen spoke only French and the officials
giving order spoke Spanihs, they were unable to
communicate effectively
• Due to the size of the fire, it destroyed over 850
buildings, and over 1000 people lost their homes
• To reduce fire hazards, Governor Carondelet ordered
builders to use brick for structures over one story tall.
• After the second fire, architects and builders copied
Spanish styles so most French Quarter architecture is
GLEs: 65, 73
more Spanish than French.
VII. Francisco Luis Hector, Baron
de Carondelet
• He was born in France, served in the
French military, joined the Spanish Army.
• Although French, he governed Louisiana
for Spain.
• He established laws under which slaves
were treated more humanly.
GLEs: 64, 65, 66, 73, 74, 76,
77, 78, 79, 80
A. Boundary Disputes
1. Spain gained West Florida, but it’s northern
boundary was under dispute
2. Spain claimed Natchez as part of the territory
3. United States argued
4. Western American threatened to attack New
Orleans and secure take the Mississippi River
5. American’s were angry because Spain had
closed the river again
6. Spain knew they would lose a war with the
United States and have to give up Louisiana
B. Treaty of San Lorenzo-Pinckney’s
Treaty
1. Spain avoided war
2. US got to use the Mississippi River for
trade and had the right of deposit in New
Orleans for 3 years
3. West Florida boundary was changed at
31 degrees north latitude
C. The Pointe Coupée Slave Revolt
1. Carondelet felt harsh treatment of slaves could
lead to rebellion, so he established laws that
treated slave more humanely.
2. His policy has several effects.
3. These included:
•
•
•
•
•
Slaves challenging their owners’ authority
Work slowdowns
The Pointe Coupee Slave Rebellion-which resulted in the
hanging of 23 slaves and 31 floggings so severe that only
four survived
Some slave owners then began treating slaves even more
harshly than before the new policy
The new policy put slaves under the authority of all whites.
VIII. Economics
• Spain was much more successful than
France
A. Sugar
1. Became the largest cast crop in the
colony
2. Etienne de Bore was a sugarcane
grower with a plantation in New
Orleans
3. His new granulation process made
sugarcane a very profitable crop
B. Perique Tobacco
1. Became an important cash crop that
brought money to the colony
C. Land Grants
1. Marquis de Maison Rouge and Baron de
Bastrop were given land grants.
2. Neither man met his quota to bring new
settlers in
3. Most settlers who did come to the colony
were Americans who brought English
culture with them
IX. The End of Spanish Louisiana
1. During the French Revolution, workingclass people rebelled against upperclass aristocrats who ruled France.
2. During the 10-year revolt thousands
were killed.
3. The King and Queen were beheaded.
GLEs: 65, 66, 72, 73, 74, 76,
78
A. Foreign French
1. Louisiana’s French population grew because
of the masses of French fleeing the country to
escape the Revolution
2. They were called Foreign French
3. Soon Revolutionary societies sprang up in
Louisiana and the Spain feared a revolt
4. Governor Carondelet sent in more troops and
arrested the rebels
5. There was no revolt
B. Napoleon Bonaparte
1. He became France’s Dictator after the French
Revolution.
2. dreamt of rebuilding the French empire in
America
3. The only significant colony France had left in
North American was Saint-Domingue
4. He wanted to turn this colony into a moneymaking sugarcane plantation
5. He needed a place to get food for the
plantation slaves and Louisiana was the
answer
Napoleon
Bonaparte
C. A Secret Treaty
1. Fall of 1800 Napoleon forced Spain to give
Louisiana back to France in the secret Treaty
of San Ildefonso.
2. Spain’s military was too weak to fight Napoleon
3. He allowed the Spanish to continue running the
colony
4. President Thomas Jefferson became
concerned the Napoleon may want to attack
the United States
Thomas
Jefferson
James
Monroe
D. Fighting for Control
1. 1802 Spain revoked the right of deposit
to American traders
2. If the river was eventually closed to trade
the US economy would suffer
3. Jefferson decided to buy the Isle of
Orleans
4. He know whoever controlled the city of
New Orleans controlled the entire
Mississippi Valley
E. A Change of Plans
1. Jefferson send US ambassador to France,
Robert Livingston to make the purchase
2. Napoleon would not consider selling the Isle of
Orleans
3. James Monroe then traveled to France
4. Napoleon decided he wanted to sell all of
Louisiana
5. He wanted the money for a war against
England and he had lost Saint-Domingue to a
slave revolt (became Haiti) , so he no longer
needed LA for food supplies
F. The Louisiana Purchase
1. Napoleon planned to turn Saint-Dominque into a giant sugarcane
plantation, but he would then need to feed the slaves by raising
more crops in Louisiana.
2. A war with England and a slave rebellion on the island forced him to
sell Louisiana to the United States instead.
3. Jefferson knew how aggressive Napoleon was and wondered if he
might attack the United States.
4. Robert Livingston and James Monroe traveled to France to
convince Napoleon to sell the Isle of Orleans to the United States.
5. They soon learned Napoleon wanted to sell the entire colony of
Louisiana for the price of $15 million.
6. To pay for this, Jefferson arranged to borrow most of the money
from English banks.
7. Our nation doubled in size thanks to the Louisiana Purchase
8. The area was later carved into 15 different states.
The Louisiana Purchase
**Troubled in the Bubbles
(Read more about it on page )
G. Another New Culture
1. Residents of the colony had lived under
both French and Spanish rule before
being acquired by the United States.
2. Resident included slaves, free blacks,
Acadians, and immigrants from the
Canary Islands and France.
3. Evidence of French, Spanish, and Cajun
culture is still evident today.
H. Three Flags in Three Weeks
1. Spain to France
2. 3 weeks later, France to the United
States
Spanish, French, and
American flags
I. A New Era
1. Mercantilism was gone
2. all powerful monarchies were gone
3. LA had to get accustom to American ideals,
such as
4. Free enterprise
5. Voting
6. Jury duty
7. Political parties
8. Freedom of Religion
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