Beautiful Crescent: A History of New Orleans by John B. Garvey, Mary Lou Widmer Read Free Book Online Page B

colonists fear that there would soon be a change in domination. Indeed, on November 13, 1762, the king of Spain, Charles III, accepted by the secret Treaty of Fontainebleau the gift of Louisiana from his cousin, Louis XV, the king of France.
    Once before, in 1761, Louis XV had tried to give Louisiana to Spain in exchange for a loan on the condition that Spain would enter the war against England. Spain had refused. Now, in 1762, England declared war on Spain, and was wreaking havoc with Spain’s colonial possessions. France wanted peace with England, but this was impossible as long as England and Spain were at war. So, once again in 1762, Louis XV offered Louisiana to his cousin Charles III , but this time not on the grounds of entering the war but ending it . When England took Havana and invaded Florida, Spain accepted the offer. Louis XV truly believed that he was giving Spain something of little value. France had owned Louisiana since 1699 and had received no profit from it. In fact, France had spent huge sums of money on the territory. The king considered this loss one that would bring him little sorrow.
    The treaty was kept secret and on February 10, 1763, the Treaty of Paris was signed, ending the French and Indian War. In this treaty, Louis XV ceded to England all of Canada and everything east of the Mississippi (except the Isle of Orleans, which had already secretly been given to Spain). Britain returned to Spain the Philippine Islands and Cuba in return for both East and West Florida. (After 1763, the British settled in Florida and the portion of Louisiana east of the Mississippi. This included the territory from Baton Rouge eastward through the Florida parishes to the Perdido River north of Lake Pontchartrain. Great Britain divided these colonies into East and West Florida.)
    The fact that New Orleans had been ceded to Spain remained unknown to the people of the city for almost two years. In truth, they were not too interested. During Kerlerec’s loose administration, they had done pretty much what they wanted. They had traded with the Americans, English, and Spanish, whomever suited their purposes. They weren’t interested in being governed by anyone. France had been negligent in its controls, and while the people of New Orleans had no great desire for independence, they did have a great desire for noninterference.
    As we leave this period of French colonialism, we find Louisiana an area with great style and little substance, relatively speaking, still in need of farmers for food supplies and products for export. The people still depended on trade for most of their other needs. The colonists of New Orleans were traders, not farmers. They preferred bargaining for their food to growing it.
    The historian Joe Gray Taylor titled this period “a study in failure” (Taylor 1976, 3). This seems a trifle harsh. John Law, on the other hand, had touted Louisiana “a little Paris.” A Paris it was not, but it was not too different from other infant colonies. One remarkable characteristic of the French in Louisiana was the staying power of their language, their customs, and their culture. Their influence on New Orleans has never been lost, though many other ethnic groups have settled in large numbers.
    The feeling, the flair, and the style of the city always were and still are French. The love of balls, celebrations, and holidays is a large part of its lifestyle. It was this lack of restraint that shocked the Spanish and surprised Americans coming into the city in the years to follow. The loose keeping of the Sabbath and the easy interpretation of religion that the French Catholics allowed amazed these newcomers, who jokingly remarked that it was caused by the humidity.
    The colony had not been fortunate in its governing officers, however. Taylor tells us, “Probably the origin of chronic corruption in Louisiana government can be traced back to the French attitude that political office was a form of property from which