USA > Louisiana > A history of Louisiana, Volume II > Part 11
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On the first day of next January, by a mutual agreement, the jurisdiction of Virginia will cease over this country. It has been stipulated, it is true, as a necessary condition of our independence, that Congress recognize us as a State of the Federal Union ; but a convention has been called and members elected for the purpose of forming a constitution for this government, and I am persuaded that no action of Congress, or of the State of Virginia, will ever induce this people to abandon the plan they have adopted, al- though I have recent news that without doubt we shall be recog- nized as a sovereign State by Congress.
The Convention mentioned will meet in July. I shall make use of the time, meanwhile, in sounding opinions, and I shall judge of the influence of those who have been elected. When this has taken place (after consulting previously two or three individuals capable of helping me) I shall disclose of our great plan as much as appears to me opportune and as the circumstances require, and I am sure that it will meet with the most favorable reception, be- cause, although I have spoken with individuals only, I have sounded the opinion of many, and wherever I have thought ad- visable to communicate your answer to my memorial, it has pro- duced the keenest joy. Colonel Alexander Leatt Bullitt and Harry Innis Esquire, our attorney-general, are the only persons to whom I have confided our ideas, and in case of any mishap to me, before their accomplishment, you may surely address your- selves to these gentlemen, who agree perfectly with you in politics.
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1788]
LETTER OF WILKINSON
Thus, as soon as the form of government is organized and adopted by the people, they will proceed to elect a governor, a legislative body, and other officials, and I have no doubt that a political agent will be named, with power to treat of the union in which we are engaged, and I believe that these matters will be settled by the month of March next. In the mean time I hope to re- ceive your orders, and I shall myself labor to promote what you order nic.
I anticipate no obstacle on the part of Congress, because under the present confederation that body cannot dispose of men or of money, and the new government, if it succeeds in establishing it- self, will encounter difficulties that will keep it without vigor for three or four years, before which time I have good reasons to hope we shall complete our negotiations, and we shall be too strong to be subjugated by whatever force may be sent against us. My fears, then, arise solely from the policy that may prevail in your court. I fear the change of the present ministry, and more, that of the administration of Louisiana, an event which you are able to judge better than I, and I beg you to speak to me clearly on this subject.
In my last letter I mentioned a letter I had written to Señor de Gardoqui. As I took the precaution to put it open in the hands of the Baron de Zillier, my brother-in-law and confidential friend in Philadelphia, he has informed me that, after mature re- flection, he has deemed it best not to deliver it. I have applied to Mr. Clark, my agent, with regard to sending me merchandise by the Mississippi. This is a matter highly important for our wishes, because the only link that can preserve the connection of this country with the United States is the dependency in which we are necessarily to supply ourselves with those articles that are not manufactured among us; and when this people find out that this capital can supply them more conveniently through the river, this dependency will cease, and with it all motive of connection with the other side of the Appalachian Mountains. Our hopes then will be turned toward you, and all obstacles in the way of our
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negotiations will disappear ; for which reasons I trust that you will find it advisable to favor this measure and will have the kindness to grant to Mr. Clark the protection necessary to carry it out.
Referring you to the observations annexed, and to the informa- tion of Major Dunn for what I may have omitted, I beg you to accept my wishes for your happiness, and to believe me, with the highest and warmest personal respect and esteem, your obedient, ready, and humble servant.
On June 15, 1788, Mirò wrote a long despatch to Min- ister Don Antonio Valdes." He says that he forwards a translation of Wilkinson's letter; he mentions the ar- rival of the latter's flatboats with a cargo that cost seven thousand dollars; and he says that Major Dunn corrobo- rated all that Wilkinson had said about the political con- dition of Kentucky. He has not entire confidence in his American correspondent, however, for he adds: " Al- though his candor and whatever informations I have ob- tained from many who have known him seem to assure us that he is working in all cordiality, I am aware that it is possible that it is his intention to enrich himself by means of inflating us with hopes and advantages, know- ing that they will be vain."
On August 7, 1788, in a despatch to Valdes, Mirò says he has received orders to pay Don Pedro Wouver d'Argès one hundred dollars a month, from the first of January; and he wishes to obtain the approval of the King for hav- ing detained in New Orleans Gardoqui's agent. The governor writes on the same day to the Count de Flori- dablanca, and explains why he has not allowed D'Arges to proceed to Kentucky. He has feared to confide to him
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. Wilkinson's projects, and he apprehends a meeting be- tween the two men, on account of the ambition and jeal- ousy inherent in human nature.
D'Arges, on the other hand, writes a letter to Mirò, dated New Orleans, August 12, 1788.8 He says that when, in accord with the Spanish minister in New York, he determined to go to New Orleans, he arrived there in April, and expected to be going up the river in May. He asks to be allowed to proceed to Kentucky; otherwise, he asks permission to go to Martinique, where is his family and where he has a small plantation, or to be allowed to sail for France.
On August 13, Mirò answers D'Arges that he will per- mit him to sail for Martinique, provided he promises to return to New Orleans by February. On August 21 D'Arges announces to Mirò that he will take advantage of the first opportunity to go to Martinique, and he prom- ises to be back in New Orleans by March, 1789. No fur- ther mention is made in our documents of this unsavory individual, whose mission, however, as indicated by the Spanish officials, is interesting, inasmuch as it gives an idea of the intrigues of the times and of the efforts that Mirò was making to protect Louisiana from the growing power of the United States.
On August 28, 1788, the governor announced that Wil- kinson's agent in New Orleans had invested the product of the tobacco and an additional sum in loading a boat with provisions and dry-goods worth $18,246 and six reales. Mirò explains how important it is that the people of the West should consider the Mississippi as the truc
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channel through which to receive what they need in exchange for their own productions.
The Captain-General of Havana in 1788 was Don José de Ezpeleta, who had served with distinction under Galvez in his wars against the English, had been colonel of the Regiment of Louisiana, and had become a briga- dier-general. On August 28, 1788, Mirò complains to the minister of the way the captain-general has spoken of him, and takes offense at this expression: " Which is another motive for not fearing them [the Americans] so much." The governor says: "It seems to me that he should have used gentler words, as I do not believe I have shown fright, and, God be praised! since the Por- tuguese campaign, when I was eighteen years of age, I displayed the calmness that is required for following the military career." 9 In the same despatch Mirò says it is evident that Ezpeleta " does not know the value and situation of Louisiana, which I am confident will be, within a few years, one of the principal dominions of America."
We have already said that Colonel George Morgan established a settlement at New Madrid in 1788. In September of that year a very interesting memorial was addressed by him from New Jersey to Don Diego Gardo- qui about his future colony. His plans were grand, and he predicted that in ten years the population of the new settlement would amount to one hundred thousand souls. He asked that particular attention be paid to education, and that he be authorized to appoint a teacher for each one of the first six villages to be established, with the grant
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COLONEL GEORGE MORGAN
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of a piece of land for each school. He asked that he be allowed to retain the rank he held in the American army, but added that he wished for no pay unless he was em- ployed in military service. He said his daughters would be educated in the religious house in New Orleans until their marriage or until he considered it advisable to take them to his new establishment. He concluded his memo- rial with a reference to the school-teachers. Those who taught in the English schools would be paid by the fathers of families; but as it would be useful to teach Spanish also, he recommended that the teachers of that language be paid a salary of one hundred dollars a year, and he added that if any salaries could be increased, it should be those of the magistrates and the schoolmasters.
In a letter to Major Dunn, dated New York, October 7, 1788, Don Diego de Gardoqui expresses his great friendship for the United States, an assurance which we can hardly believe when we consider his efforts to sepa- rate the western country from the Union. Perhaps he believed he was doing a favor to the new republic by de- priving it of ambitious projects of expansion.
Mirò kept on advising his government of the progress of events in Kentucky, and on November 3, 1788, he mentioned the recent arrival in New Orleans of an old friend of the Louisianians, Oliver Pollock. The latter said he had met John Brown, a member of Congress, who said he was going to Kentucky to advocate an indepen- dent government for that region; and Mirò adds that when Brown shall see that Wilkinson and his associates are disposed to deliver themselves up to Spain, or at least
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to place themselves under its protection, he will easily adhere to that plan. Such was the situation of affairs, obscure and complicated, when the year 1788 came to an end.
Charles III of Spain died on December 14, 1788, and was succeeded by his son Charles IV, who proved to be an incapable and weak ruler. Funeral ceremonies were held in New Orleans on May 7, 1789, in honor of the deceased monarch, during whose reign Louisiana had prospered considerably since the departure of O'Reilly in 1770.
In a despatch dated June 3, 1789, the governor an- nounced the laying of the first brick for the rebuilding of the parochial church or cathedral. In the same de- spatch Mirò relates an interesting and curious incident in the history of Louisiana-the expulsion from the prov- ince of the Capuchin Antonio de Sedella as commissary of the Spanish Inquisition.10 The governor says he re- ceived a letter from Father Antonio, who said that in order to act with the secrecy and caution necessary in the discharge of his functions as commissary of the Inqui- sition it would be indispensable for him to have recourse during the night to some guards or to call on soldiers to help him in his operations. "On reading the communi- cation of the said Capuchin," added Mirò, " I shuddered. His Majesty has ordered that I should foster an increase of population, admitting the inhabitants living on the banks of the rivers that flow into the Ohio, for the weighty reasons which in some private letters I have exposed to his Excellency Don Antonio Valdes, and which your Ex-
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ANTONIO DE SEDELLA®
cellency must have seen at the Supreme Council of State. These people were invited with the promise of not being molested in matters of religion, although the only mode of worship was to be the Catholic. The mere name of the Inquisition of New Orleans would not only suffice to restrain the emigration that is already beginning to take place, but might also cause those who have recently ar- rived to retire, and I even fear that, in spite of hav- ing ordered Father Sedella to leave the country, the cause may be found out and have the most fatal conse-
quences." ' The King, by an order of January 9, 1788, had prohibited the establishment of the Inquisition, and Mirò determined that Father Antonio de Sedella should not carry on his " operations," as he said, in New Orleans. Therefore, in the night of April 29, 1788, the governor had the Capuchin arrested and placed on board a vessel, which sailed for Cadiz. Mirò acted with excellent judg- ment and great vigor on this occasion, and saved the province from grave disasters.11
On January 1, 1789, General Wilkinson wrote to Gar- doqui a letter of which a copy was sent to Spain by Mirò, and which is very damaging to the reputation of the American general. Those who defend the latter's mem- ory maintain that there is no proof that the letters at- tributed to him were really written by him, while the tes- timony at the court martial exonerated him of all guilt. But there is no reason to believe that Mirò, Navarro, and Gardoqui forged the documents that present General Wilkinson in such a bad light.
In his letter to Gardoqui, Wilkinson says: 12
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. In support of the latter's projects which are directed toward procuring the reciprocal happiness of the Spaniards of Louisiana and of the Americans of Kentucky, I have sacrificed voluntarily my domestic felicities, my time, my fortunes, my comfort, and what is more important I abandoned, to do so, my personal fame and political character.
In another part of the letter he makes this rather cyni- cal reflection:
It is not necessary to suggest to a gentleman of your knowledge and experience, that the human race, in all parts of the world, is governed by its own interest, although variously modified. Some men are sordid, some vain, others ambitious. To detect the pre- dominant passion, to lay hold of it, and to derive advantages from it, is the most profound part of political science.
On February 14, 1789, Wilkinson wrote to Mirò a long letter in which he calls himself un buen Español, " a good Spaniard "; and later Mirò, in a letter in eipher sent to Wilkinson through a certain Jennings, says: " Accord- ing to the answer of the court, you are our agent, and I am ordered to give you hopes that the King will recom- pense you as I have already intimated."
Kentucky was not the only part of the United States that was seeking independence. The State of Frankland was formed from the western part of North Carolina in 1786, but terminated its existence in 1787. In 1788 Colonel John Sevier, who had been governor of the ephemeral State, wrote to Gardoqui that the inhabitants of Frankland wished to form an alliance with Spain and place themselves under her protection. The district of
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MIRÒ DISTRICT
1789]
. Cumberland in North Carolina was named Mirò, and Dr. James White was appointed agent, by Gardoqui, to at- tend to the Spanish interests. Governor Mirò immedi- ately informed Wilkinson of White's mission in Frank- land and in Mirò district, and in July, 1789, he sent Pierre Foucher, a lieutenant of the Regiment of Louisiana, with a detachment, to build a fort at New Madrid and take command of that district. But the settlement never was · prosperous, as Mirò did not approve of Morgan's plan of colonization, which he said would soon have established an independent republic in Louisiana.
In 1789 a company formed in South Carolina pur- chased from the State of Georgia a large territory ex- tending from the Yazoo to the neighborhood of Natchez, which was claimed by the Choctaws, the Chickasaws, and Spain. General Wilkinson applied to be appointed agent of the company, but the agency was granted to Dr. O'Fallon.
The condition of affairs in Kentucky in 1790 was not favorable to Spanish interests. Washington was now President of the United States, and his wise and firm ad- ministration was binding together all the different parts of the Union. Of all the men in Kentucky who had seemed to favor Wilkinson's projects of a union with Spain, only Sebastian remained faithful to him, or rather to Mirò. On May 22, 1790, the governor recommended that Wilkinson be retained in the service of Spain with a pension of two thousand dollars, and that a pension be granted also to Sebastian, "as that individual might enlighten me much on the conduct of the said brigadier-
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A HISTORY OF LOUISIANA [1790
general, and on what we may expect from his projects." That letter of Mirò practically closed his connection with Wilkinson with regard to the separation of the western districts from the Union. Mirò and Carondelet, a little later, will try in vain to revive the plan of Gardoqui, and Aaron Burr will have a dazzling dream of the formation of an immense empire of which he shall be the chief. The young Republic, with Washington at its head, was be- coming more powerful every day, and soon there was no danger of any part of the Union being absorbed into Spanish Louisiana. On the contrary, Spain was about to relinquish her hold on the Mississippi, and the mighty river was to be an American stream, from its source to its mouth, and Louisiana, with her charming New Or- leans, was soon to become an integral part of the United States.
On July 23, 1790, the ayuntamiento, or cabildo, of Loui- siana addressed to the King an interesting communication about a royal schedule concerning the slaves. It respect- fully represents that the separation of the sexes during the hours of work would cause the greatest injury to the masters, as very often it was necessary to have all the hands at work at the same place to plant the crop or to gather it. Besides, most of the planters have only a few slaves, and with their sons work with them in the fields and see that they behave properly. It is not possible also that they should not work on some days of religious feasts, as the necessity of gathering the crop makes this imperative sometimes. With regard to their amusements, after they have attended to their religious duties, if they
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THE SLAVES
1790]
are not allowed to go to the neighboring plantations, and if the sexes are kept apart, the negroes will be in de- spair and will go to any extremes to break such a heavy chain.13
The question of the marriage of the slaves is the most important and difficult. There are at present in Louisi- ana a number of persons from other countries, and of persons living in the districts conquered from the Eng- lish, and it is not the custom with them to allow mar- riage of the slaves. This is done only in the Spanish colonies. There have been few marriages between the slaves, in spite of all efforts; and to compel them to be married by the church would cause a general discontent and bring about very serious consequences. They con- sider marriage a double slavery and a source of trouble when they observe the continual quarrels that arise bc- tween the married people of that race. Finally, it would be imprudent to enforce that clause of the schedule which says that the masters might be taken to the courts of justice on the complaint of the slaves. It would dimin- ish the authority of the masters and make them lose a great deal of time, as very often futile charges would be brought against them. We see by this document that the King of Spain had very humane ideas, but, according to the cabildo, they were not practicable at that time.
In a despatch of Mirò, dated January 17, 1791,14 he gives a detailed account of the imports into Louisiana in the year 1790, amounting to $66,163,425. On Septem- ber 20, 1791, he says that, according to the royal order, he will prevent the introduction into the colony of boxes,
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clocks, or pieces of coin with the figure of a woman clad in white and holding a banner in her hand with the in- scription, " American Liberty." Governor Mirò could prevent the emblem of American liberty from entering Spanish Louisiana, but it was not possible to prevent liberty itself from reaching New Orleans, where, twelve years later, the banner held in the hand of the woman clad in white was to wave triumphant in the very center of the old French and Spanish town.
In August, 1791, an insurrection of the negroes broke out at Santo Domingo, and terrible massacres of the whites took place. A number of people escaped from the island, and some came to New Orleans. Among them was a troupe of comedians from Cap Français, who gave dramatic representations and were the first actors in Louisiana.15
In the year 1791 Don Estevan Mirò sailed for Spain. He had been appointed brigadier-general while governor of Louisiana, and after his return to Spain he rose to the rank of mariscal de campo, or major-general, in the Spanish army. Although he was not as brilliant as his predecessor, Galvez, his administration was prosper- ous, and the colonists regretted his departure. He en- ; couraged commerce with the United States, and treated the colonists gently. "He had," says Judge Gayarre, "a sound judgment, a high sense of honor, and an ex- cellent heart; he had received a fair college education, knew several languages, and was remarkable for his strict morality and his indefatigable industry." It is impos- sible to believe that such a man would have forged the
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CHARACTER OF MIRÒ
1791]
documents, referred to above, relating to General Wil- kinson. Judge Gayarre's testimony regarding the au- thenticity of these papers is this:
When Secretary of State, I obtained from our Legislature, after the most vigorous exertions, an appropriation of $2000 for the purpose of having the archives of Spain examined, and having copies made of such historical papers as might concern Louisiana. The gigantic difficulty in the way was, to obtain the desired per- mission from the over-cautious and suspicious government to which I had to apply. I soon discovered that I had undertaken & labor from which Hercules himself might have shrunk in dis- may. It necessitated a negotiation that threatened to be endless. It led to a long correspondence, which I perseveringly conducted until success crowned my efforts. That correspondence, with the exception of what was confidential and strictly private, was pub- lished by order of the State, and was lately republished by a com- mittee of the House of Representatives. It thus became a Con- gressional document, to which anybody can have access. The Spanish papers were procured by me in my official capacity, under the sanction and at the expense of the State, in whose archives they were deposited after I had, with her permission, used them for the composition of my history.
Those manuscripts are now in the custody of the Loui- siana Historical Society, and are the basis of the present work.
Don Pascual de Gayangos, under whose direction the copies were made, was a distinguished literary man. In Vol. II of the manuscripts he says in a note:
The despatches of Mirò, which, for the subjects treated and the time during which he commanded, are the most important, are un-
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fortunately scattered without order in different archives-some in Seville, others in Simancas ; the greater part in Madrid in the archives of the Ministries. At the Ministry of State is to be found almost all his private correspondence on the subject of settlements and with regard to Don Jayme Wilkinson ; but as it has not been permitted to make copies from the archives, as much as could be found in other departments has been extracted and copied with the greatest diligence.
CHAPTER VI
CARONDELET'S ADMINISTRATION
Governor Carondelet-Regulations about the slaves-William Augustus Bowles-Extension of commercial franchises-Internal improvements- Fortifications-The parochial church-The Carondelet canal-Intendant Francisco de Rendon-The " Moniteur de la Louisiane"-Genet's schemes -Terrible conflagration - Sugar-cane-Étienne de Boré-The ecclesiastical jurisdictions-Treaty with the United States-Grants of lands to French royalists-Insurrection of slaves-Fort at the Great Osages-War against Great Britain-Epidemic in 1796-Capture of the Balize-New Orleans lighted and patrolled- Application of Indians for lands-Inundation - Surrender of Natchez to the Americans.
ON ESTEVAN MIRO was suc- ceeded on December 30, 1791, by Don Francisco Luis Hector, Baron de Carondelet. He was appointed on March 13, 1791, and was at that time Governor of San Salvador in Guatemala. His salary as governor and intendant of Louisiana was to be four thousand dollars, and it was stipulated that the governors of Pen- sacola and Mobile were to be under his immediate orders. He was a native of Flanders, and was a man of great ability. On January 22, 1792, he published his bando de buen gobierno. " Among the new regulations it intro- duced, it provided for the division of the city of New Orleans into four wards, in each of which an alcalde de
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