USA > Louisiana > History of Louisiana, the Spanish domination > Part 15
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* No hay que perder tiempo. Mejico está de la otra orilla del Mississippi, en las immediaciones de estos hoy formidables establecimientos de Americanos. El modo de contrarestarlos es una poblacion proporcionada, y esta no se forma con restricciones, sino con alguna prudente libertad en el comercio.
+ Hablo a vuestra Excellencia lleno del espiritu patriotico de que estoy reves- tido; mis intenciones son los intereses de mi soberano. Miro la provincia de la Luisiana como una porcion de su propriedad, y quisiera persuadir con toda mi razon a que se fomente, pues en cada pueblo de los inumerables que nos dominan por natural situacion, se prepara contra esta provincia un nublado que descar-
184
DEFENCELESS STATE OF THE COLONY.
In the month of March, Governor Mirò, in a despatch to the Marquis of La Sonora,* secretary of state, and president of the council of the Indies, commented with much earnestness on the defenceless state of the colony, and represented the Plaquemine Turn as the best spot to be fortified. He sent the estimate of the expenses which would be required for the erection of some bat- teries and a small fort at that locality, and which the engineers had put down at $37,000.
In consequence of the treaties of alliance and com- merce concluded with the Indians at Mobile and Pensa- cola, in 1784, and in order to carry them into execution, and supply them with the objects of trade which were necessary to their wants, commercial privileges had been conceded to William Panton at Pensacola, and to James Mather at Mobile, who, in consideration of these privi- leges, had stipulated with the Spanish government to satisfy the Indians. But the goods which were to the taste of these people, and which could be procured with more ease than any other, were to be obtained in Eng- land only, and therefore the ships of these two merchants had been permitted, as an exception, to resort to the port of London. The Spanish government, however, soon took umbrage at the liberties which it had granted, and in August, 1786, they had been considerably cur- tailed or impeded by a royal decree. Panton and Mather remonstrated with vivacity, and represented that, if those restrictions were not repealed, they would remove themselves, their families and their effects to some other more favored spot than were Pensacola and Mobile under the pernicious influence of the unwise regulations of Spanish policy. On the 24th of March, Governor
gará algun dia, y seriá mucho mas el perjuicio, si por desgracia inundase las tierras de Nueva España.
* A title recently conferred upon the celebrated minister, Don José Galvez
185
ENCOURAGEMENTS TO EMIGRANTS.
Mirò, and the Intendant Navarro, in a joint despatch, backed the reclamations of Panton and Mather, and commented at length on the importance of conciliating the Indians, and of keeping up with them as extensive a trade as possible, at a time when they were in arms to defend their territories against the encroachments of American ambition.
Alive to the policy of increasing the population of Louisiana, Governor Mirò somewhat relaxed the restric- tions upon the river trade, reduced the transit duties, and encouraged emigration from the west to the Spanish possessions on the Mississippi, particularly to the parishes of West Florida, He therefore granted permission to a number of American families to settle in Louisiana, and to introduce the utensils, effects and provisions of which they might stand in need, except brandy and sugar, on their paying a duty of six per cent. Desirous of ascer- taining the number of Acadians who had settled in Louisiana, he ordered a census of them to be made, and in was found that, in 1787, that population amounted to 1,587 souls.
The province of Louisiana would soon have become a desert, if it had been limited to trading with Spain only, and if the Spanish restrictions on its commerce had been strictly enforced; but the colonial government had winked at its infractions, and, for some time, a lucrative trade had been carried on, not only on the Mississippi, but also, and principally, with the city of Philadelphia. Gardoqui, the Spanish minister sent to the United States, had himself connived at it; suddenly, however, either from the corrupt motives attributed to him, or from whatever other cause, he reprimanded Navarro with extreme severity on the infractions of the laws of Spain, added that he had informed his court of these facts, and forced the Intendant to proceed to the harshest
.
186
COMMERCIAL DISTRESS OF THE COLONY.
measures against. such delinquencies. This produced a crisis by which the colony was greatly distressed, and a great portion of the population was reduced to such extremities, that the Intendant informed his government, on the 10th of October, 1787, that he had assumed the re- sponsibility of continuing to the Acadians, for two months more, their rations, which were to have been suspended. The annual donations in money, provisions and other articles to the Acadians, the Isleños, or emigrants from the Canary Islands, and to the Indians, were a heavy drain on the Spanish treasury, for they amounted to - 1,733,381 reales de plata, or about $173,338. To this is to be added a debt of $760,779, which the Spanish government had contracted in Louisiana during the war against the English, and which remained' to be paid. It is not astonishing therefore that Navarro, in a despatch of the 19th of December, 1787, addressed to Valdes, the successor of the Marquis de la Sonora, should have made an energetic description of the misery which prevailed in the colony. He represented that there was a com- plete stagnation of affairs; that there were no sales of any kind ; that foreigners and particularly the European French had ceased to make any investments, as formerly, on real estates, which now could not be disposed of, even for a mere nominal price, and that commerce, agriculture, and every branch of industry was completely withered and destroyed.
"It is certain," said he, "that this province requires different regulations from those which his gracious Majesty has established for his other possessions in America, and that to submit Louisiana to the same regimen is to operate her ruin. Every one of the Spanish colonies has its peculiar productions and a commerce incidental thereto. Is it not probable that, to subject them to the same uniform system, is to clip the wings
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187
NAVARRO'S ADVICE TO HIS GOVERNMENT.
of progress ?* The peculiar position of Louisiana ought to exclude her from the application of that system of uniformity. I have been serving his Majesty in this colony for about twenty-two years, not without prejudice to my health. During all this time, I have not ceased to observe the various changes and vicissitudes which have been fatal to its prosperity, and I have never omitted to mention them to the government, not how- ever without the constant apprehension of their not being attended to, on account of the little importance of the individual who framed these representations.
"The commercial franchises which his Majesty had granted in his schedule of the 22d of January, 1782, and the latitudinarian extension which was given to them, were sufficiently powerful to impart to this colony the development which it needs. But there soon intervened certain restrictions, which are diametrically opposed to the concessions made, and which a subaltern officer can- not disregard without exposing himself to disapprobation and disgrace.
" Thus the permission which had been given to pur- chase negroes from the colonies of our allies and of neutrals, and to introduce them here, after having paid for them, either with our productions, or with money, on which was to be levied an export duty of 6 per cent. only, was a proof of his Majesty's solicitude and predilec- tion for Louisiana. But there presents itself a difficulty, which destroys all the graciousness of the grant : for instance, the law 30, tit. 27, lib. 9, de la Recopilacion de Indias decrees, that no foreigner shall be permitted to sell on credit in the Indies any object of commerce. If this law is to be extended to Louisiana, it follows as a
* Cortar las alas del progreso.
188
NAVARRO'S ADVICE TO HIS GOVERNMENT.
natural consequence, that the importation of negroes must cease, and, from that moment, we must expect that this colony, which promises to become one of the most considerable in America, is soon to be the poorest and the most miserable.
" Nobody doubts but that the wealthiest nations con- sider credit as the tutelar deity of commerce, and that all, without a solitary exception, skilfully avail them- selves of it, to execute their designs and secure the pro- gressive development of their resources, and that the
- most prosperous is the one which has the most of it. It is notorious that there are no commercial enterprises which do not rest mainly on credit, and that, if it were required that they should be carried on with specie and cash payments only, mercantile speculations would be extremely rare. In such matters reputation is wealth, honesty is security, and this is the current coin which facilitates the most important operations of commerce. Without these powerful auxiliaries, a country which should be in want of capital, would have no means of progressing, and would eternally remain in its beggarly condition, should it be prohibited by legislation from having recourse to credit.
" Louisiana is, in appearance, greatly protected, but she is not so in reality, and she is far from being ranked among the provinces that are rich, and if even those cannot trade without credit, how can it be done by this one, which is in its cradle and swaddling clothes ?
" Relying on the good faith of the colony, the mer- chant uses credit to buy negroes in the islands of friendly powers, sells them here on a credit of one year or more ; and this course benefits him, and enriches the planter by giving him hands with which he can increase his crops and procure his means of payment ; and agriculture,
189
NAVARRO'S FEARS OF AMERICAN AMBITION.
being thus fostered, secures to the king an augmentation of revenue in proportion to that of the province. These are the effects of credit."
Navarro then goes on analysing the causes of the de- cline of the colony, and pointing out every commercial restriction to which he attributes it, and, among those . causes, he mentions the apprehensions which are pro- duced by the threats of the Americans. He concludes with enumerating the means which are calculated to people the country and make it satisfied with its govern- ment.
" It is necessary," said he, "to keep in mind that, be- tween this province and the territories of New Spain, there is nothing but the feeble barrier of the Mississippi, which it is as easy to pass as it is impossible to protect, and that, if it be good policy to fortify this province by drawing a large population within its limits, there are no other means than that of granting certain franchises to commerce, leaving aside, as much as possible, all restrictions and shackles, or at least postponing them to a future time, if they must exist. In addition, the government must distinguish itself by the equity of its administration, the suavity of its relations with the people, and the disinterestedness of its officers in their dealings with the foreigners who may resort to the co- lony. This is the only way to form, in a short time, a solid rampart for the protection of the kingdom of Mexico.
"It is an incontestable axiom, that every remedy ought to be proportioned. to the evil to which it is to be ap- plied; and the danger which threatens us from the proximity of the Americans is of such a nature, that it will soon be too late to ward it off, if we do not now guard against it by the most efficacious measures. Even if the territory of New Spain should never be the object
190
EPIDEMICS IN THE COLONY.
of the ambition of the Americans, they ought to be for us a cause of constant distrust and apprehension, because they are not unaware that the river de Arcas is not dis- tant from New Mexico, and that there are mines in the Ouachita district. These are powerful motives for a nation restless, poor, ambitious, and capable of the most daring enterprises."* It is evident that the Intendant Navarro was not deficient in perspicacity, and that the distinguishing traits of the American character had soon made themselves known to the rulers of Louisiana.
The province had, in this year 1787, produced a suffi- cient quantity of corn, rice, and other grains for its home consumption, but it had made only half a crop of indigo, which was the chief staple of the colony. To increase the distress of the colonists, the summer was marked by fevers, which frequently and easily assumed a malignant type. There was also an epidemic catarrh, from which few were exempt, and by which many were seriously incommoded. The small pox infested the whole pro- vince, and those whom fear prevented from being inocu- lated became the victims of their prejudices. All those who were attacked by the contagion, either died, or were dangerously sick. The inoculation was fatal only to very few, but this was enough to confirm in their systematic opposition those who declaimed against this wise and humane practice. This disease had struck such terror into the Acadian families, that, when one of their members was attacked by the disease, they used to abandon him to solitude and to his fate, leaving him to his own resources, but supplying him with all the pro- visions and other articles they supposed he would need, although breaking off all communication with him, and thereby depriving him of their assistance. Some of
* Poderosos motivos para una nacion inquieta, pobre, ambiciosa y arriscada.
191
MIRÒ CONCILIATES THE INDIANS.
them, however, who were established in Feliciana, and who numbered eighty persons of both sexes and of all ages, had the fortitude to have themselves inoculated, and not one of them had cause to repent having taken that determination .*
Always haunted by the fear of their restless neighbors, the Spaniards spared no means to conciliate the Indians, in order to interpose them between themselves and the objects of their apprehension, and succeeded in drawing to New Orleans thirty-six of the most influential chiefs of the Choctaws and Chickasaws, whom they cajoled and feasted, and whose friendship and alliance they secured. Governor Mirò received them with great pomp, gave them rich presents, harangued them, smoked the pipe with them, and made a liberal distribution of medals and collars. But the regent of the Chickasaws (the king being a minor) would not permit himself to be decorated with a medal, saying that such insignia might be honor-conferring distinctions for his warriors and the inferior classes of his people, but that, with regard to himself, he was sufficiently distinguished by his blood and birth, and that to act as the friend and ally of the Spaniards, and to acknowledge himself the son of the Great Father, who was on the other side of the water, meaning the king of Spain, it was sufficient that he should have received his banner and his presents ; "which is a manifest proof," wrote Navarro, "of the existence of the pride and point of honor, observable even among the barbarous and uncivilized nations." The Governor took them to a public ball, with which they seemed to be delighted, expressing the belief that all the beautiful ladies present were sisters, and had
* Navarro's, despatch of the 19th of December, 1787.
192
COST OF INDIAN FRIENDSHIP.
fallen from heaven .* The Governor also entertained them with a military parade and field manœuvres, which they surveyed with much attention and with demon- strations of pleasure. Finally they were fully won over by such arts, and they returned to their villages with Spanish hearts. Impressed with this flattering convic- tion, Navarro wrote to his government: "All these nations are entirely devoted to us, and I can also safely affirm, that the Americans will not gain much ground with them."+ This boasted friendship of the Indians was not without being felt by the Spanish treasury, and it appears, from an account rendered on the 5th of January, 1788, that the amount of the sums spent in presents to the Indians, from 1779 to 1787 inclusive, rose up to about $300,000.
It is in 1787, that the History of Louisiana becomes connected in a remarkable manner with that of the United States, by the formation of a great scheme, the object of which was the dismemberment of the confede- racy so lately established. The first Federal Union, which was conceived under the pressure of circumstances ad- mitting of no delay, was weak in the very bones and marrow of its organization, and, although it had carried the United States triumphantly through the war of inde- pendence, it was inadequate to the ultimate purposes which it had in view, and was threatened with dissolution on account of its inherent imperfections. The western people, particularly, were exceedingly dissatisfied. They were then separated from the Atlantic states by an im- mense distance, by the intervening barrier of a wilderness
* Creyendo las Señoras bajadas del Cielo y suponiendolas todas hermanas .- Navarro's despatch.
+ Y podemos ya con seguridad afirmar que todas estas naciones estan á nuestra devocion, y tambien decir que los Americanos no haran por este lado mucho progreso.
193
SCHEMES TO DISMEMBER THE UNITED STATES.
and high mountains, by a difference of pursuits, of habits, and interests, and they felt less than any other portion of the United States the force of the ties which bound them together, and the necessity of that union. They had repeatedly laid their grievances and wrongs before the general government, and obtained no redress. They had in vain petitioned Congress to secure for them the free use of the Mississippi, without which it was useless for them to till the ground, since they had no market for their produce. The growing population of that newly settled region became intensely excited, and the bold and sturdy yeomen of the West determined to take their case into their own hands. But if they were unanimous as to that, they were divided as to the means of accom- plishing their object, and they had even split into five different parties.
"The first (Judge Martin's History, vol. ii., p. 101) was for being independent of the United States, and for the formation of a new republic, unconnected with the old one, and resting on a basis of its own, and a close alliance with Spain.
" Another party was willing that the country should become a part of the province of Louisiana, and submit to the admission of the laws of Spain.
" A third desired a war with Spain and the seizure of New Orleans.
" A fourth plan was to prevail on Congress, by a show of preparation for war, to extort from the Cabinet of Madrid what it persisted in refusing.
"The last, as unnatural as the second, was to solicit France to procure a retrocession of Louisiana, and to extend her protection to Kentucky."
Well informed of the condition of things then existing, Governor Mirò, in Louisiana, and the Spanish Minister, Gardoqui, at Philadelphia, were both pursuing the same
13
194
PLANS OF MIRÒ AND GARDOQUI.
object, which was-to draw to Louisiana as much of the western population as could be induced to emigrate, and even to operate, if possible, a dismemberment of the con- federacy, by the secession of Kentucky and of the other discontented districts from the rest of the United States. Both these Spanish functionaries were partners in the same game, and yet they were unwilling to communicate to each other the cards they had in hand. Each one was bent upon his own plan, and taking care to conceal it from the other ; each one had his own secret agents un- known to the colleague whom he ought to have called to his assistance. There was a want of concert, arising perhaps from jealousy, from the lack of confidence, from ambition, from the desire of engrossing all the praise and reward in case of success, or from some other cause. Be it what it may, the consequence was, that the schemes of these two men frequently counteracted each other, and resulted in a series of measures which were at va- riance and contradictory, and which seemed inexplicable to him who had not the key to what was going on be- hind the curtain.
Among the most influential and popular men in the west, through whose co-operation Mirò hoped to accom- plish his object, was General James Wilkinson, who had already acquired considerable reputation in the military service of the United States, and who had lately emi- grated to that section of the country. This individual had some friends among the merchants of New Orleans, with whom he corresponded, and on whose influence with the Spanish Colonial government, backed by his own talents, address and management, he confidently relied in his hope to be able to open a lucrative trade between that town and the western country, which trade would be exclusively conducted by or through himself, and would thus secure to him a rapid and large fortune.
195
WILKINSON'S VISIT TO NEW ORLEANS.
General Wilkinson had therefore descended to New Or- leans, in the garb of a merchant and speculator, with a cargo of tobacco, flour, butter and bacon. Orders had been issued to seize and confiscate the boat and its load, when Wilkinson, having had an interview with Governor Mirò, was permitted to sell his cargo without paying any duty. Several other interviews followed, and Wil- kinson was hospitably feasted by the Spanish Governor, who became every day more friendly and condescending, and who granted to his guest permission to introduce into Louisiana, free of duty, many western articles of trade which were adapted to its market. Wilkinson remained in New Orleans during the months of June, July, and August, and sailed in September for Phila- delphia. Many wondered at the intimacy which had grown up, during this time, between Mirò and Wilkin- son, and sly hints and insinuations were thrown out as to its nature and tendency.
" While Colonel Wilkinson was in New Orleans, in June, 1787," says Butler in his History of Kentucky, " Governor Mirò requested him to give his sentiments freely in writing, respecting the political interests of Spain and the inhabitants of the United States dwelling in the regions upon the western waters. This he did at length in a document of fifteen or twenty pages, which the Governor transmitted to Madrid, to be laid before the King of Spain. In this document he urges the natural right of the western people to follow the current of the rivers flowing through their country to the sea. He states the extent of the country, the richness of the soil, abounding in choice productions, proper for foreign markets, to which they have no means of conveying them should the Mississippi be shut against them. He sets forth the advantages which Spain might derive from
196
WILKINSON'S MEMORIAL.
allowing them the free use of the river. He proceeds to show the rapid increase of population in the western country, and the eagerness with which every individual looked forward to the navigation of that river. He describes the general abhorrence with which they re- ceived the intelligence that Congress was about to sacri- fice their dearest interest by ceding to Spain, for twenty years, the navigation of the Mississippi; and represents it as a fact that they are on the point of separating them- selves entirely from the Union, on that account. He addresses himself to the Governor's fears by an ominous display of their strength, and argues the impolicy of Spain in being so blind to her own interest as to re- fuse them an amicable participation in the navigation of the river, thereby forcing them into violent measures. He assures the Spanish Governor that, in case of such alternative, "Great Britain stands ready, with expanded arms, to receive them," and to assist their efforts to ac- complish that object, and quotes a conversation with a member of the British parliament to that effect. He states the facility with which the province of Louisiana might be invaded by the united forces of the English and the Americans, the former advancing from Canada by the way of the Illinois river, and the latter by way of the Ohio river ; also, the practicability of proceeding from Louisiana to Mexico, in a march of twenty days ; that in case of such invasion, Great Britain will aim at the possession of Louisiana and New Orleans, and leave the navigation of the river free to the Americans. He urges forcibly the danger of the Spanish interests in North America, with Great Britain in possession of the Mississippi, as she was already in possession of the St. Lawrence and the great lakes. He concludes with an apology for the freedom with which he had expressed
197
GEORGE MORGAN, LEADER OF EMIGRANTS.
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