USA > Louisiana > History of Louisiana, the Spanish domination > Part 47
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At the City Hall, the Commissioners of the United States exhibited their powers to Laussat. The creden- tials were publicly read, next the treaty of cession, the powers of the French Commissioner, and finally the procès-verbal. The Prefect proclaimed the delivery of the province to the United States, handed the keys of the city to Claiborne, and declared that he absolved from their allegiance to the French Republic such of the inhabitants as might choose to pass under the new domination. "Claiborne now rose," says Judge Martin in his History of Louisiana, " and offered to the people his congratulations on the event which irrevocably. fixed their political existence, and no longer left it open to the caprices of chance. He assured them that the United States received them as brothers, and would hasten to extend to them a participation in the invaluable rights forming the basis of their own unexampled pros- perity, and that, in the meanwhile, the people would be protected in the enjoyment of their liberty, property
* Laussat's despatches.
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THE AMERICANS TAKE POSSESSION.
and religion; that their commerce would be favored, and their agriculture encouraged. He recommended to them to promote political information in the province, and to guide the rising generation in the paths of re- publican energy and virtue."
The three commissioners then went to one of the balconies of the City Hall. On their making their appearance, the French flag that was floating at the top of a pole in the middle of the square came down, and the American flag went up. When they met half way, a gun was fired as a signal, and immediately the land batteries began their discharges, which were responded to by the armed vessels in the river. "A group of American citizens who stood at a corner of the square," says Judge Martin, "waved their hats, in token of respect for their country's flag, and a few of them greeted it with their voices; no emotion was manifested by any other part of the crowd. The colonists did not appear conscious that they were reaching the Latium sedes ubi fata quietos ostendunt."
Laussat then presented the American commissioners to the militia, and delivered to them the command of that body. Afterwards, Claiborne and Wilkinson pro- ceeded to have all the posts and guardhouses occupied by their troops. Thus ended the French domination, if it can be so called, twenty days after it had begun. The Spanish Government had lasted thirty-four years and a few months.
On this day, when he took possession of the colony (the 20th of December, 1803), Claiborne issued the following proclamation :
" Whereas, by stipulations between the Governments of France and Spain, the latter ceded to the former the Colony and Province of Louisiana, and with the same extent which it had at the date of the above mentioned
621
CLAIBORNE'S PROCLAMATION.
treaty in the hands of Spain, and that it had when France possessed it, and such as it ought to be after the treaties subsequently entered into between Spain and other States; and whereas the Government of France has ceded the same to the United States by a treaty duly ratified, and bearing date the 30th of April in the pre- sent year, and the possession of said Colony and Province is now in the United States according to the tenor of the last mentioned treaty ; and whereas the Congress of the United States, on the 31st of October, in the present year, did enact that until the expiration of the Session of Congress then sitting (unless provisions for the tem- porary government of the said territories be sooner made by Congress), all the military, civil, and judicial powers exercised by the then existing government of the same, shall be vested in such person or persons, and shall be exercised in such manner as the President of the United States shall direct, for the maintaining and protecting of the inhabitants of Louisiana in the free enjoyment of their liberty, property, and religion ; and the President of the United States has, by his commission bearing date the same 31st of October, invested me with all the powers, and charged me with the several duties heretofore held and exercised by the Governor-General and the Inten- dant of the Province :
" I have therefore thought fit to issue this my Procla- mation :
" Making known the premises, and to declare that the government heretofore exercised over the said Province of Louisiana, as well under the authority of Spain as of the French Republic, has ceased, and that of the United States of America is established over the same ; that the inhabitants thereof will be incorporated in the Union of the United States, and admitted as soon as possible, according to the principles of the Federal Constitution,
622
SITUATION OF THE COLONY IN 1803.
to the enjoyment of all the rights, advantages, and im- munities of citizens of the United States; that, in the meantime, they shall be maintained and protected in the free enjoyment of their liberty, property, and the reli- gion which they profess; that all laws and municipal regulations which were in existence at the cessation of the late government, remain in full force ; and all civil officers charged with their execution, except those whose powers have been specially vested in me, and except also such officers as have been intrusted with the collection of the revenue, are continued in their functions during the pleasure of the Governor for the time being, or until pro- vision shall otherwise be made.
" And I hereby exhort and enjoin all the Inhabitants and other persons within the said Province to be faith- ful and true in their allegiance to the United States, and obedient to the laws and authorities of the same, under full assurance that their just rights will be under the guardianship of the United States and will be maintained free from all force and violence from without or within."
The situation in which Louisiana was, when trans- ferred to the United States, is fully described in a document* communicated by the President to Congress on the 14th of November. When O'Reilly took final possession of the colony in 1769, its population was about 13,000 or 14,000 souls, allowing to New Orleans 3190 souls. In 1803, it was estimated at 49,000 or 50,000 souls for the whole province, putting down New Orleans at 8000 or 10,000 souls,t and not including the Indians, who, scattered about on that immense territory, were not supposed to number more than 25.000 or 30,000
American State Papers, vol. i., p. 344. Miscellaneous.
t It is believed that the population was underrated, and that, to set it down at 60,000 souls would be a closer approximation to truth. Some contemporaries who are entitled to much credit even think that the population was considerably larger.
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SITUATION OF THE COLONY IN 1803.
souls. The revenues of the city of New Orleans were $19,278, and its expenses hardly amounted to ten thou- sand dollars. The annual produce of the province was supposed* to consist of 3000 pounds of indigo (rapidly declining)-20,000 bales of cotton of 300 pounds each- 5000 hogsheads of sugar of 1000 pounds each-5000 casks of molasses of 50 gallons each. The estimate of the produce shipped from New Orleans in the year 1802, including that of the settlements on the Mississippi, Ohio, &c., did not exceed 40,000 tons. The exports were estimated at $2,158,000, and the imports at $2,500,000. The revenues accruing to the King's Treasury hardly went up, on an average, to $120,000 a year, and the ex- penditures of the government had gradually risen so high as to exceed $800,000 in the year 1802.
When the Spaniards took possession of the colony, there were in it seven millions of paper money issued by the French Government, then losing 75 per cent. On its retrocession to France, the paper issued and to be redeemed by the Spaniards hardly exceeded six hundred thousand dollars. "It consisted of emissions made in the early part of the Spanish administration, and of a debt due by the Government for supplies furnished to the troops and the King's stores,t and for salaries of officers and workmen, for which liberanzas, or certificates, were regularly issued, of which there was afloat, at the time of the cession, a sum of from four hundred and fifty to five hundred thousand dollars. They bore no interest, and were commonly to be bought at a discount of from 25 to 50 per cent. At the change of Govern- ment the discount was thirty. This depreciation was not the result of a want of confidence, or of any apprehen- sion that the certificates would not be paid, but the
* Martin's History.
+ Ib., vol. ii., p. 211.
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SITUATION OF THE COLONY IN 1803.
consequence of the increased value of money, produced by the scarcity of it in the market."
As far as I have been able to judge, I think I may safely come to the conclusion that the ordinary and extraordinary expenses incurred by Spain in relation to Louisiana, over and above the small revenue she derived from that colony, may, without exaggeration, be put down at about fifteen millions of dollars, from the 5th of March, 1766, when Ulloa landed at New Orleans, to the 30th of November, 1803, when the retrocession to France took place.
It will be recollected that, as previously related, the Marquis of Grimaldi, who was a member of the Cabinet of Madrid, had written, on the 11th of May, 1767, to the Count of Fuentes, then Ambassador of Spain at Ver- sailles : "The Duke of Praslin (one of the French Minis- ters) will remember that there were doubts on our part, as to the acceptation of the donation tendered by his most Christian Majesty. But, as the same reasons which had made France believe in the necessity of the cession, prompted Spain to accept it, the King gave it his assent, although it was well known that we were acquiring nothing but an annual incumbrance of two hundred and fifty to three hundred thousand dollars, in consideration of a distant and negative utility-which is-that of pos- sessing a country to prevent its being possessed by another nation."
Thus Spain had assumed an incumbrance, which cost her in the end fifteen millions of dollars, in the vain hope of establishing a barrier between her Mexican Colonies and the danger which she foresaw was to come from the Northern Colonies of England in America. Recent events have proved how futile was the attempt to protect herself against an inevitable evil, and experi- ence has demonstrated that the application of European
625
LOUISIANA AN INCUMBRANCE TO SPAIN.
treasure, blood and industry to the creation, the pur- chase or the conquest of colonies in America, is not destined to be a profitable investment. Spain therefore acted wisely when she at last determined to part with a possession which was a useless and expensive incum- brance to her, and which was on the eve of being wrested from her by her powerful neighbors, who, by so doing, would have obeyed rather the dictates of a stern necessity, than of an ambition yet dormant in the cradle.
Louisiana, when in its colonial state, has the honor of having produced several distinguished men, among whom the following are the most remarkable :
Aubert Dubayet* was born in Louisiana on the 17th of August, 1759. He was the son of Adjutant-Major Aubert, one of those officers who, in 1769, were sent by Governor Aubry, at the request of General O'Reilly, to ar- rest the French Commissary Foucault. He entered in early life into the French army, and served in America during the war of Independence between Great Britain and the United States. He was in France at the commencement of the Revolution, and soon began to take an active part in public affairs. In 1789, he published a pamphlet against admitting the Jews to the rights of citizenship. But he afterwards became one of the principal advocates for innovation, and, in 1791, was chosen a member of the Legislative Assembly, in which he acted a conspi- cuous part. In 1793, he resumed his military profession, and was made Governor of Mayence, which, after an ob- stinate defence, he was obliged to surrender to the King of Prussia. Aubert Dubayet then commanded as Gene- ral-in-chief in La Vendée, and, being defeated at Clisson, became the object of denunciations against which he
* Gorton's Biographical Dictionary.
40
626
CONCLUDING REMARKS.
successfully defended himself. Employed again at Cher- bourg, he was called by the Directory to the post of Minister of War, which he held only three months, when he was appointed Minister of the Republic at Con- stantinople, where he closed a life of active service, on the 17th of December, 1797, at the age of thirty-seven.
Etienne Bernard Alexandre Viel, a learned Jesuit, was born in New Orleans, on the 31st of October, 1736, and died on the 16th of December, 1821, at the college of Juilly, in France, where he had been educated, and where, in his turn, he had devoted himself to the educa- tion of youth, after having resided many years in Atta- kapas, where he made himself beloved by all the inhabitants. He is known in the erudite world by a very beautiful translation, in Latin verse, of Fénélon's Telemachus, also by some little poems in Latin verse which he offered to the public, in 1816, under the title of " Miscellanea Latino-Gallica," and by an excellent French translation of the Ars Poetica, and of two of Horace's epistles.
Jean Jacques Audubon, the celebrated naturalist, was born near New Orleans, in 1780, and died in the State of New York, in 1851, bequeathing to posterity those works which have already acquired for him an immortal fame.
Bronier de Clouet, born in Louisiana, about the year 1764, entered the Spanish army in early life, rose to the grade of Brigadier-General, was for some time Governor of the province of Hagua in the island of Cuba, was created Count de la Fernandina de Hagua, and had just been raised to the Senate by Queen Isabella II., when he died in Madrid, lately, in his eighty-fourth year.
Daunoy, or rather D'Aunoy, was born in New Orleans, about the year 1775. Having become a Spanish officer, he rose by degrees to the grade of Lieutenant-General, after having greatly distinguished himself against the
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CONCLUDING REMARKS.
French in the Peninsular war. He died at an age when he was still capable of rendering more services to the Spanish monarchy.
Joseph Villamil, who was born in New Orleans in 1789, took a part in the war of independence waged by the South American provinces, fought his way to cele- brity and to the grade of General, and has lately been appointed Chargé d'Affaires by the Republic of Ecuador near the government of the United States.
Many other Louisianians, although having made them- selves less conspicuous, rose to honorable distinction in the service of France, Spain and other powers ; and the num- ber of those who thus distinguished themselves becomes remarkable, when taken in connexion with the small- ness of the colonial population from which they sprang.
In conclusion, I must call the attention of the reader to a singular anomaly-which is-that, with all the foul abuses and tyrannical practices with which it has been so long the general custom to reproach the government of Spain every where, her administration in Louisiana was as popular as any that ever existed in any part of the world; and I am persuaded that I can rely on the unanimous support of my contemporaries when I declare, that they scarcely ever met in Louisiana an individual, old enough to have lived under the Spanish government in the colony and judged of its bearing on the happiness of the people, who did not speak of it with affectionate respect, and describe those days of colonial rule as the golden age, which, with many; was the object of secret, and with others, of open regrets. Such a government would, of course, have been insupportable to us, but it is not hence to be inferred that it did not suit the tastes and feelings, and deserve the gratitude of our ancestors.
Thus ends the Colonial History of Louisiana. I have attempted to write it faithfully, accurately and impar-
628
CONCLUDING REMARKS.
tially, with an unabating love for truth, and with an unselfish desire of serving in this way, if not in any other, the country to which I am bound by so many ties-not only by birth, education and habit, but also by so many endearing recollections of the past, and even so many family associations and traditions, which, for me, clothe with the charm almost of private interest the relation of public events in Louisiana.
THE END.
.
APPENDIX.
(Page 42.)
CERTIFICAT DU GOUVERNEUR AUBRI.
"Nous, CHARLES AUBRI, chevalier de l'ordre royal et militaire de St. Louis, ancien commandant pour sa Majesté très chrétienne de la province de la Louisiane,-certifions que Monsieur Etienne de Gayarré, contador principal de cette province pour sa Majesté Catho- lique, arrivé dans cette colonie sous l'expédition commandée par M. Antoine de Ulloa, qui était venu pour en prendre possession, laquelle a été différée par divers accidents imprévus depuis le cinq mars mil sept cent soixante-six, jusqu' au dixhuit août dernier, qu'elle a été prise par son Excellence Don Alexandre O'Reilly, s'est toujours maintenu, comporté et représenté suivant l'état et la décence dû à sa place honorable, s'acquittant parfaitement de toutes les charges attachées à son emploi, selon l'expérience que j'en ai eue sous les yeux et les sentimens les plus distingués avec lesquels mon dit sieur de Ulloa a toujours traité avec lui, et, particulièrement depuis son absence de la fin d'octobre de l'année dernière jusqu'à ce jour, sur plusieurs affaires délicates concernant les services de leurs Majestés très Chrétienne et Catholique, en sa qualité de Contador, ayant même fait souvent les fonctions d'Intendant dans plusieurs occasions, en l'absence et longue maladie de M. Jean Joseph de Loyola, et aussi après sa mort ; accomplissant ponctuellement toutes les obligations du service des rois de France et d'Espagne, avec tout le zèle, l'appli- cation, et la conduite la plus régulière, qui lui ont attiré l'estime, l'amitié et l'approbation de tous les honnètes gens ; en foi de quoi, je
630
APPENDIX.
lui ai donné avec plaisir et toute la satisfaction possible, le présent, pour lui servir et valoir partout où besoin sera. Fait double à la Nouvelle Orléans, le 23 novembre, 1769.
" AUBRI."
[TRANSLATION.]
CERTIFICATE OF GOVERNOR AUBRI.
" I, CHARLES AUBRI, knight of the royal and military order of St. Louis, late Governor of the Province of Louisiana for his most Christian Majesty, certify that M. Etienne de Gayarre, Chief Conta- dor of this province for his Catholic Majesty, who came to this colony in the expedition commanded by M. Antoine de Ulloa, which was sent to take possession of it, but which ceremony had been deferred, owing to sundry unforeseen accidents, from March 5, 1766, to the 18th of August last past, when it was accomplished by his Excellency Don Alexander O'Reilly,-has always conducted himself in accord- ance with the requirements of his honorable station, faithfully dis- charging all the duties incumbent upon him,-and this I vouch for from my own personal observation, as well as from the exalted opinion which the said Sieur de Ulloa has always expressed concern- ing him,-and particularly since his absence from the end of last October to the present time upon various delicate affairs connected with the service of their most Christian and Catholic Majesties, in his office as Contador, having even often discharged the functions of Intendant on several occasions, during the absence and protracted sickness of M. Jean Joseph de Loyola, and also after his decease ; punctually fulfilling all the requirements of the service of the Kings of France and Spain, with a zeal, application, and punctuality which have won for him the esteem, friendship and approbation of all honor- able men. In testimony of which, with the greatest pleasure and satisfaction, I have given him these presents, that they may serve him in case of need. Given in duplicate at New Orleans, November 23, 1769.
" AUBRI."
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APPENDIX.
(Page 99.)
UNZAGA'S PROCLAMATION.
" WE, DON LUIS DE UNZAGA, Colonel in the armies of his Ma- jesty, and his Intendant and Governor-General in and for the province of Louisiana :
," Make it known that having, from experience, become acquainted with the different frauds and malpractices which are apt to be com- mitted in all sales, exchanges, permutations, barters, and generally in all alienations concerning negroes, immoveables, and real estates, which are made clandestinely and in violation of the public faith, by a simple deed in writing under private seal, whereby the inhabitants of this province are greatly distressed, their rights put in jeopardy, and the administration of justice reduced to a state of confusion ; and wishing, first, to remedy such pernicious abuses, and next, to esta- blish good order in this commonwealth and to govern it as are all the other possessions of his Majesty :
" We order and decree, that no person, whatever be his or her rank or condition, shall henceforth sell, alienate, buy, or accept as a donation or otherwise, any negroes, plantations, houses and any kind of sea-craft, except it be by a deed executed before a Notary Public ; to which contracts and acts of sale and alienation shall be annexed a certificate of the Registrar of Mortgages; that all other acts made under any other form shall be null and void, and as if they had never been made; that the sellers and buyers shall have no right to the things thus sold, bought or exchanged ; that they cannot acquire any just and legitimate possession thereof; and that in cases of fraud, all parties therein concerned shall be prosecuted with all the severity of the law ; that the Notary who shall make a bad use of the confidence reposed in him by the public and of the faith put in the fidelity of his archives, and who shall have the audacity to antedate or postdate the deeds executed before him, shall, for this delinquency, be de- clared unworthy of the office he holds, and shall be condemned to undergo all the penalties provided for such a case ; and said Notary, should he forget to annex to his acts the certificate of the Registrar of Mortgages as aforesaid, shall be proceeded against according to the circumstances of the case ; and that no one shall plead ignorance of this proclamation we order and decree, that it be promulgated with the beat of the drum; and that copies thereof certified by the Secre- tary of the Government and by the Secretary of the Cabildo be
632
. APPENDIX.
posted up at the usual places in this town, and sent to all the posts dependent on this Government.
" Given at the Government-House, on the 3rd of November, 1770.
" LUIS DE UNZAGA."
(Page 398.)
REGULATIONS OF INTENDANT MORALES REGARDING GRANTS OF LAND.
" 1. To eachı newly-arrived family, à chaque famille nouvelle, who are possessed of the necessary qualifications to be admitted among the number of cultivators of these provinces, and who have obtained the permission of the Government to establish themselves on a place which they have chosen, there shall be granted, for once, if it is on the bank of the Mississippi, four, six, or eight arpents in front on the river, by the ordinary depth. of forty arpents ; and if it is at any other place, the quantity which they shall be judged capable to cul- tivate, and which shall be deemed necessary for pasture for their beasts, in proportion and according to the number of which the family is composed ; understanding that the concession is never to exceed eight hundred arpents in superficies.
" 2. To obtain the said concessions, if they are asked for in this city, the permission which has been obtained to establish themselves in the place from the Governor, ought to accompany the petition ; and if, in any of the posts, the Commandant at the same time will state that the lands asked for are vacant, and belong to the domain, and that the petitioner has obtained permission of the Government to establish himself; and referring to the date of the letter or advice they have received.
" 3. Those who obtain concessions on the bank of the river, ought to make, in the first year of their possession, levees sufficient to pre- vent the inundation of the waters, and canals sufficient to drain off the water when the river is high ; they shall be held, in addition, to make, and keep in good order, a public highway, which ought to be at least thirty feet wide, and have bridges of fifteen feet over the canals or ditches which the road crosses ; which regulations ought to
APPENDIX. 633
be observed, according to the usages of the respective districts, by all persons to whom lands are granted, in whatever part they are obtained.
" 4. The new settlers who have obtained lands shall be equally obliged to clear and put in cultivation, in the precise time of three years, all the front of their concessions, for the depth of at least two arpents, under the penalty of having the lands granted reunited to the domain, if this condition is not complied with. The Comman- dants and Syndics will watch that what is enjoined in this and the preceding article, be strictly observed ; and occasionally inform the Intendant of what they have remarked, well understanding that in case of default they will be responsible to his Majesty.
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