History of Louisiana

The long history of Louisiana dates back to thousands of years. The region was first visited by a Spanish explorer, Alvarez Pineda in 1519. It became a French colony in 1731 but was passed on to Spain in 1763 after the French and Indian Wars.

The region that is now Louisiana was inhabited for many years by the native Americans. Various tribes of Caddo Indians and Tunican-speaking groups, Atakapa group, Chitimacha tribes lived in the state before the arrival of the Europeans in the sixteenth century.

The state had been visited by several Spanish explorers but the first person to penetrate the coast of Louisiana was Hernando de Soto in 1541. He was followed by the expeditions of the French explorer, Robert Cavelier, Sieur de la Salle in 1682. The latter reached the mouth of the Mississippi on 9 April 1682, and named the land Louisiana in honor of King Louis XIV. The region was claimed by France but it was not made the permanent settlement. It was only in 1699 under an expedition headed by Pierre le Moyne, Sieur d'Iberville, that a settlement was formed at the Biloxi Bay. This settlement served as the seat of government for Louisiana.

Many such settlements were made but the first permanent European settlement was made in 1714, when Louis Juchereau de St. Denis established Natchitoches. Four years later, New Orleans was found.

Louisiana did not remain under the French rule for very long. The last conflict of the Seven Years' War or French and Indian War, resulted in the victory of Great Britain. Thereafter, France ceded most of its territory to Britain. Some parts of the state came under the rule of Spain after the Seven Years' War by the Treaty of Fontainebleau of 1763. France took over the territory again in 1800. French General Napoleon Bonaparte was instrumental in winning over the lost land and Louisiana was taken from Spain under the Treaty of San Ildefonso.

Louisiana became part of the United States in 1803, and in 1804 the territory was divided into two parts. The people of the territory began the process of learning self-government, something they never did under the French and the Spanish rule. The growth in the population after 1810 called for a separate state and the Congress decided to draw a state constitution. In the same year, a revolt took place against Spain in West Florida. The Congress then decided to give Louisiana the area between the Mississippi and Pearl rivers. The southern part of the state was admitted to the Union on April 30, 1812. However, even after statehood, France and Spain maintained their influence in the civil law of the state.

Years later on January 26, 1861, Louisiana seceded from the Union and joined the Confederacy. The Reconstruction period was tough for Louisiana and the state suffered greatly.

The discovery of oil and natural gas in the early 1900s changed the course of the state's economy. Many industries developed and Louisiana saw a rapid advancement in the field of medicine. This helped in curbing the yellow-fever epidemics that had battered the state. The last decades of the twentieth century were prosperous as the state enjoyed an oil boom in the early 1980s. This prosperity was not long-lasting, as prices collapsed in 1986. Many people became unemployed and there was great economic distress. Poverty increased to such an extent that Louisiana was the second-poorest state in the US in 1998. The onus for economic recovery fell on the tourism industry and the industry did succeed in enhancing the finances of the state. Today Louisiana is a famous tourist destination. New Orleans, historic plantation homes near Natchitoches and New Iberia, and Chalmette National Historic Park are the major attractions.