Louisiana (New France)

Colony of Louisiana
*Louisiane* (French)
Colony of Louisiana Louisiane (French)
District of New France
1682–1762; 1801–1803
	Flag[a] The lesser coat of arms of France as used by the Government
	; New France before the Treaty of Utrecht
Capital	Mobile (1702–1720); Biloxi (1720–1722); La Nouvelle-Orléans (after 1722)
Population
•	1,702 – 1,500 Europeans (east and west of the Mississippi)
•	1,763 – 20,000 Europeans and Africans (west and east of the Mississippi)
•	1,803 – 70,000 Europeans and Africans (west of the Mississippi)
•	1,700s – over 1 million Native Americans (west and east of the Mississippi)
•	1,803 – over 0.5 million Native Americans (west of the Mississippi)
History
• Established	1682
• Split west to Spain	1762
• Split east to Great Britain	1763
• Transfer by Spain	21 March 1801
• Louisiana Purchase	30 April 1803
• Transferred to the United States	20 December 1803
Political subdivisions	Upper Louisiana;; Lower Louisiana
Preceded by	Succeeded by
	Indigenous Americans
	Louisiana (New Spain)
Louisiana (New Spain)
British West Florida
Indian Reserve (1763)
Louisiana Purchase
Today part of	Canada; United States

Louisiana (French: Louisiane) or French Louisiana^[6] (Louisiane française) was an administrative district of New France. In 1682 the French explorer René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de la Salle erected a cross near the mouth of the Mississippi River and claimed the whole of the drainage basin of the Mississippi River in the name of King Louis XIV, naming it "Louisiana".^[7]^[8] This land area stretched from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico and from the Appalachian Mountains to the Rocky Mountains. The area was under French control from 1682 to 1762 and in part from 1801 (nominally) to 1803.

Louisiana included two regions, now known as Upper Louisiana (la Haute-Louisiane), which began north of the Arkansas River, and Lower Louisiana (la Basse-Louisiane). The U.S. state of Louisiana is named for the historical region, although it is only a small part of the vast lands claimed by France.^[6]

French exploration of the area began during the reign of Louis XIV, but French Louisiana was not greatly developed, due to a lack of human and financial resources. As a result of its defeat in the Seven Years' War, France was forced to cede the east part of the territory in 1763 to the victorious British, and the west part to Spain as compensation for Spain losing Florida. France regained sovereignty of the western territory in the secret Third Treaty of San Ildefonso of 1800. Strained by obligations in Europe and the Caribbean, Napoleon Bonaparte sold the territory to the United States in the Louisiana Purchase of 1803, ending France's presence in Louisiana.

The United States ceded the part north of the 49th parallel to the United Kingdom in the Treaty of 1818. It is part of present-day Alberta and Saskatchewan.

^ The Governor General of Canada (12 November 2020). "Royal Banner of France - Heritage Emblem". Confirmation of the blazon of a Flag. February 15, 2008 Vol. V, p. 202. The Office of the Secretary to the Governor General.
^ New York State Historical Association (1915). Proceedings of the New York State Historical Association with the Quarterly Journal: 2nd-21st Annual Meeting with a List of New Members. The Association. It is most probable that the Bourbon Flag was used during the greater part of the occupancy of the French in the region extending southwest from the St. Lawrence to the Mississippi, known as New France... The French flag was probably blue at that time with three golden fleur - de - lis ....
^ "Background: The First National Flags". The Canadian Encyclopedia. 28 November 2019. Retrieved 1 March 2021. At the time of New France (1534 to the 1760s), two flags could be viewed as having national status. The first was the banner of France — a blue square flag bearing three gold fleurs-de-lys. It was flown above fortifications in the early years of the colony. For instance, it was flown above the lodgings of Pierre Du Gua de Monts at Île Sainte-Croix in 1604. There is some evidence that the banner also flew above Samuel de Champlain's habitation in 1608. ... the completely white flag of the French Royal Navy was flown from ships, forts and sometimes at land-claiming ceremonies.
^ "INQUINTE.CA | CANADA 150 Years of History ~ The story behind the flag". inquinte.ca. When Canada was settled as part of France and dubbed "New France," two flags gained national status. One was the Royal Banner of France. This featured a blue background with three gold fleurs-de-lis. A white flag of the French Royal Navy was also flown from ships and forts and sometimes flown at land-claiming ceremonies.
^ Wallace, W. Stewart (1948). "Flag of New France". The Encyclopedia of Canada. Vol. II. Toronto: University Associates of Canada. pp. 350–351. During the French régime in Canada, there does not appear to have been any French national flag in the modern sense of the term. The "Banner of France", which was composed of fleur-de-lys on a blue field, came nearest to being a national flag, since it was carried before the king when he marched to battle, and thus in some sense symbolized the kingdom of France. During the later period of French rule, it would seem that the emblem...was a flag showing the fleur-de-lys on a white ground... as seen in Florida. There were, however, 68 flags authorized for various services by Louis XIV in 1661; and a number of these were doubtless used in New France
^ ^a ^b La Louisiane française 1682-1803, 2002. Although named "La Louisiane", that name became the French term for the U.S. state of Louisiana, so, by 1879, the colonial region was called La Louisiane française.
^ Magazine, Smithsonian; Harriss, Joseph A. (2003-04-01). "How the Louisiana Purchase Changed the World". Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved 2023-06-25.
^ "Rene-Robert Cavelier, sieur de La Salle - Biography, Discover, Expedition, Route, Death, & Facts". Encyclopedia Britannica. 1998-07-20. Retrieved 2023-06-25.

Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).

[1] The Governor General of Canada (12 November 2020). "Royal Banner of France - Heritage Emblem". Confirmation of the blazon of a Flag. February 15, 2008 Vol. V, p. 202. The Office of the Secretary to the Governor General.

[Association1915-2] New York State Historical Association (1915). Proceedings of the New York State Historical Association with the Quarterly Journal: 2nd-21st Annual Meeting with a List of New Members. The Association. It is most probable that the Bourbon Flag was used during the greater part of the occupancy of the French in the region extending southwest from the St. Lawrence to the Mississippi, known as New France... The French flag was probably blue at that time with three golden fleur - de - lis ....

[3] "Background: The First National Flags". The Canadian Encyclopedia. 28 November 2019. Retrieved 1 March 2021. At the time of New France (1534 to the 1760s), two flags could be viewed as having national status. The first was the banner of France — a blue square flag bearing three gold fleurs-de-lys. It was flown above fortifications in the early years of the colony. For instance, it was flown above the lodgings of Pierre Du Gua de Monts at Île Sainte-Croix in 1604. There is some evidence that the banner also flew above Samuel de Champlain's habitation in 1608. ... the completely white flag of the French Royal Navy was flown from ships, forts and sometimes at land-claiming ceremonies.

[4] "INQUINTE.CA | CANADA 150 Years of History ~ The story behind the flag". inquinte.ca. When Canada was settled as part of France and dubbed "New France," two flags gained national status. One was the Royal Banner of France. This featured a blue background with three gold fleurs-de-lis. A white flag of the French Royal Navy was also flown from ships and forts and sometimes flown at land-claiming ceremonies.

[5] Wallace, W. Stewart (1948). "Flag of New France". The Encyclopedia of Canada. Vol. II. Toronto: University Associates of Canada. pp. 350–351. During the French régime in Canada, there does not appear to have been any French national flag in the modern sense of the term. The "Banner of France", which was composed of fleur-de-lys on a blue field, came nearest to being a national flag, since it was carried before the king when he marched to battle, and thus in some sense symbolized the kingdom of France. During the later period of French rule, it would seem that the emblem...was a flag showing the fleur-de-lys on a white ground... as seen in Florida. There were, however, 68 flags authorized for various services by Louis XIV in 1661; and a number of these were doubtless used in New France

[LL-7] La Louisiane française 1682-1803, 2002. Although named "La Louisiane", that name became the French term for the U.S. state of Louisiana, so, by 1879, the colonial region was called La Louisiane française.

[Magazine_Harriss_2003_c553-8] Magazine, Smithsonian; Harriss, Joseph A. (2003-04-01). "How the Louisiana Purchase Changed the World". Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved 2023-06-25.

[Encyclopedia_Britannica_1998_t871-9] "Rene-Robert Cavelier, sieur de La Salle - Biography, Discover, Expedition, Route, Death, & Facts". Encyclopedia Britannica. 1998-07-20. Retrieved 2023-06-25.

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