Beautiful Crescent: A History of New Orleans Read online

  The streets of the Vieux Carré were wide and straight, thanks to Pauger. Houses were made of wood until the two fires, then of brick. In the suburbs, there were generally beautiful houses belonging to people from all over the world. The Creoles dominated society and business, but within the next decade, the Americans would begin to control more trade and commerce than the Creoles. In the 1790s, there were ocean-going vessels in the river, as well as coastal schooners, barges, and pirogues (the cypress dugout canoe adapted from the Indians).

  The Right of Deposit

  The Right of Deposit, the right to place goods on the docks in New Orleans awaiting shipment to Europe and South America, was vital to American merchants. Spain and the Americans had been on the verge of war ever since the Treaty of Paris in 1783, when Great Britain gave the Americans the right to free navigation on the Mississippi, a right that Spain did not consider theirs to give, since the mouth of the Mississippi was in Spanish Louisiana. Hostilities grew worse, and in 1784, trade was ordered to cease between Spain and the Americans. Governor Miró, however, disregarded the orders, knowing that his colonists needed what the Americans had to sell. In this matter, he was in constant conflict with his Intendant, Juan Morales.

  The Treaty of San Lorenzo

  In 1795, Spain and America signed the Treaty of San Lorenzo, in which Spain granted Americans the right of free navigation on the Mississippi River and the right of deposit at New Orleans for three years. Although the right of deposit expired in 1798, the privilege continued until 1802, when Morales ordered it stopped.

  Flatboatsmen and Keelboatsmen

  After the American Revolution, much of the goods coming into New Orleans and subject to the right of deposit were carried in on the keelboats and flatboats of the New Americans. The men were called “Kaintocks” by the Creoles, and they were a dirty, noisy bunch of rogues and scalawags. For more than four decades, keelboatsmen were on the river bringing flour, coffee, soap, textiles, and shoes to the people of New Orleans.

  They traveled in canoes, rafts, ferryboats, and scows, all manpowered or pulled by mules on the river banks. They came from Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, and Ohio, areas whose population was increasing rapidly. They were strong, practical, and tough. Physical strength was needed to push, pull, and maneuver the loaded ships to their destination. Flatboats were propelled with two great oars. Keelboats were moved by one long oar in the center of the boat. Crewmen also used poles to push the boat along, which was steered by a giant rudder. These men often sold their boats with the goods and then traveled back upriver on horseback, following the old Indian trail, the Natchez Trace.

  Their flatboats were then broken up and the gunwales, the long fore- and aft- planes, were sold for paving streets and banquettes (sidewalks) and for house construction. The rest of the timber was sold for firewood.

  Keelboatsmen had appetites to match the roughness of their trade. On reaching port, they sold their merchandise. Then, they were ready for their whiskey, women, and gambling. Dens of vice, such as those on Tchoupitoulas Street near the river, on Gallatin Street, and in the “swamp” on Girod Street at the river’s edge, supplied their needs. Fistfights were inevitable. The Creoles deplored these men. They considered all Americans to be like the “Kaintocks” in the beginning, and thus the battle lines were drawn between the Creoles and the Americans.

  Insurrection in Saint Domingue

  Until now, we have used the name Santo Domingo to refer to the island of Hispaniola, discovered by Columbus in 1492 and claimed for Spain, who called their colony Santo Domingo. In the 1600s, French colonists settled the western part of the island, which Spain gave to France in 1697 through the Treaty of Ryswick. The French called their colony Saint Domingue. It was a sugar-growing colony where a bloody insurrection occurred in 1791.

  The successful slave uprising was led by Toussaint L’Ouverture against the white plantation owners, whom they outnumbered ten to one. After a Voodoo ceremony of crazed dancing and the drinking of animal blood, a half million black slaves revolted against fifty thousand whites and an equal number of privileged mulattoes. Plantations were destroyed, and two thousand white islanders were killed.

  By 1804, shiploads of whites and free men of color from the island poured into New Orleans. Many of these gens de couleur libres were artisans, craftsmen, and sculptors, who would add to the talent and literacy of the city’s population and help to build the beautiful monuments, tombstones, and iron balconies that still grace its streets. The quadroon women were to become the beautiful concubines of song and story, so desired by the Creole men of the city.

  Social Improvements

  Living standards were high for those who could afford them. There were handsome houses, lavish furnishings, and elegant clothes. The most important piece of furniture in the Creole household was the armoire. The next in importance was the iron or brass bed. In fact, part of the volunteer firemen’s equipment was a large key worn on the belt to unlock the bed, so that it could be removed in case of fire. The armoire was made to come apart so that it could be taken out of the house in pieces by one man.

  During this period, there were some attempts at fire prevention already in place. Each house was required to have at least one good leather bucket and a ladder long enough to reach the top of the house. The first fire insurance was a donation of money to a volunteer fire group, in exchange for a fire mark, which the donor displayed prominently. In case of a general fire, which most fires were in those days, the volunteer firemen would concentrate their efforts on the houses displaying the fire mark of their group.

  One example of the high living of the day was said to have occurred in 1798, when Gayoso had three visitors from the Court of France: Louis Philippe, Duc d’Orléans, future king of France; Duc de Montpensier; and the Comte de Beaujolais, all brothers and all great-great-grandsons of the namesakes of New Orleans, Philippe, Duc d’Orléans. Entertaining these guests was Pierre Philippe de Marigny de Mandeville, who arranged lavish dinners for them. A story is told that special gold tableware was used, which was thrown into the river after one such elaborate meal, indicating that no one else was worthy of using it. De Marigny placed both his home and his purse at their feet, and they accepted both. The historian Grace King tells us that later on, Bernard de Marigny, in financial straits, appealed to the court of France for the return of some of his money.

  There was a tremendous increase in the value of exports in Louisiana during the Spanish rule. In 1767, the exports consisted of indigo, deerskins, lumber, naval stores, rice, peas, beans, and tallow, valued at $250,000 annually. By 1770, the yearly total had risen to six hundred thousand dollars, and by 1802, had multiplied several times.

  In 1790, wrought iron was brought from Spain. It required no painting to protect it against the elements. The date is significant because it was midway between the two great fires, the last of which caused the whole town to be rebuilt. Wrought iron decoration was an outstanding feature for both its protective and visual attributes.

  By the end of the Spanish period, Louisiana was more self-sufficient in foodstuffs. Natives had been encouraged to cultivate indigo, tobacco, flax, hemp, and cotton as commercial crops. (Perique tobacco, for example, was grown only in St. James Parish.) Louisiana was exporting 125,000 pounds of tobacco annually. Indigo production increased for a time, but later declined because of a bug that infested it. Handling it over a period of five years had proved fatal to slaves.

  The population had increased sixfold in Louisiana during the Spanish period. Settlers trickled down from the north until the end of the American Revolution, after which the trickle became a torrent. This flood of people lasted until the end of the 1700s, when the population had reached the fifty thousand mark in Louisiana. Many people came from West Florida (acquired by the British in 1763), because they did not want to be under British rule. The Acadians began coming in the 1750s and continued to come throughout the Spanish period.

  It was during the Spanish period that Almonest
er rebuilt the St. Louis Cathedral and the Cabildo and built the first floor of the Presbytère as a domicile for the clergy. He contributed to a retreat for lepers and rebuilt Charity Hospital when it was blown down by a hurricane in 1779. In 1789, he gave the Ursuline nuns a chapel for their convent.

  Our Spanish ancestors are to be thanked for three decades of stable government, for the city’s first fire and police protection, for the Old Basin Canal, and for the first attempts made at establishing public schools in 1771. They are also to be thanked for a reconstructed Vieux Carré with its Hispano-American architecture, which is a monument to the period of Spanish domination.

  In addition, credit goes to them for roofing the Indian Market on the riverfront. The market had always been a vital place of business and continues to be today. It has always been called the French Market, although it was originally the Indian Market, roofed by the Spanish, supplied by German farmers, and later on, run by Italian vendors—a typical New Orleans amalgamation.

  CHAPTER V

  On Becoming American: 1803-15

  On April 30, 1803, when Thomas Jefferson was America’s third president, the territory of Louisiana was purchased from Napoleon Bonaparte, consul of France, by the United States, for the sum of $15 million. This event took place before any ceremony had officially made Louisiana French again. It wasn’t until November 30, 1803, that the Spanish flag was lowered and the French flag raised in the Place d’Armes, although the transfer of Louisiana from Spain to France had taken place three years earlier, and another transfer had since been arranged. On that same day, Pierre Clément de Laussat, colonial prefect of France, was given the keys to the city and put in possession of the province for France. Although de Laussat’s actions were purely symbolic (coming after the sale of Louisiana to the United States), he nonetheless abolished the Spanish Cabildo, appointed the Frenchman Étienne de Boré mayor, appointed two adjuncts, and created the first city council of New Orleans, which consisted of ten members.

  Just twenty days later, on December 20, 1803, the same ceremony was repeated in the Place d’Armes. This time, however, the French flag was lowered and the flag of the United States took its place. William C. C. Claiborne, General James Wilkinson (acting for the president of the United States), and Pierre de Laussat (representing France), signed the papers making the Louisiana Territory part of America. Claiborne was to be in charge of civil affairs and Wilkinson in control of the army.

  In one year, New Orleans had been under three flags: first Spanish, then French, and finally American.

  Circumstances leading up to and surrounding the purchase are interesting and complex. To begin with, Napoleon, having recently lost the island of Saint Domingue in the Caribbean, felt that his dream

  Portrait of Andrew Jackson. From a miniature commissioned by Jackson, painted by Jean Francois Valle in New Orleans. Presented to Edward Livingston, March 1, 1815.

  Extract of note from Andrew Jackson to Edward Livingston.

  of a French empire in America had ended. He feared that it would be impossible to protect Louisiana financially or militarily if he went back to war with England, and if he couldn’t protect Louisiana against the British, he preferred America to have it. Also, badly in need of money for his European wars, he was receptive to entreaties by Livingston, US Minister to France, who urged him to sell the Isle of Orleans and West Florida to the United States. Napoleon, through his negotiator, Barbé-Marbois, offered to sell all of Louisiana for $15 million.

  President Jefferson, without consulting Congress, agreed to the purchase, although there was a total of only $10 million in the US treasury at the time. This was an act that came close to causing the president’s impeachment.

  Further reasons for Napoleon’s sale of Louisiana to the United States is given in his own words: “This accession of territory strengthens forever the power of the United States, and I have just given England a maritime rival that will sooner or later humble her pride.” The irony of the situation is that the United States had to make loans from British and Dutch banks in order to finance the purchase.

  The Louisiana Territory included 827,987 square miles, which would later be divided to form thirteen other states, or parts of states, in the nation. The territory extended from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico and from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains. Boundaries were in dispute, so it is impossible to give an exact size and value to the purchase, but nonetheless, it was the greatest real estate buy of its time.

  Throughout the territory, colonists had settled the areas along the rivers and bayous: the Mississippi, Red, Atchafalaya, and Ouachita Rivers and the Bayous Teche and Lafourche. There were, at the time of the purchase, approximately fifty thousand people living in the territory (excluding Indians), most of whom lived in what is presently the state of Louisiana.

  In 1804, the territorial government declared all land grants after 1800 null and void and confiscated all property given the colonists by a Spanish or French king. On March 26, 1804, Congress divided the land that had been included in the Louisiana Purchase into the Louisiana Territory and the Territory of Orleans. The Territory of Orleans consisted of the present state of Louisiana minus the Florida Parishes (later annexed) and an area near the Sabine River. The Louisiana Territory included the rest of the purchase.

  In 1803, New Orleans was a city of a population just under ten thousand with a majority of whites. The population was composed of Creoles, Acadians, women from Santo Domingo, men from the German Coast who spoke perfect French, Castilian soldiers, Indians, black slaves, and free people of color, as well as ex-galley slaves and adventurers. All in all, it was a great place to live.

  Four of the five forts had, by this time, fallen into disrepair. Only Fort Ferdinand remained. The city had four or five general stores, three Scottish banks, a German business firm, and eight or ten commission houses opened during the Spanish period by Americans. The largest percentage of the population consisted of French and Spanish Creoles.

  New Orleans was a trade center, dealing in the products of the countryside: rice, indigo, sugar, tobacco, and cotton. These were the cash crops grown for sale. Agricultural products were scarce, and vegetables were, as yet, hard to obtain and expensive.

  Education in New Orleans in 1803 was poor. Few citizens could read and write. The Ursulines taught fewer than two hundred students, including boarders. There were no colleges, bookstores, or libraries. Men worked as apprentices to learn their trades.

  The city was devoutly Roman Catholic, but remarkably liberal in its acceptance of the many brothels, saloons, and gambling halls. Also accepted—or ignored—was the custom of plaçage, in which white men took quadroon girls into more or less permanent concubinage and set them up in a house in the French Quarter or adjoining the Quarter on Rampart Street. In Fabulous New Orleans, Lyle Saxon wrote, “There seems to be a certain insidious chemical in the atmosphere which tends to destroy Puritanism” (1928).

  Into this diverse community now came the Americans. They were certainly not all flatboatsmen, as many of the French had formerly believed. There were East Coast businessmen, southern planters and farmers, and Yankee clerks as well, very few of whom knew a word of French. New Orleans was American now—a part of their country—and they had a right to settle in the Crescent City.

  William C. C. Claiborne

  President Jefferson appointed William Charles Cole Claiborne as governor of the Territory of Orleans (after both the Marquis de Lafayette and James Monroe had declined). Claiborne was twenty-eight years old when he arrived in New Orleans, a Virginian Protestant who did not speak French. He kept on hand a French and Spanish interpreter, and wisely, he did not dispense with the French mayor, Étienne de Boré, though how they conversed on city problems is hard to imagine. Understandably, de Boré did not enjoy his role, and in six months, he resigned.

  For two years (1803-5), Claiborne acted almost as a dictator in the territory. He set about learning French and translating the laws into English and re-cod
ifying them. In 1804, he lost his twenty-one-year-old wife, his daughter, his secretary, and many friends in an epidemic of yellow fever. Five years later, his second wife, also twenty-one at the time, perished of the same disease. He wrote to President Madison about the filth, garbage, and refuse thrown into the river, which he could see from his bedroom window.

  Claiborne’s opinion of the people he found in New Orleans is expressed in the letters he wrote to James Madison in 1804, when Madison was still Secretary of State:

  [January 10, 1804:] The more I become acquainted with the inhabitants of this Province, the more I am convinced of their unfitness for a representative government . . . I have discovered with regret that a strong partiality for the French government still exists . . . in some circles a sentiment is cherished that at the close of the War between England and France, the great Buonaparte will again raise his standard in this country.

  [January 24, 1804:] The period allowed by the Treaty for the withdrawing of the French and Spanish forces from the ceded Territory expires this day, and still little or no preparation is made for an Embarkation. The Spanish Officers have conducted themselves with great propriety . . . I cannot speak equally favourable of the French forces . . . some of these are mischievous, riotous, disorderly characters . . . added to this [is] the ignorance and credulity of the mass of people . . . I would think it wise policy in Congress to appropriate one hundred thousand dollars annually for the encouragement of Education in Louisiana.