How did Creoles React to the Louisiana Purchase? Documentary
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Date: 2022-07-19
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Comments and reviews: 20
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Louisiana did become a state in under 10 years, which is pretty fast considering the Orleans and Baton Rouge districts had only 10k freeman in 1803.
St Louis even fewer and their statehood came later.
The French officially exchanged the Spanish flag in the Plaz d'Armes in early Dec 1803. The US did it again two weeks later. Louisiana had not experienced any real French rule since 1763. The English exporting Cajuns from Canadian Acadia is all that gives modern Louisiana a super French feel.
The big shock to the landed creoles is that the US would outlaw the international slave trade just four years later along with the UK. Spain wouldn't outlaw it for decades, and most of Southern Louisiana was Spanish. New Orleans looks like Havana and Seville not Paris or Montreal.
However neither Orleans or St Louis had ever really prospered under France, Britain, Spain, France again for two weeks. They did, however, prosper greatly inside the US, by 1855 elite residents having some of the highest per capita wealth in the world.
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Louisiana did become a state in under 10 years, which is pretty fast considering the Orleans and Baton Rouge districts had only 10k freeman in 1803.
St Louis even fewer and their statehood came later.
The French officially exchanged the Spanish flag in the Plaz d'Armes in early Dec 1803. The US did it again two weeks later. Louisiana had not experienced any real French rule since 1763. The English exporting Cajuns from Canadian Acadia is all that gives modern Louisiana a super French feel.
The big shock to the landed creoles is that the US would outlaw the international slave trade just four years later along with the UK. Spain wouldn't outlaw it for decades, and most of Southern Louisiana was Spanish. New Orleans looks like Havana and Seville not Paris or Montreal.
However neither Orleans or St Louis had ever really prospered under France, Britain, Spain, France again for two weeks. They did, however, prosper greatly inside the US, by 1855 elite residents having some of the highest per capita wealth in the world.
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NSV
Well you got Creole right!
Couple corrections.
We usually say New Or Lense. Some uptown folks say New Or Lee Ends. But they all sound like they came from North Carolina or something.
Wouldn't describe the Creoles attitude towards Spanish rule as 'meh, or the Spanish period as 'light touch'.
They raised taxes over what the French crown had previously levied.
This resulted in a couple armed insurrections. I believe some tax collectors were killed or abused. My ancestor was indicted during one of these failed rebellions for inciting treason. But he was in his 70's or 80's by that point so they declined to execute him. The younger partisans were all hung.
As far as the Creoles attitude towards the Americans. For many years after the purchase Creole and Anglo society remained separate but parallel.
There were a few places in the city where Creoles and Anglos did business. But the French Quarter, Faubourg Marigny etc were Creole areas to be kept out of if you didn't parlez vous.
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Well you got Creole right!
Couple corrections.
We usually say New Or Lense. Some uptown folks say New Or Lee Ends. But they all sound like they came from North Carolina or something.
Wouldn't describe the Creoles attitude towards Spanish rule as 'meh, or the Spanish period as 'light touch'.
They raised taxes over what the French crown had previously levied.
This resulted in a couple armed insurrections. I believe some tax collectors were killed or abused. My ancestor was indicted during one of these failed rebellions for inciting treason. But he was in his 70's or 80's by that point so they declined to execute him. The younger partisans were all hung.
As far as the Creoles attitude towards the Americans. For many years after the purchase Creole and Anglo society remained separate but parallel.
There were a few places in the city where Creoles and Anglos did business. But the French Quarter, Faubourg Marigny etc were Creole areas to be kept out of if you didn't parlez vous.
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Jamie
Dear James Bissonette, Kelly Moneymaker, et al. Your names are unbelievably annoying to hear over and over and whenever I realize the video is at the end I immediately drop whatever I'm doing, fairly leap at my laptop and nearly poke holes in my touchpad in my desperation to stop the video so I don't have to listen to that agonizing list. I'm almost ready to contribute to History Matters' Patreon on condition that he drop a few of those names (esp. James and Kelly) or at least mix them up a little!
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Dear James Bissonette, Kelly Moneymaker, et al. Your names are unbelievably annoying to hear over and over and whenever I realize the video is at the end I immediately drop whatever I'm doing, fairly leap at my laptop and nearly poke holes in my touchpad in my desperation to stop the video so I don't have to listen to that agonizing list. I'm almost ready to contribute to History Matters' Patreon on condition that he drop a few of those names (esp. James and Kelly) or at least mix them up a little!
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JD
Fun Fact: The Creoles living within the Louisiana territory had democratically elected governments. I don't even agree with democracy or democratic republics, but they most certainly had it. And back then, there wasn't any sort of federal income tax anyways. Any taxation they experienced was from their own democratically elected local governments (and of course foreign importations taxes which they also had under French rule.
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Fun Fact: The Creoles living within the Louisiana territory had democratically elected governments. I don't even agree with democracy or democratic republics, but they most certainly had it. And back then, there wasn't any sort of federal income tax anyways. Any taxation they experienced was from their own democratically elected local governments (and of course foreign importations taxes which they also had under French rule.
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Curtis
lnteresting bit of history: Napoleon planned to squash the Haitian Revolution then use Haitian soldiers as the core military force to carve out and develop a mega colonial empire in Louisiana. He lost the battle against Haiti, which was a factor that resulted in the sale of Louisiana.
Had Napoleon defeated the Haitians there would've been thousands of battle hardened black French soldiers on North American soil.
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lnteresting bit of history: Napoleon planned to squash the Haitian Revolution then use Haitian soldiers as the core military force to carve out and develop a mega colonial empire in Louisiana. He lost the battle against Haiti, which was a factor that resulted in the sale of Louisiana.
Had Napoleon defeated the Haitians there would've been thousands of battle hardened black French soldiers on North American soil.
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Elizabeth
Nothing at all changed for most of those people. I actually live here and study the history. NOLA was already a major port because of the Mississippi and still is today. The Americans would have come because they follow the money making opportunities. Planters were already moving into the territory from Virginia, which got crowded with population expansion. The La. Territories woulda wound up American eventually.
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Nothing at all changed for most of those people. I actually live here and study the history. NOLA was already a major port because of the Mississippi and still is today. The Americans would have come because they follow the money making opportunities. Planters were already moving into the territory from Virginia, which got crowded with population expansion. The La. Territories woulda wound up American eventually.
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Rationed
France: Sells their US territory in the Louisiana purchase for $15M ($342M equivalent today) to the US because they've lost their Haitian colony.
Also France: Demands billions of dollars in reparations from Haiti after Haiti has a successful revolution to end slavery and proceeds to cut Haiti off from trade in conjunction with embargoes from the US.
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France: Sells their US territory in the Louisiana purchase for $15M ($342M equivalent today) to the US because they've lost their Haitian colony.
Also France: Demands billions of dollars in reparations from Haiti after Haiti has a successful revolution to end slavery and proceeds to cut Haiti off from trade in conjunction with embargoes from the US.
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random
Well, the Acadians there had had their homeland sold four times. Acadia proper by France to Britain [well, yielded by treaty] after which those unwilling to take the oath of allegiance to their new sovereign were expelled to French soil, to wit Louisiana, which was then yielded by France to Spain, Spain back to France, and France to the USA.
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Well, the Acadians there had had their homeland sold four times. Acadia proper by France to Britain [well, yielded by treaty] after which those unwilling to take the oath of allegiance to their new sovereign were expelled to French soil, to wit Louisiana, which was then yielded by France to Spain, Spain back to France, and France to the USA.
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RD
The video fails to mention another major reason why the Frenchmen loathed the idea of becoming an American territory: The US was still culturally British in 1803, so these Frenchmen were appalled by the idea of being annexed by Englishmen. France and England go together like oil and water in 1803. They were bitter enemies.
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The video fails to mention another major reason why the Frenchmen loathed the idea of becoming an American territory: The US was still culturally British in 1803, so these Frenchmen were appalled by the idea of being annexed by Englishmen. France and England go together like oil and water in 1803. They were bitter enemies.
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Glover
Little side note. Creole and Cajun are different. Creole is typically more N. O culturally and Cajun is more west and more northern of the river in current LA. Obviously these 2 cultures are blended more now and overlap a bit in areas they reside here in southern LA many strongly align with one or the other.
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Little side note. Creole and Cajun are different. Creole is typically more N. O culturally and Cajun is more west and more northern of the river in current LA. Obviously these 2 cultures are blended more now and overlap a bit in areas they reside here in southern LA many strongly align with one or the other.
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SharondaH
You can't sell us. Brilliant.
Also, thank you for not including what was West Florida in your Louisiana Purchase map. It's one of those details that means you adhere to the local story of it being Spanish occupied at the time and not the official US history of it being part of the Purchase.
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You can't sell us. Brilliant.
Also, thank you for not including what was West Florida in your Louisiana Purchase map. It's one of those details that means you adhere to the local story of it being Spanish occupied at the time and not the official US history of it being part of the Purchase.
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random
Why would anyone whose home had passed France to Spain to France in just two generations be so incensed about the sale to the US? I mean I can think of geopolitical and demographic reasons, but none that would warrant a principled objection to 'being sold'.
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Why would anyone whose home had passed France to Spain to France in just two generations be so incensed about the sale to the US? I mean I can think of geopolitical and demographic reasons, but none that would warrant a principled objection to 'being sold'.
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Einund
0: 14 - love the subtle touches like the black American looking like James Brown while the words living in America are being spoken. Do not love the too literal translation of eagle goes here into German. In proper German it would say Adler kommt hier hin.
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0: 14 - love the subtle touches like the black American looking like James Brown while the words living in America are being spoken. Do not love the too literal translation of eagle goes here into German. In proper German it would say Adler kommt hier hin.
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Andrew
It's kinda sad because George Washington openly didn't want to mess with the Native Americans living West (I think in the history books it's said he even promised some tribes they'd be left alone) but future Presidents had other plans.
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It's kinda sad because George Washington openly didn't want to mess with the Native Americans living West (I think in the history books it's said he even promised some tribes they'd be left alone) but future Presidents had other plans.
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kikastra
Oh oh! I pointed out an error! You said the Louisiana territory would be forever under the control of the US or something to that effect, but small portions were above the 49th parallel, so NO!
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Oh oh! I pointed out an error! You said the Louisiana territory would be forever under the control of the US or something to that effect, but small portions were above the 49th parallel, so NO!
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Jonathan
The US didnt actually want the rural areas, as the plan was only to buy New Orleans in order to secure our trade but without New Orleans the rest of the colony was useless so the French sold it all
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The US didnt actually want the rural areas, as the plan was only to buy New Orleans in order to secure our trade but without New Orleans the rest of the colony was useless so the French sold it all
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Sweetface
You're showing the creoles as whyte but in the US it's Blcks too! We have Whytes and blcks (mix looking) that are creoles. Many are being washed out now but there are still some around.
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You're showing the creoles as whyte but in the US it's Blcks too! We have Whytes and blcks (mix looking) that are creoles. Many are being washed out now but there are still some around.
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random
I doubt US territorial government looked much if at all different than French or Spanish rule, inasmuch as they didn't go in for elections or legislatures in these possessions either.
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I doubt US territorial government looked much if at all different than French or Spanish rule, inasmuch as they didn't go in for elections or legislatures in these possessions either.
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Saeed
and the Haitian revolution that dismantled the french military in the new world probably didn't help them hold onto the territory as America was looking to expand westward into
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and the Haitian revolution that dismantled the french military in the new world probably didn't help them hold onto the territory as America was looking to expand westward into
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Trioptic3D
New Orleans is famous for its French quarter amongst other things. Did St. Louis have a French neighborhood? Also what's the difference between creole and Cajun?
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New Orleans is famous for its French quarter amongst other things. Did St. Louis have a French neighborhood? Also what's the difference between creole and Cajun?
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