LibGuides: Colonial Law in New Orleans, 1718-1803: Olde World Law in a New Land: Introduction (2024)

FRANCOIS-LOUIS HECTOR BARON de CARONDELET et NOYELLES

Colonial Governor 1791 – 1797

An adept and pragmatic administrator of local matters, Carondelet did not bring the same talents to larger matters of state. He harbored an entrenched fear of sedition among the local citizenry, revolt among the enslaved, American encroachment, and the spread of French republican ideals. As a result, his policies and administration of law and justice were inconsistent. These vacillations and shortcomings overshadow his accomplishments.

Accomplishments

• Built public theaters and established newspapers.
• Addressed street crime with the introduction of oil burning street lamps.
• Conceived and oversaw the construction of the Carondelet Canal, a connecting artery between New Orleans to Bayou St. John.
• Established the diocese of New Orleans.

Carondelet, enslaved people, and the colonial planter class

Carondelet feared a Haitian-type slave uprising would spread to the Louisiana colony. He thought the revolt in Haiti was an outcome of the harsh and inhumane French policy and laws. In Louisiana, he attempted to implement more humane and rational policies grounded in Spanish law. The reaction of the planter class was immediate. It withdrew its political support from Carondelet and clamped down on the enslaved. There was equivalent reaction and resistance among the enslaved. The situation came to a head with the Pointe Coupee Slave Revolt of 1795. To quell the Revolt, Carondelet reversed his slave policies; aligned his government with the Planters; and promulgated a set of highly regressive and draconian policing actions relative to the enslaved of Louisiana.

American encroachment and republican ideals

During Carondelet’s tenure, energetic and acquisitive Americans were a constant threat to Spanish colonial rule. The republican ideals of the French Revolutions and interest of the French animated many in New Orleans. To combat the Americans, Carondelet fortified military outposts, increased his militia, and tried to prevent encroachment by using Native American tribes as a buffer on the frontier and the Upper Mississippi Valley. Edmund Genet was the Ambassador of France to the United States. He promoted American support for France’s wars with Spain and England. His activities were a threat to Spanish rule in colonial Louisiana as the Creole merchant class in New Orleans remained largely sympathetic to France. Carondelet responded by banning Genet’s writings lest they inflame the locals who chafed under Spanish rule.

Carondelet'sfears of external attacks were well-founded.

This map was prepared by Victor Collot, a French spy collecting information for a proposed attack on New Orleans. Upper map shows lines of fire from the various guns inCarondelet'sfortifications around New Orleans.

Image Credit: Sketch of New Orleans taken from Fort St. Charles / Sketch ofPlaqueminesFort.Louisiana State Museum. Accession No. 1976.012.4 a-b. Gift of the Friends of theCabildo.

MANUEL GAYOSO de LEMOS

Colonial Governor

1797 – 1797

Gayoso de Lemos was Governor of the Natchez region and later, colonial Louisiana. In both offices, he served as a talented diplomat and deft military commander. In Natchez and Louisiana, his attempted to enact law and policy to improve conditions for the citizenry and reinforce the remaining colonial outposts as effective buffers against the aggressive, acquisitive and encroaching Americans. In Louisiana, his first duty was to implement the provisions of the Treaty of San Lorenzo wherein Spain - under Gayoso's direction would,

♦Relinquish control of the Mississippi River

♦Agree to the reorganization of the boundary between the Spanish territory and the United States

♦Evacuate Spanish fortifications in Natchez, Fort Nogales, and Fort San Esteban.

To shore up the remaining Spanish defenses and protect the population, Gayoso de Lemos

♦Refortified the remaining defenses around Baton Rouge

♦Repaired Spanish galleys along the Mississippi River

♦Established frontier settlements in the Feliciana parishes and in Concordia Parish

♦Improved municipal safety in New Orleans by increasing the number of night watchmen, organizing a volunteer fire-fighting brigade, promulgating regulations on cart traffic, putting weights and measures under governmental control, and increasing regulation of taverns, inns and billiard parlors.

Later, Gayoso de Lemos reinstated the slave trade – suspended in New Orleans following Pointe Coupee Slave Revolt. Gayoso de Lemos succumbed to Yellow Fever in 1799. He is buried at the St. Louis Cathedral, New Orleans.

Image Credit: Courtesy of The Historic New Orleans Collection. acc. no. 1981.134.

FRANCISCOBOULIGNY, MARQUES de CASACALVO, MANUEL JUAN deSALCEDO

Colonial Governors1799 – 1801

From 1799 – 1801, colonial Louisiana languished due to Spanish disinterest and neglect. As the Spanish military presence diminished, the region experienced increased encroachment on all perimeters. Colonial governance - always unsteady – suffered through a series of interim executive appointments. Often corrupt, these administrations were debilitated by executive incompetence, disinterest, and internal disputes.

Francisco Bouligny, a military man with minimal interest in civil affairs or public service became the interim and acting governor following the sudden death of Gayoso de Lemos. Bouligny did little and departed the colony without leaving behind any policy or laws of note.

Memoir of Francisco Bouligny.

Image Credit: Rosemonde E. & Emile Kuntz Collection: Spanish Colonial Period, 1769-1803, Manuscripts Collection 600, Louisiana Research Collection, Tulane University

Marques de Casa-Calvo – another military man – followed Bouligny as governor.Unlike his other Spanish predecessors, Casa-Calvo enjoyed good relations with the French Creoles in New Orleans.He remained in Louisiana following its transfer to the United States.The new power elite did not embrace him.William C. C. Claiborne, the first American governor of LA, expelled Casa-Calvo.Casa-Calvo returned to Spain but died in exile in Paris in 1820.

Order of Spanish to turn over Louisiana to the French. December 12, 1803. With signatures by Sebastian de la Puerta y O'Farril, Marquest de Casa Calvo, and Juan Manuel de Salcedo, New Orleans, to Pierre-Joseph Favrot, Plaquemines.

Image Credit: Louisiana Research Collection, Howard -TitltonMemorial Librry, Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana

Manuel Juan de Salcedo became governor of Louisiana in 1799. He assumed office in 1801. He had no interest in public service. He disliked colonial life -especially Louisiana. As Governor, he engaged innumerous internal disputes with his political peers. Hepurposely boycotted the Cabildo in an effort to undermine its authority and public policies.Salcedo was corrupt and unfit to govern.Following repeated his own petitions to the Spanish Crown to remove him from office, he was allowed to retire with a generous pension.

Order of Spanish to turn over Louisiana to the French. December 12, 1803. With signatures by Sebastian de la Puerta y O'Farril, Marquest de Casa Calvo, and Juan Manuel de Salcedo, New Orleans, to Pierre-Joseph Favrot, Plaquemines.

Image Credit: Louisiana Research Collection, Howard -TitltonMemorial Librry, Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana