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BP Oil Spill in Louisiana

On this day, the explosion of the Deep Horizon Oil rig in the Gulf caused a major oil spill that spanned across 65 miles of Louisiana's coastline.

In addition, it was later shown from underwater cameras that the oil rig was also spilling heavy amounts of oil into the ocean floor, only making things worse because that made it almost impossible for any form of life to survive because the whole expanse of the ocean was heavily coasted in oil.

By the time the well was capped on July 15, 2010, an estimated 3.19 million barrels of oil had leaked into the Gulf and caused permanent damage to the coastal waters. Additionally, 11 people were killed during this oil spill.

The image shown below are the effects of an oil spill.

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Hurricane Katrina

Hurricane Katrina struck southeastern Louisiana and damaged levees flooded New Orleans. More than 1,500 people killed and over two million homeless.

Katrina was an extremely destructive category 5 hurricane that caused catastrophic damage. With over fifty breaches in surge protection levees surrounding New Orleans, it was the main point of destruction during the hurricane.

Over eighty percent of the city of New Orleans was flooded and stayed flooded for weeks as drainage systems stopped functioning and allowed no easy passage of water. As a result, there was a large amount of criticism given to people across local, state and federal governments for lack of resources, manpower, lead time, and the downplay and lack of attention given to Katrina.

The image shows the pathway of Hurricane Katrina.

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The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927

During the early spring of 1927, New Orleans was pelted with continuous rain and floods, causing New Orleans to receive 11.16 inches of rain in only February.

On Good Friday, April 15, 1927, over 14 inches of rain fell on New Orleans in a single day, disabling the pumps that normally drained the city, but did not breach the levees or break them.

Later, governor O.H. Simpson and his advisers allowed New Orleans civic leaders to blast a breach in the levee, saving New Orleans from even more months of flooding, but also flooding the two poorest parishes of Louisiana who could not make up for damages including Plaquemines parish.

All in all, the Flood was the largest peace-time calamity that the US has experienced and the largest calamity that Louisiana has had to overcome, killing roughly 250 and displacing hundreds of thousands of people across 7 states.

The image below shows flood damage in New Orleans.

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Louisiana is Readmitted to the Union

After meeting the requirements posed by the Union for loyalty after Reconstruction, Louisiana was readmitted to the Union after they abolished slavery and gave citizenship rights to the former slaves.

Starting from that day, Louisiana representatives were readmitted into Congress after pledging their allegiance to the United States.

After admittance, Acts passed by Congress limited some former Confederate officials' and military officers' rights to vote and to run for public office, but later, almost all of these effects were rescinded.

In addition, Louisiana's economy was shattered afterwards because almost all of the plantations were destroyed in the process of Civil War and plantations were what Louisiana relied on for economic success.

The image is of the American Flag, symbolizing return to the state's mother country.

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Louisiana Joins the Confederacy

On 3/21/1961, roughly two months after Louisiana had seceded from the United States, Louisiana joined the Confederate States of America, being the sixth state to join.

Upon joining in preparation for an inevitable war, Louisiana prepared 25,000 troops within the first year. During the war, those numbers rose to 60,000 men.

Louisiana joined the Confederacy to preserve its customs of slavery and for economic support since if it stayed as an independent country, it would soon become unsustainable because they would not have so many allies to trade with.

The image below is a picture of the flag of the Confederate States of the America.

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Secession from Union

As tensions rose with the constant disagreement between the North and the South, Louisiana seceded from the Union and became independent for two months before joining the confederacy.

Louisiana was the sixth state to secede and seceded due to reasons such as disagreements over slavery such as the economics of it, tariffs, states' rights and political control in the slavery system.

Miles Taylor was the person who submitted Louisiana’s ordinance of secession to the Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives.

The image shown below is an image of Miles Taylor.

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First Mardi Gras Parade in Louisiana

The first Mardi Gras festivities were set up by the French explorers that set up camp on the west bank of the Mississippi. Lead explorer, ierre Baptiste Le Moyne, Sieur d'Iberville dubbed the spot La Pointe du Mardi Gras.

They only held a small celebration for making it down to the end of the Mississippi River. However, today, there are many floats and festivities that largely outdid the initial celebration of success. The ancestry of this celebration can be tracked back to medieval France and Italy which is most likely how Iberville introduced the celebration.

The image below is a small piece of text that once again said that the first Mardi Gras in Louisiana was hosted by Iberville.

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Battle of New Orleans

Fought between the British army under Major General Sir Edward Pakenham and United States Army Brevet Major General Andrew Jackson, ending in a U.S. victory.

The battle took place directly after the signing of the Treaty of Ghent on December 24, 1814, before news of the treaty could reach the United States, before reaching Louisiana.

The British attacked with almost double the troops of America, but with strategic battle planning and familiarity with the environment, the U.S. on had 60 casualties while the British had suffered roughly 2000 casualties.

The image below shows a battle layout of the plan.

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Statehood

On this day, it was made official for Louisiana to become an official state to join the United States, making it the 18th state in the country.

President James Madison signed the bill that granted Louisiana statehood, but many people were still hesitant to admit it as a state. One of these issues was the original 13 states fearing that they would have less power, and they were hesitant because it was the first state to lie to the west of the Mississippi River causing the state to take some time for careful revision before Louisiana joined the Union.

The image below is a picture of Louisiana's state flag with the American flag showing the joining to the union.

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Louisiana Purchase

Deal between United States and France where the US acquired 827,000 acres of land approximately in exchange for $15 million dollars, making it roughly 4 cents an acre, which was a good deal.

Napoleon only proposed this deal because his troops have just lost a war in Europe and disease has plagued his people and he desperately needed money for damage repair and medicine.

Proposed between Napoleon Bonaparte of France Thomas Jefferson, who was the president, and Robert Livingston, who was the US Minister to France.

The image shows a rough sketch of the amount of land received to add to American territory after the purchase.

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Treaty of San Ildefonso

The treaty of San Ildefonso provided formal explanation for Spanish cession of Louisiana to France.

The transaction was made between the Spanish Empire and the First French Republic, negotiated between French general Louis-Alexandre Berthier and Spanish former chief minister Mariano Luis de Urquijo.

This treaty made way for the Treaty of Aranjuez in March of 1801 that confirmed preliminary terms discussed in the Treaty of Ildefonso. Terms included Spain agreeing to exchange its North American colony of Spanish Louisiana for territories in Tuscany.

The image shows the conditions of the Third Treaty of Ildefonso (1800).

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Alejandro O'Reilly takes possession of Louisiana for Spain

Spain discharged a fleet of 24 ships and 2,000 troops under the command of General Alexandre O'Reilly, who took possession of Louisiana on August 18, 1769.

Upon arrival, O'Reilly quickly arrested, tried, and convicted the leaders of the rebellion of treason.

O'Reilly executed 12 men, and sentenced others to lengthy prison terms. He also confiscated properties of those people.

The image is a portrait of O'Reilly who actually took Louisiana for Spain.

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Treaty of Fountainebleau

The Treaty of Fountainebleau was a secret agreement of 1762 in which France ceded Louisiana to Spain which followed the last battle in the French and Indian War.

The treaty included all of Louisiana, entire Mississippi River Valley and from the Appalachian Mountains to the Rocky Mountains.

The Treaty was proposed by King Louis XV of France to King Charles III of Spain since they needed to recover from losing Canada during the Seven Years War. The date provided was not date the treaty was proposed, but the day that Charles III accepted the treaty.

The image below is showing the land that Spain has acquired from the Treaty.

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New Orleans is founded

La Nouvelle-Orléans  was founded in the Spring of 1718 by the French Mississippi Company which was under the direction of Jean-Baptiste Bienville.

This land was previously occupied by the native Chitimacha group, but in the process they were also met with difficulties from the Natchez group.

It was named for Phillipe II, Duke of Orleans, who was Regenet of France at the time.

The image below shows Bienville who was the founder of New Orleans as mentioned above.

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Robert Cavalier, Sieur de la Salle claims Louisiana for France

He travelled down from the Great Lakes and down the Mississippi River. When he reached the river delta and its drainage basin, he officially claimed the land for King Louis XIV.

La Salle made his journey with his lieutenant, Henri de Tonti, and a party of approximately forty Frenchmen and Native Americans.

By claiming the land, he put a cross in the land where he stood, which was his way of claiming the land.

The image shows La Salle first standing on the lands of Louisiana.