What do you know about Louisiana, the State that in the last few days has become the poorest State of the American Nation?
Read on…
Louisiana, a frenche traditional State, is actually facing the consequences of one of the most devastating hurricanes that the American Nation has ever had. Katrina could be named as the third “atomic bomb”, after Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Thousands of dead and a huge destruction is the desolate out look that the world is watching through the electronic media.
Many countries have wanted to help in the rescue of lives and the rebuilding of the State, including Cuba that offered more than 150 physicians willing to put their actions in favor of those unfortunate citizens that undergo the effects of this hurricane. It’s really a shame that because of Mr. Bush’s pride, those people can not receive the assistance of the Cuban physicians.
Going back to the State of Louisiana, I would like to tell you that its name was given to honor Louis XIV, king of France from 1643 to 1715.
In 1803, the United States paid France $15,000.000 for the Louisiana Territory. At that time, Louisiana was an area more than four times the size of France. The vast Territory included everything between the Rocky Mountains and the Mississippi river except Texas. Without doubt, the Louisiana purchase was one of the greatest events in the history of the United States.
Before the year 1800, almost a million Americans were living west of the Allegheny Mountains. Those settlers needed trade. To do that, they had to send their flour, tobacco, and wisky by water. There were no usable roads to the eastern cities and ports. The Ohio River and the Mississippi served as direct highways. Spain owned New Orleans (the most devastated city in the State), and the great Louisiana Territory to the West of the river. The western settlers solved their problem by obtaining the “right of deposit” from Spain. This gave the settlers the right to unload their freight at New Orleans and put it in warehouses before shipping in to the east.
At that time, the great Spanish Empire was ruled by Don Carlos IV, but Europe was controlled by Napoleón Bonaparte’s armies except England.
The Spanish ruler was forced to turn over Louisiana to Napoleón through a secret treaty in 1800. Napoleón boasted that he would be the master of the world. He planned to rebuild the French Empire in the New World. We should remember that France was at war against England so Napoleón had to called it off in order to win the New World. But now, I must finish my comments hoping that you continue reading these articles…See you next time.
