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Territorial Government
Organized. The
acquirement by the United States of that vast domain west of the
Mississippi, over which the name Louisiana was at one time writ quite
large, is perhaps as important an event as any chronicled in American
history. In the light
of recent developments, this acquirement takes on an added and peculiar
significance. "We are familiar with the fact that the soil of this
acquired and purchased province germinated seeds whose fruitage was to be
the greatest sectional conflict of modern times. "We know that the
purchase of Louisiana stretched the Federal constitution so that it was
never again to return to exactly that which the founders of the republic
intended it to be. We
recognize that when Louisiana was bought from France, the United States
began a march towards national expansion, whose advance not even the
world's greatest ocean has checked. And now, when the issue of Imperialism
looms so large upon our political horizon — Imperialism which means the
government by a free people of another and distant people less free than
themselves by virtue of the difference between governed and governing — we
have but to refer to that period of Louisiana history that records its
transition from foreign province to American state to see the beginnings
of that same imperialistic tendency which, in our day, is finding fuller
expression, and the same governmental problems as those recently
bequeathed us for solution as a result of the war with Spain.
The territorial entity that preceded what is
now the state of Louisiana came into existence as the Territory of Orleans
by act of Congress, approved March 26, 1804. By this act the region
purchased under the treaty with France was divided into the District of
Louisiana (shortly afterwards to be changed to the Territory of
Louisiana), and the Territory of Orleans, soon to resume the original
title upon its attainment to statehood. The dividing line was the 33d
parallel of latitude, the only definite boundary then established if we
except the southern or coast line, for the western boundary was not to be
fixed until seven years after Louisiana became a state, and the eastern
boundary was to be in doubt until Spain was compelled to give up her "West
Florida possessions, which then extended to the Mississippi River.
If the purchase of Louisiana as a land
transaction called for no formidable opposition on the part of those who
shaped American legislation, the same cannot be said of the proposed
incorporation of her people into the American Union. This incorporation
was distinctly pledged in the treaty of cession, which declared that the
Louisianians should be admitted "to all the rights, advantages and
immunities of citizens of the United States." To what extent this pledge
was kept may be summed up in the words of Henry Adams in commenting upon
the act providing for the first government of Orleans Territory.
"Louisiana," says he, "received a government in which the people, who had
been solemnly promised all the rights of American citizens, were set
apart, not as citizens but as subjects lower in the political scale than
the meanest tribes of Indians whose right to self-government was never
questioned." The
reason for the withholding of the rights and privileges of self-government
can only be ascribed to that distrust which English-speaking races seem to
regard the ability of Latin peoples to assimilate and appreciate
Anglo-Saxon ideas of civil liberty and government. It finds expression
to-day in all discussions regarding our national policy in Cuba and the
Philippines. It found expression in Congress when the proposed government
of Orleans Territory came up for debate. Said Dr. Eustis, member of
Congress from Boston: "I am one of those who believe that the principles
of civil liberty cannot be suddenly grafted upon a people accustomed to a
regimen of a directly opposite line. I consider them [the Louisianians] as
standing in nearly the same relation to us as if they were a conquered
country." Form of
Government. Let
us note the significant features of the first Louisiana territorial
government that met the approval of Congress and the President. The
executive power was vested in a governor appointed by the President, whose
term was to be three years. The legislative power was vested in the
governor and thirteen of the most "fit and discreet persons" of the
territory, who were to constitute a legislative council, and who were to
be appointed by the President annually. The judicial power was vested in a
Superior Court of three judges and a District Court of one judge, all of
whom were appointed by the President. Any one of the three Superior Court
judges constituted a court or quorum.
In addition, there was a secretary of the
territory appointed by the President for a term of four years, whose chief
function seems to have been to note the acts and proceedings of the
governor and of the legislative council, and report same direct to the
President of the United States — a sort of genteel spy, as it were.
Although the importation of slaves was
permitted to the rest of the Union where, under the constitution, the
slave trade was to continue until 1808, the people of Orleans Territory
were prohibited either from making such importation or from bringing into
the territory any slave that had been imported into other portions of the
United States after the year 1798.
The indignation of the inhabitants of
Louisiana when the provisions of this act became known can hardly be
conceived. They had been promised all the rights and immunities of
American citizens, whose dearest right is that of choosing their own
lawmakers and government officials, and this right, in particular, had
been withheld from them. They had been led to believe that a republican
form of government would be provided for them at once, making them a
co-member of the Federal Union, and the form forced upon them without
their consent was, in their opinion, as despotic a form as monarch-ism
ever conceived. They claimed that the appointed officers sent to rule them
were wholly out of touch and sympathy with the people whom they were sent
to govern, not even being conversant with the language in general use in
the territory. They bitterly protested against the division of their
magnificent domain, whose entire area they would keep intact even as the
people of the great state of Texas have succeeded to this day in
preserving their empire-like domain from disruption. They could see no
justice in the restriction imposed upon them in regard to the importation
of slaves, so necessary to the development of their land holdings.
Opposition to the
Territorial Government.
Their indignation found expression in a series
of mass-meetings, one of which, assembling June 1, 1804, appointed a
committee to memorialize the Federal government to repeal the provisions
of the Act of March 16 regarding the dividing of Louisiana and the
prohibiting of slave importations, and to admit the undivided territory as
a state to the Federal Union.
At a subsequent mass-meeting three Creole
citizens of strong character and superior intelligence, Derbigny, Sauvé
and Destrehan, were selected to bear the protest and memorial to
Washington. This delegation made a pleasing impression upon Congress and
the President, who were thenceforth to entertain a higher opinion of the
people so ably represented by these delegates. Only partial success,
however, attended the efforts of these gentlemen, the concession made by
Congress being embodied in an act, approved March 2, 1805, "further
providing for the territorial government of Orleans."
By this act the inhabitants were to enjoy all
the rights, privileges and advantages secured to the people of the
neighboring Mississippi territory, whose government had in turn been
patterned after the territory "northwest of the Ohio." The Louisi-anians
were given a voice in the selection of their lawmakers, which was a
decided step towards self-government, and provision was made for a
bi-cameral legislative system somewhat unique in its nature, as follows:
The state was divided up into twenty-five election districts and the
people were to choose a representative from each to constitute the House
of Representatives, or lower legislative branch. From a list of ten
submitted by this lower house the President of the United States, with the
approval of the Senate, selected five to constitute a legislative council,
or upper branch of the legislature. The legislators served two years, the
legislative councillors five.
Governor Claiborne's Administration.
Meanwhile President Jefferson had appointed
William Charles Cole Claiborne to be the first governor of Orleans
territory. The choice was in many respects a very wise one. Claiborne was
a Virginian by birth, had already won deserved political prominence, and
was a great favorite of the President's. He had migrated to the territory
"south of the Ohio" about the time it was ready to become the state of
Tennessee, and when barely twenty-one had served as member of its first
constitutional convention. He had been elected in succession judge of the
Superior Court of Law and Equity and member of Congress. In the latter
capacity he rendered Jefferson signal service when effort was made in
Congress to override the will of the people in the presidential election
of 1800, by making Aaron Burr president instead of Jefferson. Jefferson
appointed him governor of Mississippi territory, where he displayed
unusual ability in administering affairs. When Louisiana was purchased, he
and Gen. James Wilkinson were the commissioners representing the United
States in the formal ceremony of transfer. He acted as governor of the
acquired province until the territory of Orleans was formed, when he was
duly appointed and commissioned the first and only governor of that
territory. Claiborne
found a task before him formidable enough to daunt an ordinary man, and
one calling for the utmost tact and administrative ability. Two
antagonistic factions soon developed in the community governed by him. One
consisted for the most part of the native or Creole element, the other of
newcomers or so-called American element, for the adventurous and
enterprising had begun to migrate from the older states to the region of
the lower Mississippi, even while Louisiana was a Spanish dependency.
The Creoles were full of resentment against
the proposed new government. They were naturally conservative, were
disposed to cling to tradition, and were disinclined to change. They had
been bitterly disappointed in their hope of once more returning to the
dominion of their beloved France. To them, the coming of the Americans
with their new ways and customs was as the coming of the barbarians to
ancient Rome.
Actuated by this spirit of irritation and resentment, a number of the
leading citizens of the territory, whose cooperation would have been
invaluable in the organization and establishment of the new government,
declined all tenders of honor or appointment at the hand of the governor
or President. Thus of the thirteen selected by the President as members of
the first legislative council — Boré, Belle-chasse, Cantrelle, Clark,
DeBuys, Dow, Jones, Kenner, Morgan, Poydras, Roman, "Watkins and Wikoff —
four declined: Boré, Bellechasse, Jones and Clark. Of the three judges of
the Superior Court — Duponceau, Kirby and Prevost — the first-named
refused to serve, the second died, and only Prevost, stepson of Aaron
Burr, was left to hold court. Thus the very condition which the
Louisianians most feared — a one-man Supreme Court — was brought about,
and in view of the fact that many legal questions bearing upon property
rights and land ownership would probably arise before complete adjustment
of the new to the old would be effected, it was a matter of some concern
to the Louisianians that their fate before the law should depend upon the
whim, decision or insufficient knowledge of a single judge.
The governor was tactful, however, and some of
the prominent "Americans" sided with the Creoles, serving in part to make
breaches in the line of demarkation that had been strictly drawn according
to language and race. Thus the committee that prepared and drafted the
memorial to Congress, praying for relief from the injustice of the first
territorial act, consisted of Livingston, Jones, Pitot and Petit — two
Americans and two French-speaking citizens.
The organization of the territorial government
was hastened by the President's supplying Governor Claiborne with
commissions in blank to be filled in with the names of those whose consent
to act could be secured. Dorciere, Flood, Mather and Pollock were
appointed in place of the four legislative councillors who had declined. A
quorum was thus secured and the legislative mill began to grind.
One of the first acts of the council was to
divide the territory up into twelve "counties" and provide for an inferior
court for each. This was an innovation upon the old designation of
parishes, which designation was shortly to be resumed. The names of these
counties were Concordia, Point Coupee, Iberville, Lafourche, Acadia,
German Coast, Orleans, Attakapas, Opelousas, Rapides, Natchitoches and
Ouchita [Counties italicized still exist as parishes, though with smaller
limits. There is an Acadia Parish in Louisiana, but it is in a different
part of the state from where Acadia county was located.] The first six lay
along the west bank of the Mississippi River from a point opposite Natchez
down to the vicinity of New Orleans. Orleans county lay principally on the
east bank. The remaining five extended through the central part from the
Gulf to the northern boundary line, having their western limits undefined
and each being of such size as to permit its subsequent subdivision into a
number of parishes.
When the second congressional act was passed and the territory was
reorganized, Claiborne was continued as governor, Graham was made
secretary, and Prevost, Sprigg and Mathews, judges of the Superior Court.
From among the ten nominated as members of the council, the President
appointed Bellechasse, Destrehan, Macarty, Sauvé and Jones. The
legislature, under this reorganized form of government, was, as stated,
the first bi-cameral legislature of Louisiana. It was in session five
months. Two of its most important acts were that establishing the famous
Black Code, providing for the stringent police regulation of slaves, and
that providing for the employment of two learned in the law to compile a
civil and criminal code for the territory.
To the very end of his administration, not
only as territorial governor but as first governor of the state, when the
territory was granted statehood, we find Claiborne assuming the role of
schoolmaster, admonishing and instructing the legislature and people as to
the American polity of government and the principles of American liberty.
His messages frequently refer to the "fathers of our country" and
"illustrious founders of the Republic" in his adjurations to the people
"to conserve and perpetuate the principles of civil liberty and the
institutions of self-government.''
Social and Economic Conditions.
In the year following the purchase, population
increased rapidly and development went on with feverish activity. The
geographical position of New Orleans, its location near the mouth of
America's greatest river, induced many to believe that it was to become
the greatest city of the western world. The hardy and adventurous flocked
in from all quarters. Leading commercial houses of Philadelphia and
Baltimore established branches or supplied business training to many who
were themselves to launch successful enterprises in the Crescent City. The
bosom of the mighty Mississippi bore many a flat boat, broad horn and keel
boat ladened with western produce, each with a sample of its cargo hung to
an improvised masthead — an ear of corn, a jug of whiskey, a bag of flour,
a ham or side of bacon. These tying up at the levee front, with the many
sailing vessels coming from sea, indicated a commerce of gigantic volume.
The rough and the uncouth, the intelligent and the educated mingled in the
marts of trade and mixed themselves in the pot of politics that was ever
sputtering and boiling over. Apart and aloof from all of these was a
society of exquisite elegance and refinement that had patterned itself
after court and aristocratic circles of the old world, inheriting
traditions that made noblesse oblige and punctilious honor the governing
principles of existence.
Steps to Statehood.
So marched the territory on to receive its
crown of statehood. In 1803, when a census was compiled by the United
States Consulate at New Orleans for the Department of State at Washington,
the number of inhabitants in the whole of the territory ceded was placed
at approximately 49,000. In five years the population of Orleans territory
alone had increased to 76,000. The second Congressional Act providing for
the government of Orleans territory specified that when the number of
inhabitants should reach 60,000, the people would be authorized to form
for themselves a constitution and state government, and to be admitted to
the Union. The
enabling act was adopted by Congress Feb. 20, 1811. It defined the limits
of the state that was to be, as they exist to-day, with the exception of
that part of the present state of Louisiana lying north of Lake
Pontchartrain, although the western or Sabine River boundary line had not
yet been con-ceded by Spain. Indeed Spain had established a formidable
post at Nacogdoches, Texas, and had crossed the Sabine almost to the very
gates of Natchitoches, with the expectation of some day making the Red and
Mermentau rivers the eastern boundary of her Texas domain. More than once
the alarm over a possible Spanish invasion was sounded, militia and United
States troops dispatched to the Louisiana frontier. The imminency of a
clash only disappeared when the treaty ceding Florida was signed (1819).
First Constitution.
The first constitutional convention assembled
in the city of New Orleans in November, 1811, and completed its labors in
January, 1818. Of this constitution it may be said that it was very far
from being a purely democratic instrument. It embodied to a certain extent
that distrust of the people's fitness to govern themselves that had always
caused friction. It prescribed property qualifications for candidates for
office which greatly limited political aspirations. To be eligible, a
member of the legislature had to own real estate to the amount of five
hundred dollars. In the case of the governor it was five thousand dollars.
The people were permitted to go through the form of voting for governor,
but the legislature had power to defeat the popular choice, the methods of
procedure being as follows:
Any number of candidates could be voted for at
the general election. On the second day of the general assembly the
members of the two houses met in the house of representatives and
ballotted for choice of the two candidates who had received the largest
number of popular votes. The one of the two receiving the largest number
of legislative ballots was declared governor. Thus a candidate acceptable
to only a minority of the people could, by the action of the legislature,
be made governor contrary to the wishes of the majority. Indeed this was
very nearly done in the election of the third governor of the state, when
rivalries between the Creole and American elements were at white heat. The
former had a majority in the legislature; the latter had a majority of the
popular vote. Only the high sense of honor of the Creole candidate,
Derbigny, who positively declined to accept the office at the hands of his
legislature friends when a majority of the people had voted for his rival,
prevented in this instance the overturning of the popular will.
The constitution was adopted Jan. 28, 1812.
Congress gave its approval April 8 of the same year by passing the "act
for admission of Louisiana."
Annexation of Part of West Florida.
Just six days afterwards another act was
passed enlarging the boundaries of the state so as to include the Baton
Rouge district of the old province of West Florida lying north of Lake
Pontchartrain, which portion of Louisiana is to this day known as the
Florida Parishes. In
this connection it may be interesting to note briefly the manner in which
this district came into the possession of the United States before being
annexed to Louisiana. "When Claiborne and Wilkinson took formal possession
of Louisiana, Spain retained the Baton Rouge district as a part of West
Florida, never considered by her as included in the Spanish cession of
Louisiana to France just previous to the Franco-American purchase treaty.
For seven years after Louisiana became American territory the flag of
Spain floated over this region.
Many English-speaking people had taken up
their abode in this district. Some of them were English army officers, who
had been granted land when West Florida was an English possession; others
had migrated from Tennessee and the Carolinas and were imbued with the
spirit of resentment against foreign domination.
In the course of time these English-speaking
residents became more and more dissatisfied with Spanish rule, and in 1810
rose in revolt, drove the Spanish garrisons from the district, organized
an independent state government and applied for admission to the Union.
Their claim to independence and statehood was denied on the score that
West Florida was considered a part of the original Louisiana purchase and
therefore already belonged to the United States, notwithstanding Spain's
claim to the contrary. After its annexation that portion west of the Pearl
River was joined to Louisiana a few days after the admission of the new
state to the Union, and the treaty of the Florida Purchase settled
amicably the claims of Spain.
Claiborne's Work. That Claiborne governed the
territory of Orleans quite acceptably, everything considered, is evident
from the fact that when the newly constituted state was called upon for
the first time to choose its own executive, the choice fell upon him
notwithstanding the opposing candidacy of one of the ablest of the native
Creole political leaders. Claiborne's was the pilot hand that tactfully
and skilfully guided territorial Louisiana over the shoals of intrigue,
uncertainty, doubt and unrest. With the open sea of progress before her
the Louisiana ship of state, from this point of the narrative, sails on,
and it remains with other hands to record the incidents of that further
voyage.
Bibliography.— Adams, Henry: History of the United States of America
during Jefferson's Administration (Vol. II., Chaps. V. and VI., Vol. III.,
Chap. XIII.); Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Louisiana (Vol. II.,
Chap. IV.,"Organization of the Louisiana Government," contributed by H. L.
Favrot); Chambers, Henry E.: West Florida and Its Relation to the
Historical Cartography of the United States (Johns Hopkins University
Studies in History and Political Science); Chambers, Henry E.: William
Charles Cole Claiborne; "How He Solved America's First Problem of
Expansion" (Address delivered before the Mississippi State Historical
Society at Natchez, April 20, 1898); Chambers, Henry E.: Louisiana: A
Sketch in Outline of Its Past and Present. (Chaps. XV.-XVI.); Debouchel,
Victor: Histoire de la Louisiane depuis les Premiéres Découvertes jus
qu'en 1840 (Esquisse Quinzieme); Fortier, Alcée: History of Louisiana;
Ficklen and King: School History of Louisiana (Chaps. XX.-XXIV.); Gayarré,
Chas. E. A.: History of Louisiana (Vol. IV., "The American Domination");
Hosmer, James K.: The History of the Louisiana Purchase (Chap. X., "The
United States in Possession"); King, Grace: New Orleans: The Place and the
People (Chap. IX.); Martin, Judge Francois-Xavier: History of Louisiana
from the Earliest Period; Poore, Ben Perley: Federal and State
Constitutions (Vol. I.); Phelps, Albert: Louisiana: A Record of Expansion
(American Commonwealth Series); Publications of the Mississippi Historical
Society (Vol. III.); Thompson, Maurice: The Story of Louisiana (Chap.
VII., Story of the States Series).
Henry E. Chambers,
Author of A School History of the United States; A Higher History of the
United States; Louisiana: A Sketch in Outline of Its Past and Present,
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