1762 By the secret Treaty of Fontainebleau, France ceded its unprofitable and remote territories west of the Mississippi and the Isle of Orleans to Spain. It was 23 months later before the colonists in Louisiana learned they were no longer French subjects.

Voltaire lamented the loss of Louisiana, saying that he could not conceive how Frenchmen could abandon "the most beautiful climate of the earth, from which one may have tobacco, silk, indigo, a thousand useful products." The average annual winter temperature for the state is 50.7 degrees, for the summer it is 82 degrees. Average annual rainfall is 55.45 inches.

1763 By the Peace of Paris Great Britain acquired from France its Louisiana territory east of the Mississippi and north of the Isle of Orleans. Spain ceded to Britain its territories of East and West Florida. Baton Rouge was fortified by the British and called New Richmond.



1788 The first Saint Louis church, completed in 1727, was destroyed by the fire of 1788 which destroyed four-fifths of New 0rleans. When the city and church were rebuilt the architecture was, of Spanish rather than French style. In 1793, Louisiana and the two Floridas were formed into a new diocese and their headquarters was moved from Havana, Cuba to New Orleans. One year later, St. Louis church was dedicated as a cathedral. It underwent extensive renovations in 1850 and 1881


1769 Spanish Governor Alejandro O'Reilly finally established firm control of Louisiana for Spain. O'Reilly divided the province into 12 administrative districts called posts and 22 ecclesiastical parishes. The system of posts died with the end of Spanish rule, but parishes ultimately persisted as the primary county-level administrative unit under territorial and state governments.

1779 War broke out between Spain and Britain; Spanish Governor Bernardo de Galvez conducted a surprise attack on the British fort at Baton Rouge and captured the outpost. As a result of this victory, the West Florida Parishes were returned to Spanish rule. 

1791 Refugee players from Santo Domingo presented in New Orleans the first professional theatrical production in Louisiana.


1800 Spain officially returned the Louisiana territory West of the Mississippi to France by the secret Treaty of San Ildefonso to avoid the continued deficits the colony caused and the growing possibility that Spain might have to fight the restless Americans to retain control of the lands. (France did not actually take control until November 1803.)




1803 The United States purchased from Napoleon the territory of Louisiana for $15,000,000. Upon concluding the purchase Robert Livingston, America's Minister to France, said of the transfer, "We have lived long, but this is the noblest work of our whole lives ... From this day the United States will take their place among the powers of the first rank ... The instruments which we have just signed will cause no tears to be shed; they prepare ages of happiness for innumerable generations of human creatures."


1804 William Charles Cole Claiborne was appointed governor of the Territory of Orleans, which the area of present-day Louisiana was called. Before then he was governor of Mississippi Territory and the lone representative in Congress of Tennessee. Claiborne was selected as one of the commissioners to receive the Louisiana Territory from France in 1803. In 1812 Claiborne was elected the state's first governor, a position he held until 1816 when he was elected to the U.S. Senate. He died in 1817.

1805 The first Protestant church in Louisiana, an Episcopal church, was established in New Orleans.

1808 The first public schools in the state were established in Pointe Coupee Parish. 


1810 The American citizens of Spain's West Florida territory, who had dramatically increased in number, took control of the Spanish government there and declared the territory a republic. The republic comprised the area of present-day Louisiana known as the Florida Parishes.




1812 Louisiana formally became the 18th state to join the union. William Charles Cole Claiborne was elected its first governor. The New Orleans, the first steamboat to navigate the Mississippi, arrived at New Orleans from Pittsburgh beginning the golden era of the steamboat. 

1815 Andrew Jackson defeated the British at the Battle of New Orleans and saved control of the lower Mississippi for the United States. The British troops numbered about 8,000 to Jackson's 4,000 defenders.

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