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121-512: A part of the central wetlands system that ran from the Lower 9th Ward all the way to Lake Borgne , today only roughly 400 acres remain of the once thriving cypress swamp. Like other freshwater bayous throughout the Mississippi River Delta , Bayou Bienvenue consisted of old growth cypress and many native species of plants and animals; "What is now open water used to be an old–growth swamp that

242-476: A curfew half a year after the disaster. It was also the last area to have power and water restored, and the last to be pumped dry. Officially, residents were allowed in during daylight hours to look, salvage possessions, and leave, although some few had already done extensive work gutting and repairing their damaged homes in preparation to move back. By January 2006, the widespread damages and difficulties in restoring basic utilities and city services still prevented

363-530: A grassroots organization that coordinates volunteers' and residents' efforts in rebuilding homes in the Lower Ninth Ward. Residents and volunteers are striving to make the Lower Ninth Ward a sustainable community . They are working to restore the local wetlands , lower the crime, and control weed overgrowth. It is widely believed that if it were not for the extensive canal dredging to support commercial development, resulting in subsequent wetlands subsidence,

484-410: A community of Maroons , freed slaves. Who were Maroons, and what was their relationship to [the landscape of Bayou Bienvenue]? Maroons were self-described liberated enslaved people who lived in the wetlands. For Europeans, the wetlands were associated with death and fear, but for Maroons they held the possibility of new life. Liberated enslaved people, especially of African origin, would escape into

605-590: A dozen New Orleans families back home; nine houses are currently under construction in the Upper and Lower Ninth Ward areas, Lakeview and Gentilly. The organization has moved three New Orleans families back home. As of September 2008, 3 years after Katrina, hundreds of houses have been rebuilt and renovated, and dozens of new homes have been constructed. Volunteers continue to come to the area in mass numbers, working for dozens of organizations including Common Ground Relief, formerly Common Ground Collective; and lowernine.org ,

726-467: A dumping ground for many kinds of unwanted things. It no longer resembled an urban, or even suburban environment. Where once there stood orderly rows of single-family homes with driveways and front yards, there was jungle." As of October 2017, lowernine.org has fully rebuilt 88 homes, and completed repair and renovation projects on over 250 more properties. As of the census of 2000, there were 14,008 people, 4,820 households, and 3,467 families residing in

847-482: A guardian, investing the money of his ward in purchasing an important adjacent territory; & saying to him when of age, I did this for your good." Jefferson ultimately came to the conclusion before the ratification of the treaty that the purchase was to protect the citizens of the United States therefore making it constitutional. Henry Adams and other historians have argued that Jefferson acted hypocritically with

968-571: A law allowing the ward to have drainage and sewage systems. The first bridge of the Port of New Orleans into the ward was completed in 1919. What became the Lower 9th Ward did not become distinct from the upriver parts of the 9th Ward until the start of the 1920s, when the Industrial Canal was dredged . This development bisected the 9th Ward. At this time, people started referring to the area above (upriver)

1089-509: A mix of sovereign bonds and the assumption of French debts. Earlier in 1803, Francis Baring and Company of London had become the U.S. government's official banking agent in London following the failure of Bird, Savage & Bird . Because of this favored position, the U.S. asked Barings to handle the transaction. Barings had a close relationship with Hope & Co. of Amsterdam, and the two banking houses worked together to facilitate and underwrite

1210-469: A new annex, with a large collection of military items from every American war. The 2000 NRA Shooting Sports Camp and Coaches School was held at Jackson Barracks from June 28 – July 2, 2000. The Doullut steamboat houses are located on either side of Egania Street at numbers 400 and 503. The first house, closer to the river, was built in 1905 by Captain Milton P. Doullut, a riverboat pilot, as his home. The second

1331-465: A new cuisine of alligator and turtles. Each group brought their knowledge of cooking, animals, plants, medicines, and building. Eventually, industry and plantations began to exert pressures on these communities and how they used the landscape. To earn money, Maroons made wares with grass-weaving techniques they had learned from the Chitimacha. Enslaved people whom Maroons had relationships with would take

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1452-490: A potential invasion from Britain or the U.S. But in early 1803, continuing war between France and Britain seemed unavoidable. On March 11, 1803, Napoleon began planning an invasion of Great Britain . In Saint-Domingue, Leclerc's forces took Louverture prisoner, but their expedition soon faltered in the face of fierce resistance and disease. By early 1803, Napoleon decided to abandon his plans to rebuild France's New World empire. Without sufficient revenues from sugar colonies in

1573-651: A special province under the jurisdiction of the Captaincy General of Cuba , while the vast region to the west was in 1803 still considered part of the Commandancy General of the Provincias Internas . Louisiana had never been considered one of New Spain's internal provinces. If the territory included all the tributaries of the Mississippi on its western bank, the northern reaches of the purchase extended into

1694-651: A sum the Americans could not afford and the financers could not provide. In the final agreement, the value of the U.S. currency was set at ⁠5 + 3333 / 10000 ⁠ francs per U.S. dollar. In 2023 dollars, the $ 15 million purchase price is equivalent to about $ 371 million. As part of the deal, the U.S. assumed responsibility for up to 20 million francs ($ 3.75 million) of French debts owed to U.S. citizens. The remaining 60 million francs ($ 11.25 million) were financed through U.S. government bonds carrying 6% interest, redeemable between 1819 and 1822. In October 1803,

1815-532: A treaty. The Louisiana Purchase was the latter, a treaty. Article II, Section 2, of the Constitution specifically grants the president the power to negotiate treaties, which is what Jefferson did. Madison (the "Father of the Constitution") assured Jefferson that the Louisiana Purchase was well within even the strictest interpretation of the Constitution. Treasury Secretary Albert Gallatin added that because

1936-500: A vote to deny the request for the purchase, but it failed by two votes, 59–57. The Federalists even tried to prove the land belonged to Spain, not France, but available records proved otherwise. The Federalists also feared that the power of the Atlantic seaboard states would be threatened by the new citizens in the West, whose political and economic priorities were bound to conflict with those of

2057-538: Is a neighborhood in the city of New Orleans , Louisiana . As the name implies, it is part of the 9th Ward of New Orleans . The Lower Ninth Ward is often thought of as the entire area within New Orleans downriver of the Industrial Canal ; however, the City Planning Commission divides this area into the Lower Ninth Ward and Holy Cross neighborhoods. The term "Lower" refers to its location farther towards

2178-652: Is also commonly used to describe a slightly larger area. This area borders the Mississippi River to the South and St. Bernard Parish to the east. To the west is the Industrial Canal , across which is the Bywater section of New Orleans. The northern or inland boundary is often given as the Florida Canal with Florida Avenue, a levee, and railroad tracks running beside it. Alternatively, the industrial area north of Florida Avenue

2299-482: Is believed to be the first woman to have held a Mississippi riverboat pilot's license. New Orleans Public Schools operates district public schools, while Recovery School District oversees charter schools. Dr. King Charter School (K-12) is located in the Lower 9th. Alfred Lawless High School was the only public high school that operated in the Lower 9th until Hurricane Katrina affected New Orleans on August 29, 2005. The previous Holy Cross High School campus

2420-493: Is located throughout the area. While the first two of these three avenues continue into St. Bernard Parish ; a continuation of Florida Avenue through and beyond the parish line has been repeatedly proposed but at present does not exist. The City Planning Commission defines the boundaries of Lower Ninth Ward as these streets: Florida Avenue, St. Bernard Parish, St. Claude Avenue and the Industrial Canal. The Lower Ninth Ward

2541-494: Is sometimes included as part of the Lower 9th Ward, extending the boundary to the southern edge of the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway . In Louisiana's colonial era, this area was developed as sugar cane plantations , with narrow tracts extending from river frontage that provided the transportation and shipping routes. At the start of the 19th century, the portion closer to the river was developed for residential use, at

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2662-509: The Army Corps of Engineers in the late 1950s. The construction destroyed tens of thousands of acres of protective coastal wetlands that once acted as a storm surge buffer for the community. Storm surge flood waters appear to have poured into the Lower Ninth Ward from at least three sources. To the east, water flowed in from Saint Bernard Parish , while to the west the Industrial Canal suffered two major breaches: one just south of Florida Avenue,

2783-575: The Central United States . However, France only controlled a small fraction of this area, most of which was inhabited by Native Americans ; effectively, for the majority of the area, the United States bought the preemptive right to obtain Indian lands by treaty or by conquest, to the exclusion of other colonial powers. The Kingdom of France had controlled the Louisiana territory from 1682 until it

2904-571: The French Republican calendar ) at the Hôtel Tubeuf in Paris. The signers were Robert Livingston , James Monroe , and François Barbé-Marbois . After the signing Livingston famously stated, "We have lived long, but this is the noblest work of our whole lives ... From this day the United States take their place among the powers of the first rank." On July 4, 1803, the treaty was announced, but

3025-849: The Missouri River ; the Red River Expedition (1806) explored the Red River basin; the Pike Expedition (1806) also started up the Missouri but turned south to explore the Arkansas River watershed. In addition, the Dunbar and Hunter Expedition (1804–1805) explored the Ouachita River watershed. The maps and journals of the explorers helped to define the boundaries during the negotiations leading to

3146-588: The Seven Years' War , Spain gained control of the territory west of the Mississippi , and the British received the territory to the east of the river. Following the establishment of the United States, the Americans controlled the area east of the Mississippi and north of New Orleans. The main issue for the Americans was free transit of the Mississippi out to sea. As the lands were being gradually settled by American migrants, many Americans, including Jefferson, assumed that

3267-534: The mouth of the Mississippi River , downriver , "down" or "below" the rest of the city. The 9th Ward , like all wards of New Orleans , is a voting district . The 9th Ward was added as a voting district in 1852. The Lower 9th Ward is composed of Ward 9 Districts 1, 2, 4, and 7 which make up the Holy Cross Area and Ward 9 Districts 3, 5, 6, and 8. Higher voting district numbers in the 9th Ward (8–27) are on

3388-467: The 18th and early 19th century. During this period, south Louisiana received a large influx of French-speaking refugees fleeing the large slave revolt in Saint-Domingue, including planters who brought their slaves with them. Many Southern slaveholders feared that acquisition of the new territory might inspire American-held slaves to follow the example of those in Saint-Domingue and revolt. They wanted

3509-747: The Adams–Onís Treaty, which set the western boundary as follows: north up the Sabine River from the Gulf of Mexico to its intersection with the 32nd parallel , due north to the Red River , up the Red River to the 100th meridian , north to the Arkansas River , up the Arkansas River to its headwaters, due north to the 42nd parallel and due west to its previous boundary. Governing the Louisiana Territory

3630-517: The American right to deposit goods. However, in 1800, Spain had ceded the Louisiana territory back to France as part of Napoleon's secret Third Treaty of San Ildefonso . The subsequent 1801 Treaty of Aranjuez established that Spain's cession of Louisiana was a "restoration" of the territory to France, not a retrocession. The territory nominally remained under Spanish control, until a transfer of power to France on November 30, 1803, just three weeks before

3751-543: The Bayou Bienvenue cypress swamp. The creation of the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet in the 1960s "funneled (salt water) directly into the bayou from the Gulf, and quickly killed the cypresses, oaks and almost every other tree, as well as much of the shrub and grass. The wildlife vanished with the habitat ... the area has been decimated, eroded and virtually marinated in salt water." Today a "ghost swamp",

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3872-484: The British. Throughout the second half of the 18th century, the French colony of Louisiana became a pawn for European political intrigue. The colony was the most substantial presence of France's overseas empire , with other possessions consisting of a few small settlements along the Mississippi and other main rivers. France ceded the territory to Spain in 1762 in the secret Treaty of Fontainebleau . Following French defeat in

3993-510: The Canal as the "Upper" 9th Ward, and this area as the "Lower." The section on the River side of St. Claude Avenue, which developed as an urban area first, is sometimes called the "Holy Cross Neighborhood" for Holy Cross High School , the large Catholic school . For many years, it attracted students from throughout the city. Construction of the Industrial Canal led to development of the land farther from

4114-517: The Caribbean, Louisiana had little value to him. Spain had not yet completed the transfer of Louisiana to France, and war between France and the UK was imminent. Out of anger towards Spain and the unique opportunity to sell something that was useless and not truly his yet, Napoleon decided to sell the entire territory. Although the foreign minister Talleyrand opposed the plan, on April 10, 1803, Napoleon told

4235-513: The Creoles, ignoring Jackson’s repeated orders, had failed to block. Suitably named Bienvenue, it had welcomed (with an assist from the smaller Bayou Mazant and a connecting canal) the midnight passage of General Keane, 2,080 men, and two guns to firm ground on the Villeré plantation along the Mississippi. At dawn on December 23, they had surrounded and taken prisoner the militia detachment supposedly guarding

4356-456: The French actions and its intention to re-establish an empire in North America, Jefferson declared neutrality in relation to the Caribbean, refusing credit and other assistance to the French, but allowing war contraband to get through to the rebels to prevent France from regaining a foothold. In 1803, Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours , a French nobleman, began to help negotiate with France at

4477-550: The Louisiana Purchase was primarily economic self-interest, not any legitimate concern over constitutionality or whether France indeed owned Louisiana or was required to sell it back to Spain should it desire to dispose of the territory. The Northerners were not enthusiastic about Western farmers gaining another outlet for their crops that did not require the use of New England ports. Also, many Federalists were speculators in lands in upstate New York and New England and were hoping to sell these lands to farmers, who might go west instead if

4598-553: The Louisiana Purchase went through. They also feared that this would lead to Western states being formed, which would likely be Republican, and dilute the political power of New England Federalists. Another concern was whether it was proper to grant citizenship to the French, Spanish, and free black people living in New Orleans, as the treaty would dictate. Critics in Congress worried whether these "foreigners", unacquainted with democracy, could or should become citizens. Spain protested

4719-512: The Louisiana Purchase, because of his position as a strict constructionist regarding the Constitution, by stretching the intent of that document to justify his purchase. The American purchase of the Louisiana territory was not accomplished without domestic opposition. Jefferson's philosophical consistency was in question and many people believed he and others, including James Madison, were doing something they surely would have argued against with Alexander Hamilton . The Federalists strongly opposed

4840-484: The Louisiana Territory contributed to the American Civil War a half century later. As states organized within the territory, the status of slavery in each state became a matter of contention in Congress, as southern states wanted slavery extended to the west, and northern states just as strongly opposed new states being admitted as " slave states ". The Missouri Compromise of 1820 was a temporary solution. After

4961-474: The Louisiana Territory led to debates over the idea of indigenous land rights that persisted into the mid 20th century. The many court cases and tribal suits in the 1930s for historical damages flowing from the Louisiana Purchase led to the Indian Claims Commission Act (ICCA) in 1946. Felix S. Cohen , Interior Department lawyer who helped pass ICCA, is often quoted as saying, "practically all of

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5082-455: The Louisiana purchase was the Mississippi River, from its source to the 31st parallel , though the source of the Mississippi was, at the time, unknown. The eastern boundary below the 31st parallel was unclear. The U.S. claimed the land as far as the Perdido River , and Spain claimed that the border of its Florida Colony remained the Mississippi River. The Adams–Onís Treaty with Spain resolved

5203-402: The Lower 9th Ward was flooded. President Lyndon B. Johnson visited the devastated flooded area shortly after the storm, and ordered aid for the storm victims. On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina made landfall just east of New Orleans; the fifth deadliest hurricane and the costliest natural disaster in the history of the United States . At approximately 10:00 am, the levee wall protecting

5324-494: The Lower 9th were flooded; Holy Cross School, which had served as a dry refuge after Hurricane Betsy , was inundated. The foot of the Mississippi River levee, the area's highest point, took on some 2 to 3 feet (0.91 m) of water. In total, 72 bodies were found as of December 2005. The Lower 9th Ward was flooded again by Hurricane Rita a month later in September. In December 2005, Common Ground Collective volunteers gutted

5445-524: The Lower Ninth Ward would not have suffered such extensive flooding during Katrina. In September 2011, New Orleans mayor Mitch Landrieu , announced a landscaping maintenance program called the "Nuisance Lot Maintenance Program", to attempt to clear the overgrown lots in the Lower Ninth. The program consists of 12 men, residents of the Ward or ex-offenders, going block-by-block to maintain the overgrowth. As of 2012,

5566-521: The Mississippi River; and small portions of land within Alberta and Saskatchewan . At the time of the purchase, the territory of Louisiana's non-native population was around 60,000 inhabitants, of whom half were enslaved Africans . The western borders of the purchase were later settled by the 1819 Adams–Onís Treaty with Spain , while the northern borders of the purchase were adjusted by the Treaty of 1818 with

5687-632: The Missouri River in western present-day Missouri and Fort Madison along the Upper Mississippi River in eastern present-day Iowa. With tensions increasing with Great Britain, in 1809 Fort Bellefontaine was converted to a U.S. military fort and was used for that purpose until 1826. During the War of 1812 , aided by their Indian allies, the British defeated U.S. forces in the Upper Mississippi;

5808-512: The New Orleans area and Lake Borgne, creating a shortcut to the Gulf of Mexico, throughout the transition to American rule after the Louisiana Purchase . This proved of significant benefit to the British during the Battle of New Orleans in 1814. "The British had done the impossible. Two officers, disguised as locals, had found the one bayou leading from Lake Bourgne to the Mississippi River that

5929-499: The Spanish government abolished the enslavement of indigenous people , the Maroon communities of the swamps surrounding New Orleans were a major source of anxiety for the powerful leaders of Spanish Louisiana . The Maroons' reputation grew to mythical proportions, though their numbers were significantly lower than what the Spanish government believed. Jean Saint Malo led a group of Maroons in

6050-496: The Spanish government had ordered Louisiana to be transferred in October 1802 despite knowing for months that Britain had not recognized the King of Etruria in the Treaty of Amiens . Madison, in response to Spain's objections, noted that the United States had first approached Spain about purchasing the property, but had been told by Spain itself that the U.S. would have to deal with France for

6171-538: The Spanish prime minister had authorized the U.S. to negotiate with the French government regarding "the acquisition of territories which may suit their interests." Spain turned the territory over to France in a ceremony in New Orleans on November 30, a month before France turned the city over to American officials. Other historians counter the above arguments regarding Jefferson's alleged hypocrisy by asserting that countries change their borders in two ways: (1) conquest, or (2) an agreement between nations, otherwise known as

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6292-634: The Treasury Minister François Barbé-Marbois that he was considering selling the Louisiana Territory to the United States. On April 11, 1803, just days before Monroe's arrival, Barbé-Marbois offered Livingston all of Louisiana for $ 15 million, which averages to less than three cents per acre (7¢/ha). The total of $ 15 million is equivalent to about $ 371 million in 2023 dollars, or 70 cents per acre. The American representatives were prepared to pay up to $ 10 million for New Orleans and its environs but were dumbfounded when

6413-498: The U.S. Treasury had some $ 5.86 million in specie on hand, $ 2 million of which would be used to pay a portion of the debts assumed from France as part of the purchase. Because Napoleon wanted to receive his money as quickly as possible, Barings and Hopes purchased the bonds for 52 million francs, agreeing to an initial 6 million franc payment upon issuance of the bonds followed by 23 monthly payments of 2 million francs each. The first group of bonds were issued on January 16, 1804, but

6534-867: The U.S. abandoned Forts Osage and Madison, as well as several other U.S. forts built during the war, including Fort Johnson and Fort Shelby . U.S. ownership of the whole Louisiana Purchase region was confirmed in the Treaty of Ghent (ratified in February 1815). The U.S. later built or expanded forts along the Mississippi and Missouri rivers, including adding to Fort Bellefontaine, and constructing Fort Armstrong (1816) and Fort Edwards (1816) in Illinois, Fort Crawford (1816) in Wisconsin, Fort Snelling (1819) in Minnesota, and Fort Atkinson (1819) in Nebraska. The Louisiana Purchase

6655-439: The U.S. government to establish laws allowing slavery in the newly acquired territory so they could be supported in taking their slaves there to undertake new agricultural enterprises, as well as to reduce the threat of future slave rebellions. The Louisiana Territory was broken into smaller portions for administration, and the territories passed slavery laws similar to those in the southern states but incorporating provisions from

6776-434: The United States regarding the extent of Louisiana. The territory's boundaries had not been defined in the 1762 Treaty of Fontainebleau that ceded it from France to Spain, nor in the 1801 Third Treaty of San Ildefonso ceding it back to France, nor the 1803 Louisiana Purchase agreement ceding it to the United States. The U.S. claimed that Louisiana included the entire western portion of the Mississippi River drainage basin to

6897-404: The United States. Acquisition of Louisiana was a long-term goal of President Thomas Jefferson , who was especially eager to gain control of the crucial Mississippi River port of New Orleans . Jefferson tasked James Monroe and Robert R. Livingston with purchasing New Orleans. Negotiating with French Treasury Minister François Barbé-Marbois , the U.S. representatives quickly agreed to purchase

7018-435: The Ward broke in multiple sections and flooded the area. Multiple breaches in the levees of at least four canals resulted in catastrophic flooding in a majority of the city; see Effects of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans . Nowhere in the city was the devastation greater than in the Lower 9th Ward. This was largely due to the storm surge generated in the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet , a deep-draft shipping channel built by

7139-567: The Western Hemisphere. In 1804, Haiti declared its independence; but fearing a slave revolt at home, Jefferson and the rest of Congress refused to recognize the new republic, the second in the Western Hemisphere, and imposed a trade embargo against it. This, together with the successful French demand for an indemnity of 150 million francs in 1825, severely hampered Haiti's ability to repair its economy after decades of war. After Monroe and Livingston had returned from France with news of

7260-440: The actor Brad Pitt , committed to rebuild 150 houses in the Lower Ninth Ward. The houses are sustainable , energy-efficient and safe. Make It Right homes were designed by award-winning architects from New Orleans and around the world, including Frank Gehry , Shigeru Ban , Hitoshi Abe and Thom Mayne . Pitt stated: "I walked into it blind, just thinking, 'People need homes; I know people who make great homes.'" As of March 2012,

7381-404: The area as far back as 400 A.D. The arrival of French explorers in the late 1600s began nearly two centuries of disagreements, disputes, and armed confrontations between French, Spanish, British and later American interests as the colonial era of North America progressed. Bayou Bienvenue gained its name during the initial French occupation; 'bayou bienvenue ' is French for "welcome bayou". From

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7502-491: The areas west of Bayou Bienvenue between 1780 and 1784, when Spanish Lieutenant Governor Francisco Bouligny was ordered to eradicate the Maroons, including Saint Malo's group. After Saint Malo's capture and subsequent execution, Maroon communities were largely driven out of the greater New Orleans area, including Bayou Bienvenue, by the late 1700s. The area remained significant throughout for its connection for ships to travel between

7623-464: The banks had already provided a 10 million franc advance to France in July 1803. In need of funds, Napoleon pressed the banks to complete their purchase of the bonds as quickly as possible, and by April 1804 the banks transferred an additional 40.35 million francs to fully discharge their obligations to France. In the end, Barings and Hopes acquired the $ 11.25 million in bonds for just $ 9.44 million. The last of

7744-608: The bayou." The British were defeated after the Battle of New Orleans , waged just five miles downriver from New Orleans and just beyond Bayou Bienvenue at the Chalmette Battlefield in St. Bernard Parish. A short distance from the Lake end of Bayou Bienvenue, the remains of Battery Bienvenue still guard the eastern approach to the city. This fortification was built shortly after 1815's Battle of New Orleans to prevent any future invasion of

7865-489: The beginning of European exploration of North America, slave labor was used to facilitate the interests of the colonizing powers. Under French rule, the enslaved population included indigenous peoples as well as Africans brought to the Americas in the Atlantic slave trade . By 1828, New Orleans was center of the United States slave trade. With its location five miles from the center of New Orleans, Bayou Bienvenue became home to

7986-587: The bonds were paid off by the United States Treasury in 1823; with interest, the total cost of the Louisiana Purchase bonds amounted to $ 23,313,567.73. Although the War of the Third Coalition , which brought France into a war with the United Kingdom, began before the purchase was completed, the British government initially allowed the deal to proceed as it was better for the neutral Americans to own

8107-399: The city by way of the Lake and Bayou. The growth of New Orleans in the early 20th century led to part of Bayou Bienvenue being drained for expansion of the city. In the 1920s, the dredging and installation of locks creating the Industrial Canal , which connected Lake Pontchartrain to the Mississippi River, marked the beginning of the man-made interference that lead to the eventual demise of

8228-447: The colony, which had become essentially autonomous under Louverture. Louverture, as a French general, had fended off incursions from other European powers, but had also begun to consolidate power for himself on the island. Before the revolution, France had derived enormous wealth from Saint-Domingue at the cost of the lives and freedom of the enslaved. Napoleon wanted the territory's revenues and productivity for France restored. Alarmed over

8349-433: The crest of the Rocky Mountains and land extending to the Rio Grande and West Florida . Spain insisted that Louisiana comprised no more than the western bank of the Mississippi River and the cities of New Orleans and St. Louis. The dispute was ultimately resolved by the Adams–Onís Treaty of 1819, with the United States gaining most of what it had claimed in the west. The relatively narrow Louisiana of New Spain had been

8470-403: The destruction of the wetlands that protected them. As the wetlands became navigable with more shipping channels and canals, the Maroons were increasingly hunted down. Maroon communities still existed in wetlands elsewhere, like Brazil and Jamaica, but in Bayou Bienvenue their communities ceased to exist either through capture or destruction of the landscape that had sustained them. Though in 1769,

8591-494: The documents did not arrive in Washington, D.C. until July 14. The Louisiana Territory was vast, stretching from the Gulf of Mexico in the south to Rupert's Land in the north, and from the Mississippi River in the east to the Rocky Mountains in the west. Acquiring the territory nearly doubled the size of the United States. In November 1803, France withdrew its 7,000 surviving troops from Saint-Domingue (more than two-thirds of its troops died there) and gave up its ambitions in

8712-581: The early explorations, the U.S. government sought to establish control of the region, since trade along the Mississippi and Missouri rivers was still dominated by British and French traders from Canada and allied Indians, especially the Sauk and Fox . The U.S. adapted the former Spanish facility at Fort Bellefontaine as a fur trading post near St. Louis in 1804 for business with the Sauk and Fox. In 1808, two military forts with trading factories were built, Fort Osage along

8833-518: The entire territory of Louisiana after it was offered. Overcoming the opposition of the Federalist Party , Jefferson and Secretary of State James Madison persuaded Congress to ratify and fund the Louisiana Purchase. The Louisiana Purchase extended United States sovereignty across the Mississippi River, nearly doubling the nominal size of the country. The purchase included land from fifteen present U.S. states and two Canadian provinces , including

8954-484: The entirety of Arkansas , Missouri , Iowa , Oklahoma , Kansas , and Nebraska ; large portions of North Dakota and South Dakota ; the area of Montana , Wyoming , and Colorado east of the Continental Divide ; the portion of Minnesota west of the Mississippi River; the northeastern section of New Mexico ; northern portions of Texas ; New Orleans and the portions of the present state of Louisiana west of

9075-623: The equally ill-defined British possession— Rupert's Land of British North America , now part of Canada. The purchase originally extended just beyond the 50th parallel . However, the territory north of the 49th parallel (including the Milk River and Poplar River watersheds) was ceded to the UK in exchange for parts of the Red River Basin south of 49th parallel in the Anglo-American Convention of 1818 . The eastern boundary of

9196-469: The first house in the area. Volunteers and residents began gutting other houses in the community. Soon after, the Common Ground Collective opened the first distribution center in the area, in order to provide returning residents with water, food and other necessities. Due to the great devastation and lack of population and services, the Lower Ninth Ward was the last area of the city still under

9317-636: The formal cession of the territory to the United States on December 20, 1803. While the treaty between Spain and France went largely unnoticed in 1800, fear of an eventual French invasion spread across America when, in 1801, Napoleon sent a military force to nearby Saint-Domingue . Though Jefferson urged moderation, Federalists sought to use this against Jefferson and called for hostilities against France. Undercutting them, Jefferson threatened an alliance with Britain, although relations were uneasy in that direction. In 1801, Jefferson supported France in its plan to take back Saint-Domingue (present-day Haiti ), which

9438-427: The foundation has rebuilt about 80 solar-paneled homes. In the spring of 2008, Build Now , a local, non-profit homebuilder, began working to bring New Orleans families back home. It constructed site-built, stilt houses on hurricane-damaged lots. The homes reflect the style and quality of traditional New Orleans architecture but are built above potential flood waters. Build Now is in the process of bringing more than

9559-956: The high risk of future flooding in the area. In March 2006 a group of residents and Common Ground Collective volunteers broke into Martin Luther King Elementary School to begin cleanup efforts. Not long after, the state school officials agreed to repair the school. The school has subsequently become a Recovery School District charter school and is running at full capacity. In 2006, Mayor Ray Nagin threatened to use his powers of eminent domain to seize vacant, severely damaged properties in all of New Orleans that had not been gutted or scheduled to be gutted before early 2007. Such blighted properties had been creating serious problems for returned New Orleanians, including infestations of rats and other vermin. Similar actions to seize abandoned blighted property are in effect in other Louisiana parishes, as well as in Mississippi counties affected by

9680-569: The issue upon ratification in 1821. Today, the 31st parallel is the northern boundary of the western half of the Florida Panhandle , and the Perdido is the western boundary of Florida. Because the western boundary was contested at the time of the purchase, President Jefferson immediately began to organize four missions to explore and map the new territory. All four started from the Mississippi River. The Lewis and Clark Expedition (1804) traveled up

9801-409: The merchants and bankers of New England . There was also concern that an increase in the number of slave-holding states created out of the new territory would exacerbate divisions between North and South. A group of Northern Federalists led by Senator Timothy Pickering of Massachusetts went so far as to explore the idea of a separate northern confederacy. The opposition of New England Federalists to

9922-415: The neighborhood, each with bridges over the Industrial Canal . Closest to the River is St. Claude Avenue ; about midway through the neighborhood is Claiborne Avenue ; Florida Avenue crosses at the northern edge of the historically populated portion of the Lower 9th. Most major businesses serving the neighborhood are located on St. Claude or Claiborne, although a smattering of additional neighborhood business

10043-530: The neighborhood. The population density was 9,731 /mi (3,730 /km ). As of the census of 2010, there were 2,842 people, 1,061 households, and 683 families residing in the neighborhood. The Lower Ninth Ward is home to the Jackson Barracks . The barracks now serve as headquarters for the Louisiana National Guard . The complex had an extensive military museum in the old powder magazine and in

10164-455: The official reopening of the Lower 9th Ward to residents who wished to return to live. The most severely damaged section of the Ward was the lower elevation section, north of Claiborne Avenue. A Bring Back New Orleans Commission preliminary report suggested making this area in whole or part into park space because of the high risk of future flooding. Most Lower 9th Ward residents have strongly objected to this proposal, but outsiders worry about

10285-572: The only visible remnants of the Bayou before its man-made destruction are the skeleton-like, limbless trunks of the dead cypress trees rising out of the brackish water. The bayou crosses the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway and Mississippi River Gulf Outlet , before ending in Lake Borgne , a shallow estuarine lake branching from the Mississippi Sound . Lower Ninth Ward The Lower Ninth Ward

10406-453: The port to store goods for export. The treaty also recognized American rights to navigate the entire Mississippi, which had become vital to the growing trade of the western territories. In 1798, Spain revoked the treaty allowing American use of New Orleans, greatly upsetting Americans. In 1801, Spanish Governor Don Juan Manuel de Salcedo took over from the Marquess of Casa Calvo , and restored

10527-410: The power to negotiate treaties was specifically granted to the president, the only way extending the country's territory by treaty could not be a presidential power would be if it were specifically excluded by the Constitution (which it was not). Jefferson, as a strict constructionist, was right to be concerned about staying within the bounds of the Constitution, but felt the power of these arguments and

10648-489: The preceding French and Spanish rule (for instance, Spain had prohibited slavery of Native Americans in 1769, but some slaves of mixed African–Native American descent were still being held in St. Louis in Upper Louisiana when the U.S. took over). In a freedom suit that went from Missouri to the U.S. Supreme Court , slavery of Native Americans was finally ended in 1836. The institutionalization of slavery under U.S. law in

10769-512: The program has cleared more than 1,200 lots. However, as of September 2016, there are still many overgrown lots remaining, and the program has been diminishing in effort and organization due to a lack of funds and motivation, since it is difficult to control overgrowth due to the rapid speed at which grass grows. In March 2012, the New York Times described what the area looked like almost seven years after Katrina: "The neighborhood has become

10890-406: The purchase, an official announcement of the purchase was made on July 4, 1803. This gave Jefferson and his cabinet until October, when the treaty had to be ratified, to discuss the constitutionality of the purchase. Jefferson considered a constitutional amendment to justify the purchase; however, his cabinet convinced him otherwise. Jefferson justified the purchase by rationalizing, "it is the case of

11011-466: The purchase, because of the cost involved, their belief that France would not have been able to resist U.S. and British encroachment into Louisiana, and Jefferson's perceived hypocrisy. Both Federalists and Jeffersonians were concerned over the purchase's constitutionality. Many members of the House of Representatives opposed the purchase. Majority Leader John Randolph led the opposition. The House called for

11132-489: The purchase. Hopes brought to the transaction experience with issuing sovereign bonds and Barings brought its American connections. Francis Baring 's son Alexander and Pierre Labouchère from Hopes arrived in Paris in April 1803 to assist with the negotiations. With the bankers' help, the French and American negotiators settled on a price of 80 million francs ($ 15 million), down from an initial price of 100 million francs,

11253-417: The real estate acquired by the United States since 1776 was purchased not from Napoleon or any other emperor or czar but from its original Indian owners". More recently, the total cost to the U.S. government of all subsequent treaties and financial settlements up to the year 2012 for the land acquired in the Louisiana Purchase has been estimated to be around $ 2.6 billion, or $ 11.2 billion in 2023 dollars. This

11374-669: The request of Jefferson. Du Pont was living in the United States at the time and had close ties to Jefferson as well as the prominent politicians in France. He engaged in back-channel diplomacy with Napoleon on Jefferson's behalf during a visit to France and originated the idea of the much larger Louisiana Purchase as a way to defuse potential conflict between the United States and Napoleon over North America. Throughout this time, Jefferson had up-to-date intelligence on Napoleon's military activities and intentions in North America. Part of his evolving strategy involved giving du Pont some information that

11495-418: The river along the Canal; it provided steady work for area laborers. As shipping became containerized in the later 20th century, however, demand for labor declined, with negative economic consequences for the neighborhood. Some people left to find work in other areas; others struggled with lower-paying jobs. In 1965, Hurricane Betsy struck New Orleans. A levee on the Industrial Canal collapsed, and much of

11616-494: The same time as the Bywater area. In 1834 the United States Army established the Jackson Barracks here. As late as the 1870s, the area behind Saint Claude Avenue was still mostly small farms with scattered residences. The area on the "woods" (away from the river) side of Claiborne was mostly undeveloped cypress swamp . In 1852, the 9th Ward was added as an official district of New Orleans. In 1899 Louisiana passed

11737-513: The second between North Galvez and North Roman streets. The force of the water did not only flood homes, but smashed or knocked many off their foundations. A large barge, the ING 4727 (owned by the Ingram Barge Company ), was swept by flood waters into the neighborhood through the breach near Claiborne Avenue, leveling homes beneath it. The storm surge was so great that even the highest portions of

11858-696: The state of Louisiana) and the District of Louisiana , which was temporarily under control of the governor and judicial system of the Indiana Territory . The following year, the District of Louisiana was renamed the Territory of Louisiana . New Orleans was the administrative capital of the Orleans Territory, and St. Louis was the capital of the Louisiana Territory. To pay for the land, the American government used

11979-470: The storm. However, as hundreds of thousands of locals were still waiting for promised insurance or Road Home money, many of the poor lacked resources to work on their houses. The neighborhood had few stores and only a handful of schools reopened. By early 2007, a small number of local businesses in the area reopened, and residents began to return, many living in FEMA trailers as they rebuilt (the last FEMA trailer

12100-487: The territory than the hostile French. However, by December 1803, the British directed Barings to halt future payments to France. Barings relayed the order to Hopes, which agreed but under the condition that Baring bear the costs of the change and that its' Louisiana stock be reallocated to Hopes. Hopes also required Baring to refrain from trading in Louisiana stock without its consent. The final payments were made to France in April 1804. A dispute soon arose between Spain and

12221-517: The territory would be acquired "piece by piece". The risk of another power taking it from a weakened Spain made a "profound reconsideration" of this policy necessary. New Orleans was already important for shipping agricultural goods to and from the areas of the United States west of the Appalachian Mountains . Pinckney's Treaty , signed with Spain on October 27, 1795, gave American merchants "right of deposit" in New Orleans, granting them use of

12342-620: The territory, the most famous being the Lewis and Clark Expedition . France turned over New Orleans, the historic colonial capital, on December 20, 1803, at the Cabildo , with a flag-raising ceremony in the Plaza de Armas, now Jackson Square . Just three weeks earlier, on November 30, 1803, Spanish officials had formally conveyed the colonial lands and their administration to France. On March 9 and 10, 1804, another ceremony, commemorated as Three Flags Day ,

12463-499: The territory. Henry Adams claimed "The sale of Louisiana to the United States was trebly invalid; if it were French property, Bonaparte could not constitutionally alienate it without the consent of the French Chambers ; if it were Spanish property, he could not alienate it at all; if Spain had a right of reclamation, his sale was worthless." The sale, of course, was not "worthless"—the U.S. actually did take possession. Furthermore,

12584-504: The transfer on two grounds: First, France had previously promised in a note not to alienate Louisiana to a third party and, second, France had not fulfilled the Third Treaty of San Ildefonso by having the King of Etruria recognized by all European powers. The French government replied that these objections were baseless as the promise not to alienate Louisiana was not in the treaty of San Ildefonso itself and therefore had no legal force, and

12705-547: The treaty with a vote of 24 to seven on October 20. On the following day, October 21, 1803, the Senate authorized Jefferson to take possession of the territory and establish a temporary military government. In legislation enacted on October 31, Congress made temporary provisions for local civil government to continue as it had under French and Spanish rule and authorized the president to use military forces to maintain order. Plans were also set forth for several missions to explore and chart

12826-419: The upriver side of the Industrial Canal. The area came to international attention for its devastation in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Excluding the industrial and swamp areas north of the Florida Canal , the neighborhood of the Lower 9th Ward is about 1.25 mi (2.01 km) from east to west and 2 mi (3.2 km) from north to south. Three major avenues cross the developed portion of

12947-500: The vastly larger territory was offered for $ 15 million. Jefferson had authorized Livingston only to purchase New Orleans. However, Livingston was certain that the United States would accept the offer. The Americans thought that Napoleon might withdraw the offer at any time, preventing the United States from acquiring New Orleans, so they agreed and signed the Louisiana Purchase Treaty on April 30, 1803 (10 Floréal XI in

13068-412: The wares and sell them at the slave market in New Orleans. Lumber companies would also bring enslaved people into the wetlands to harvest cypress for building materials. Through the connections between the enslaved and Maroons, lumber companies would pay Maroons, who were deeper in the wetlands, to cut timber. However, this practice was not beneficial to Maroon communities because the logging participated in

13189-416: The wetlands because of the similarity to the landscapes of their origins. Maroons lived alongside Indigenous communities that were there before them, like the Chitimacha and Choctaw Tribes and Acadians, who had arrived when Britain colonized Canada. These societies developed various techniques for living in the wetland environment without damaging it, including raised housing, small watercraft-like pirogues, and

13310-521: Was built in 1913 for his son Paul Doullut. In 1977 both houses were designated historic landmarks. The houses have two notable design influences, the first being the steamboats of the period, the second being the Japanese exhibit at the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis ( Louisiana Purchase Exposition ). Notably, Mary Doullut (wife of Milton) was also a river boat captain, who worked on the river for over 30 years; she

13431-676: Was ceded to Spain in 1762. In 1800, Napoleon Bonaparte , the First Consul of the French Republic , regained ownership of Louisiana in exchange for territories in Tuscany as part of a broader effort to re-establish a French colonial empire in North America. However, France's failure to suppress a revolt in Saint-Domingue , coupled with the prospect of renewed warfare with the United Kingdom , prompted Napoleon to consider selling Louisiana to

13552-509: Was conducted in St. Louis , to transfer ownership of Upper Louisiana from Spain to France, and then from France to the United States. From March 10 to September 30, 1804, Upper Louisiana was supervised as a military district, under its first civil commandant , Amos Stoddard , who was appointed by the War Department. Effective October 1, 1804, the purchased territory was organized into the Territory of Orleans (most of which would become

13673-541: Was filled with cypress trees, water lilies, and freshwater wildlife such as fish, alligators, otters, birds, and crawfish. The cypress trees were once so thick you could pull yourself along in a canoe or pirogue just by reaching out to grab cypress knees." Beyond its ecological significance, Bayou Bienvenue has served cultural functions to the populations of the surrounding areas throughout the area's history of human occupation. Archaeological digs have yielded evidence that indigenous peoples of hunter-gatherer societies inhabited

13794-513: Was located in the Lower Ninth Ward. In August 2007 students from Carver High School and Marshall Middle School began studying at temporary trailers on the site of Holy Cross. In September of that year the students were to move to another set of trailers in the original Carver/Marshall campus in the Desire Area . Louisiana Purchase The Louisiana Purchase ( French : Vente de la Louisiane , lit.   'Sale of Louisiana')

13915-474: Was more difficult than acquiring it. Its European peoples primarily of ethnic French, Spanish and Mexican descent were largely Catholic ; in addition, there was a large population of enslaved Africans , as Spain had continued the transatlantic slave trade . This was particularly true in the area of the present-day state of Louisiana, which also contained a large number of free people of color . Both present-day Arkansas and Missouri already had some slaveholders in

14036-459: Was negotiated between France and the United States, without consulting the various Indian tribes who lived on the land and who had not ceded the land to any colonial power. The four decades following the Louisiana Purchase was an era of court decisions removing many tribes from their lands east of the Mississippi for resettlement in the new territory, culminating in the Trail of Tears . The purchase of

14157-439: Was removed in 2012). However, much of the area was still little-populated and in ruined condition. Work crews continued to remove debris and demolish unrepairable houses daily, but hundreds if not thousands were vacant and gutted. Many more buildings had hardly been touched since the waters were drained, and ruined possessions were still inside severely damaged buildings. On December 3, 2007, Make It Right Foundation , founded by

14278-544: Was the acquisition of the territory of Louisiana by the United States from the French First Republic in 1803. This consisted of most of the land in the Mississippi River's drainage basin west of the river. In return for fifteen million dollars, or approximately eighteen dollars per square mile, the United States nominally acquired a total of 828,000 sq mi (2,140,000 km ; 530,000,000 acres) now in

14399-510: Was then under control of Toussaint Louverture after a slave rebellion . However, there was a growing concern in the U.S. that Napoleon would send troops to New Orleans after quelling the rebellion. In hopes of securing control of the mouth of the Mississippi, Jefferson sent Livingston to Paris in 1801 with the authorization to purchase New Orleans. In January 1802, France sent General Charles Leclerc , Napoleon's brother-in-law, on an expedition to Saint-Domingue to reassert French control over

14520-505: Was willing to "acquiesce with satisfaction" if the Congress approved the treaty. The Senate quickly ratified the treaty, and the House , with equal readiness, authorized the required funding. The fledgling United States did not have $ 15 million in its treasury; instead, it borrowed the sum from British and Dutch banks, at an annual interest rate of six percent. (See § Financing below.) The United States Senate consented to ratification of

14641-583: Was withheld from Livingston. Intent on avoiding possible war with France, Jefferson sent James Monroe to Paris in 1803 to negotiate a settlement, with instructions to go to London to negotiate an alliance if the talks in Paris failed. Spain procrastinated until late 1802 in executing the treaty to transfer Louisiana to France, which allowed American hostility to build. Also, Spain's refusal to cede Florida to France meant that Louisiana would be indefensible. Napoleon needed peace with Britain to take possession of Louisiana. Otherwise, Louisiana would be an easy prey for

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