By: TONY MARKS
Editor
On this day, April 30, in 1812, Louisiana becomes the 18th state to join the United States. This event came nine years to the date after the 828,000 square mile Louisiana Purchase was made for a price of less than three cents an acre.
To celebrate the anniversary of statehood, here are some facts of the Pelican State. This information is taken from the Louisiana Secretary of State Website.
Origin of Name: Louisiana was named by Robert de LaSalle, an early French explorer, for Louis XIV, King of France.
State Nickname: The Pelican State and Sportsman’s Paradise
State Motto: Union, Justice, Confidence
State Colors: Gold, White, and Blue
State Fossil: Petrified Palmwood
State Boat: Pirogue
State Gemstone: Cabochon cut gemstone
State Cuisine: Gumbo
State Drink: Milk
State Musical Instrument: Diatonic Accordion (commonly known as the “Cajun” accordion)
State Amphibian: Green Tree Frog
State Freshwater Fish: White Perch (also called sac-au-lait and white crappie)
State Songs: “Give Me Louisiana,” by Doralice Fontane and “You Are My Sunshine,” by former Louisiana Gov. Jimmie Davis and Charles Mitchell
State Reptile: Alligator
State Mammal: Louisiana Black Bear
State Flower: Magnolia
State Insect: Honeybee
State Bird: Brown Pelican
State Wildflower: Louisiana Iris
State Dog: Catahoula Leopard Dog
State Tree: Bald Cypress
State Fruit: Strawberry
State Crustacean: Crawfish
Earliest Explorers: Spanish: Alvarez de Pineda (1519), Cabeza de Vaca (1528), Hernando DeSoto (1541); French: LaSalle (1682), Iberville and Bienville (1699)
In Louisiana, local government units, known elsewhere as counties, are called parishes. Originally they were church units set up by the Spanish provisional governor of Louisiana in 1769, in conjunction with 11 administrative districts. As Louisiana developed, it was found that the districts were too large and the smaller religious divisions were more suitable. As a consequence, when Louisiana became a state, the term “parish” was accepted with the name of the region to which it had applied under the church. Today, Louisiana has 64 parishes.
Louisiana has three branches of government: legislative, executive and judicial.
Louisiana’s Legislature is composed of a Senate with 39 members and a House of Representatives with 105 members. Members of both houses are elected to four-year terms. The Legislature meets in regular session in even-numbered years on the last Monday in March for not more than 60 legislative days out of 85 calendar days. In odd-numbered years, the Legislature convenes fiscal sessions on the last Monday in April for 45 legislative days out of 60 calendar days. The Legislature may be convened at other times by the governor, and shall be convened by the presiding officers of both houses upon written petition of a majority of the elected members of each house.
Parliamentary procedure and committee organization resemble that used throughout the nation.
Executive power is vested in the statewide elected officials: governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, attorney general, treasurer, commissioner of agriculture and forestry and commissioner of insurance.
All of these officials are elected to four-year terms.
The present judicial system, originally established by the Louisiana Constitution of 1921, affords judicial power in a state Supreme Court, Courts of Appeal, District Courts and other lesser tribunals as provided by law. The Supreme Court has general supervisory jurisdiction over all other courts. Courts of Appeal have appellate jurisdiction over five circuits in the state.
District Courts have original jurisdiction over appeals from justices of the peace and certain minor courts.
Judges in Louisiana are elected except when they are temporarily appointed to fill vacancies.
The first inhabitants of what is now Louisiana were Native American tribes such as the Natchez, Bayougoula and Chitamacha. The Europeans appeared in 1682 when the French explorer LaSalle descended the Mississippi River and claimed the land for the French Monarch, Louis XIV. It was not until 1699 that D’Iberville was to establish a permanent French presence in the lower Mississippi Valley. Louis Juchereau de St. Denis founded the first permanent settlement in Louisiana in 1714 with the construction of Fort St. Jean Baptiste near present day Natchitoches.
D’Iberville’s brother, Bienville, solidified the French claim to Louisiana in 1718 with the founding of New Orleans. France controlled the Louisiana colony until 1762 when the colony was ceded to Spain under the Treaty of Fontainebleau. Britain acquired France’s Louisiana holdings east of the Mississippi River the following year in the Treaty of Paris. Spain ruled the colony until 1800 when the lands west of the Mississippi River were returned to the French in the Treaty of San Ildefonso.
The British maintained control of the territory east of the river.
The Mississippi River, which had defined so much of Louisiana’s early history, was recognized by President Thomas Jefferson as being the key to the control of the North American interior. He dispatched Robert Livingston to Paris in 1803 to negotiate with the French the purchase of New Orleans, which Jefferson believed would guarantee the United States free navigation of the river.
Napoleon startled the American representatives by offering the entire Louisiana territory for a paltry $15 million. Thus began a new era in the already colorful history of Louisiana. Spain held on to its holdings east of the river until 1810 when residents of the West Florida Republic revolted against their rule. In 1812, Louisiana was admitted to the United States as the 18th state.
Louisiana’s relationship with the Union was to be tested by the issues of slavery and states’ rights.
In January of 1861, the state’s secessionist convention met at the statehouse in Baton Rouge and formally seceded from the Union. During the ensuing Civil War, numerous engagements were held in Louisiana, most notably at Port Hudson, where the longest siege campaign of the war took place. The state endured 12 years of reconstruction after the war, a period in which P.B.S. Pinchback served as the state’s only African-American governor to date.
The 20th century saw Louisiana emerge as one of the nation’s leading producers of oil, sulphur, sugar and cotton. The petrochemical industry also developed along the Mississippi River in the period following World War II. The past eight decades have also showcased Louisiana’s passion for politics, beginning with the election of Gov. Huey P. Long in 1928. In September of 1935, Long was assassinated in the State Capitol, which was built under his direction. The post-Long era was to be dominated by three major political figures: the fiery Earl Long, Huey’s brother; John McKeithen, the first 20th century governor to succeed himself and the driving force behind the Superdome; and the flamboyant Edwin Edwards, who served an unprecedented four terms as governor.
Mardi Gras is an ancient custom that originated in southern Europe, was brought to Louisiana by the French and was later continued by the Spanish. As each year passed, Mardi Gras became a bigger and bigger event. Soon superbly ornamented carriages, musical marching bands and richly decorated masqueraders began to parade the streets of New Orleans. Although Mardi Gras is actually only one day, Fat Tuesday, today it has come to mean the last two weeks of carnival that immediately precede Mardi Gras Day. The celebration occurs in preparation for the 40 days of Lent that follow, and festivities may include balls, parades, street masking or any combination of these activities.
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