Happy Birthday Louisiana

Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday to Louisiana
Happy Birthday to you

In order to summarize Louisiana’s history

The Louisiana region was settled by Indians in prehistoric times, at least as early as 6,000 years ago. At the time of European exploration in the 16th century, there were more than 10,000 Indians in Louisiana. Tribes of the Muskhogean language family occupied the east-central and south-east region, Tunican tribes lived along the coast and in the northeast, and tribes of the Caddoan group inhabited the north and northwest.

Louisiana was discovered by Spanish explorers. Authentic recorded history of this area doesn’t actually begin until 1682. It was then that Sierra de La Salle, the French explorer, reached the mouth of the Mississippi, claimed all its drainage basin for France, and named the area Louisiana to honor Louis XIV. In 1792 France ceded to Spain the Louisiana region west of the Mississippi, along with the New Orleans area. The remaining land east of the river was ceded to Britain by the Treaty of Paris (1763). In 1800 Spain was forced by Napoleon Bonaparte to give back to France the Louisiana territory, including New Orleans. The United States acquired the area from France in 1803 through the Louisiana Purchase. In 1804 the region was divided into two sections- the District of Louisiana (later Missouri Territory), north of the 33rd parallel; and the Territory of Orleans, south of the parallel.

In 1812 the Territory of Orleans and a small part of West Florida, still claimed by Spain, were admitted to the Union as Louisiana, the 18th state. Spain ceded West Florida in 1821. In January 1815, the British attacked New Orleans, unaware that a peace treaty to end the War of 1812 had been signed two weeks earlier. They were defeated by Unites States forces under Andrew Jackson. The victory unified the Spaniards, French, Americans, and others who made up the population of the State. In 1849, Baton Rouge replaced New Orleans as the state capital.