New Orleans

New Orleans, founded as a French settlement in 1718, is situated near the intersection of the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico. The city is a creation of the era of European colonial expansion and the age of water transportation, and its location as well as its economic viability reflected the river's perceived importance to economic development in North America.

The city's original site lay at a point on the river that provided the shortest distance to Bayou St. John, a natural waterway extending southward from Lake Pontchar-train, which opened into the Gulf of Mexico. This route obviated the need to navigate the challenging lower river route to the gulf. Subsequently, a canal connecting the bayou to the rear of the city provided an all-water route from city to ocean. A planned extension of this canal directly to the river never materialized, but its intended right-of-way ultimately became the town's main thoroughfare, Canal Street. As the city expanded geographically after acquisition by the United States, another canal between river and lake was constructed upriver.

During the eighteenth century New Orleans developed an expanding shipping relationship with the interior, particularly in agricultural products. There emerged a mercantile economy with a clear social and cultural base reflecting its French and Spanish colonial control. Despite setbacks that included several fires, port development continued. By the end of that century cotton and sugar were replacing such traditional goods as indigo and tobacco. By this time, the hinterland served by the port was growing as yeoman agriculturalists settled into the West. The port of New Orleans sat poised at the center of a changing nation and a changing world. By the beginning of the nineteenth century there were substantial arrivals at the port from the United States, particularly from New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore, as well as from the British West Indies and Spanish colonial areas.

Thomas Jefferson's 1803 purchase of the Louisiana Territory, which initially centered on securing the port at New Orleans for the United States, ushered in a dynamic new era for the city. Between that time and the U.S. Civil War's beginning, the city attained a new prosperity founded upon domestic and international trade in cotton, sugar, and other products. The port became a nexus between the growing nation and the rest of the world. Its local economy of commercial establishments, merchant enterprises, banks, and even manufacturers complemented shipping. At the war's outbreak, New Orleans was one of the wealthiest cities in the United States. The city and its port were controlled by the government of the North throughout most of the military conflict. Afterward, the city shared in the South's general economic disruption, but the port remained a major one.

During the twentieth century, and particularly after World War II, trade with South American countries became prominent, and manufactured products from various sources moved through the docks. New Orleans's port ranked among the world's largest and most important. Among U.S. ports, only New York exceeded its volume during most of the century. A city begun as a French colonial outpost had become a cosmopolitan urban center with a diverse citizenry. Port activity included an inflow and outflow of a wide variety of goods. Recently, increased U.S. trade with Asian economies has lessened the port's traffic and its prominence as a center of international trade.

SEE ALSO Agriculture; Baltimore; Bonaparte, Napoleon; Boston; Cargoes, Freight; Cargoes, Passenger; Chambers of Commerce; Charleston; Coffee; Containerization; Cotton; Empire, French; Empire, Spanish; France; Free Ports; Haiti; Harbors;Los Angeles–Long Beach;Newport;New Spain;New York;Philadelphia;Port Cities;Salem;Shipping, Inland Waterways, North America;Spain;United States.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Clark, John G. An Economic History of New Orleans. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1970.

Cummings, Light Townsend, and Jeansonne, Glen, eds. A Guide to the History of Louisiana. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1982.

Kemp, John R. New Orleans: An Illustrated History. Woodland Hills, CA: Windsor Press, 1981.

Fred Bateman