Marco legal de la enseñanza del inglés en Colombia

In 1712, because of the colony’s lack of prosperity, and considering France’s financial issues due to its numerous wars with Spain and England, the French

crown gave control of Louisiana to an individual, Antoine Crozat. Bienville continued to serve in the colony, under the new governor Antoine Laumet de La Mothe, Sieur de Cadillac. In the “winter of 1715-1716,” as de Villiers points out, the wealthy French merchant “Crozat demanded that a post be founded where the city now stands; … [and even as early as] … 1702, … M. de Remonville [had] proposed the creation of an establishment at the Mississippi Portage."130

Bienville also rapidly befriended the Natchez Indians and saw this alliance as a very profitable tool. First of all, the Natchez’s settlement was located north of the Mississippi River’s mouth and therefore in a much drier area, which provided protection to New Orleans. Second, by respecting their land, the chance of

generating trade and business with the Natchez was higher. Third, farming among the various swamps and marshlands in the south of Louisiana appeared a more challenging task than it was a few hundred miles north where the Indians cultivated their land. The French started trading and importing Indian food supplies, to the

point where the colony relied more and more on Indian production for sustenance. Numerous settlers lived among Indian tribes in order to benefit from their

cultivation while food was low further south in the colony.131 In 1716, Bienville built Fort Rosalie near the Natchez settlement and moved there. The construction of this settlement marked Bienville’s success in befriending the Natchez Indians as he was able to co-exist in such proximity of their living area. Below are a map of the area and a translation of the caption:

“In  Comparable  Americas:  Colonial  Studies  after  the  Hemispheric  Turn,”  The   Newberry:  Chicago’s  Independent  Research  Library  Since  1887,  Ayer  MS  257,                                                                                                                  

No.9,  Map  204,  http://www.newberry.org/04302004-­‐comparable-­‐americas-­‐ colonial-­‐studies-­‐after-­‐hemispheric-­‐turn  (accessed  August  20,  2012).    

From the map:

Title: “Carte du Fort Rosalie des natchez françois avec ses dependances et village des sauvages”

(Map of Fort Rosalie of the French Natchez with its dependence and village of the savages)

“Explication des chiffres:” (Explanation of the figures/captions:) 1. Fort Rosalie – Fort Rosalie

2. Corp de Garde - Guardhouse 3. Caserne – Barracks

4. Maison de l’officier – Habitation of the Officer 5. Poudriere – Magazine

6. Fort ou se sauvat le soldat – Fort where the soldier fled 7. Maison du Commandant – House of the commander 8. Chapelle – Chapel

9. Magazin de la Compagnie – Shop belonging to the Company [of the West Indies]

10.terre blanche Concession de messieurs de belleviste et associéz – White Land [probably a proper noun, name of the property] Concession

belonging to Mr. de Belleviste and his associates

11.concession (…) appartenant au Dr. Coly – Concession (…) belonging to Dr. Coly

12.village sauvage – Village of the Savages

13.14. habitations (…) natchez appartenant à mon hote – Natchez (…) habitations belonging to my host

15.debarquement des bateaux – Disembarking of boats

16.croix de missions posées par ordre (…) – Mission cross put here by order of (…)

toutes les autres maisons ce sont des habitations de chaquiuns[sic] il y en a d’autres posés[sic] dans les valons qu’on ne peut voir – All other houses are regular habitations there are some more in the valleys that cannot be seen

In 1717, John Law, the Duke of Orléans’ personal advisor, and his Company of the West took control of the colony following Crozat’s failure to make the

colony a profitable enterprise. Many at the time, amongst whom Le Page du Pratz, believed that “had M. d’Hiberville [sic] lived longer, the colony would have made considerable progress”132 and therefore been more profitable and prosperous.

Several letters from the French colonial period, some from La Salle himself, described the colony having “tout ce qui a enrichi la Nouvelle Angleterre et la Virginie, et ce qui fait le fond de leur commerce et de leurs grandes richesses”

(everything that helped New England and Virginia prosper and that was the basis for their commerce and great riches).133 Colonists often discussed Louisiana as bearer of

the greatest riches; and in order to produce them, asks only arms proper for tilling the earth, which is wholly disposed to yield an[sic] hundred fold. Thanks to the fertility of our islands, our Sugar plantations are infinitely superior to those of the English, and we likewise excel them in our productions of Indigo, Coffee, and Cotton.

Tobacco is the only production of the earth which gives the English an advantage over [them].134

132  _{Le  Page  du  Pratz,  History  of  Louisiana,  8-­‐9.}  

133  _{René-­‐Robert  Cavelier,  Sieur  de  La  Salle,  6,  “Memoire  du  Sieur  de  la  Salle  pour  rendre}  

compte  a  Monseigneur  de  Seignelay  de  la  découverte  qu’il  a  faite  par  l’ordre  de  sa  Majesté,”   Reel  67,  trans.  Celine  Ugolini,  WRC,  New  Orleans,  LA.    

134  _{Le  Page  du  Pratz,  History  of  Louisiana,  365.  This  part  of  the  book  is  described  as  the}  

words  from  “a  late  French  writer,  concerning  the  importance  of  Louisiana  to  France”  and   may  therefore  not  be  the  author’s  own  words.    

All these constituted further attributes for the colony whose proneness to disasters was balanced by the richness of its soil and climate, which could enable great prosperity.

In addition, according to Le Page du Pratz:

above the Nachitoches dwell the Cadodaquious, whose scattered villages assume different names. Pretty near one of these villages was discovered a silver mine, which was found to be rich, and of a very pure metal. I have seen the assay of it, and its ore is very fine. This silver lies concealed in small invisible particles, in a stone of a chestnut colour, which was spongy, pretty tight, and easily calcinable: however, it yields a great deal more than it promises to the eye.135

The presence of such resources in addition to the discovery of precious metals (silver, copper, iron, lead, tin and antimony, according to French explorer and Louisiana Governor La Mothe Cadillac) within their territory encouraged the French to want to keep Louisiana and may therefore have promoted resilience within the colony in order to take advantage of these resources. According to La Harpe:

Quant à ce que la colonie de la Louisiane peut produire, en voici le détail : il y a plusieurs mines de plomb abondantes, peu éloignées du fleuve , et ce plomb est facile à fondre. Si la compagnie des mineurs qu'on a envoyée aux Illinois , sous la direction de M. Renaud , avait pu y être transportée en arrivant à la colonie, elle aurait fait certainement des envois considérables de ce métal; mais son sort a été égal à celui des autres compagnies qui ont dépéri, ou le temps de leurs engagés s'est écoulé inutilement. Il y a des mines de cuivre dans la rivière des Illinois, dans celle des Ouabaches , et dans plusieurs autres de la partie ouest du fleuve ; les Canadiens et les                                                                                                                

sauvages en ont apporté plusieurs morceaux qu'ils ont ramassés dans des plaines et des ravines , à la chute des montagnes : il est certain que la nation Ouabache sait où elles sont; ainsi il ne s'agit que de connaître leur secret , ce qu'il est facile de faire par le moyen de quelques présens. On n'a point encore de certitude qu'il y ait des mines d'or ou d'argent

considérables, mais il y a grande apparence qu'on pourrait en trouver.

(Regarding what the colony of Louisiana can produce, here are the details: there are several abundant lead mines, not far from the river, and this lead is easy to melt. If the group of miners sent to the Illinois, under the direction of Mr. Renaud, could have been sent there instead upon arrival to the colony, it would certainly have sent considerable amounts of this metal; but its fate was that of all other groups sent there and who perished, or the labor from its

engagés was spent uselessly. There are copper mines in the river of the Illinois, in that of the Ouabaches, and in several others in the western part of the main river. Canadians and savages brought several pieces back that they have collected in plains and ravines, at the bottom of the mountains. It is certain that the Ouabache nation knows where they are, so it is a question of finding out their secret now, which should be easy to do with the help of some offerings. There is not yet confirmation that there are considerable mines of gold or silver, but there a great chance that these could be found.)136

There was, however, still much more metal in the neighboring colonies belonging to Spain than there ever was on the French land. Le Page du Pratz recalls this in his description of the colony when he explains that he

often reflected on the happiness of France in the portion which Providence has allotted her in America. She has found in her lands neither the gold nor silver of Mexico and Peru, nor the precious stones and rich stuffs of the East-Indies; but she will find therein, when she pleases, mines of iron, lead, and copper.137

136  _{La  Harpe,  l’Etablissement  des  Français  à  la  Louisiane,  trans.  Celine  Ugolini,  365-­‐366.}   137  _{Le  Page  du  Pratz,  History  of  Louisiana,  329.}    

The news of such discovery also motivated their British neighbors in their endeavor to acquire parts of the Louisiana colony.138 The British had tried for a long time to take possession of Louisiana, and their attempt to befriend the Indians seemed to have been part of a plan, according to Bienville, by the “Governeur de la Caroline [qui] avait dessein de chasser les francois et de se rendre maitre entierement de tout le pays” (Governor of Carolina [whose] project was to repel the French and to rule over the entire country).139 At that stage the new inhabitants of this growing and developing area took inspiration from the local Choctaws in the building of their accommodations. Many houses were made of wood. Because of the humid weather and the area’s proneness to flooding, they turned out to be very fragile. Numerous habitations ended up washed away by the regular floods or would rot and need reconstruction.

Despite the fragility of the area, its natural resources and potential for commercial use via waterways prompted the construction of a large settlement. The need for a new strategic and commercial city for the colony grew. Several attempts at building a sizeable city had occurred at Biloxi and Mobile but were unsuccessful mostly due to the cities’ fragile location. The best way to make the colony prosperous was to have people gathering as part of a large settlement, in a

138  _{La  Mothe  Cadillac  to  the  Ministre,  May,  18,  1715,  Reel  15,  WRC,  New  Orleans,  LA.}     139  _{Bienville  to  the  Ministre,  October  12,  1708,  5,  trans.  Celine  Ugolini.}  

suitable location. That way, not only would they help keep the colony, but they also would favor the development of agriculture, commerce, and trade. Only one question remained: where to place this city?