This Day in the Law
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May 7

City of New Orleans Founded (1718)


On May 7, 1718, the French Mississippi Company founded New Orleans under the leadership of Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville. The French founded New Orleans as a port to international trade and quick access to the Mississippi Delta region.

In 1803, Napoleon sold New Orleans to the United States in the Louisiana Purchase. Over time, the city grew rapidly with immigrants such Americans, French, Creoles, and other national descents. New Orleans cultivated commodity crops such as sugar and cotton and developed large slave plantations.

The French greatly influenced New Orleans and the state of Louisiana – so much so that Louisiana is the only state in the United States that follows civil law (as opposed to common law used throughout the rest of the United States). In fact, Napoleon’s Civil Code acted as the basis for the legal system in New Orleans and Louisiana.

New Orleans also played a key role in the development of race relations in the South. For example, the case Plessy v. Ferguson, 163 U.S. 537 (1896), which arose in New Orleans, the U.S. Supreme Court held that "separate but equal" accommodations were constitutional (e.g. hotels and restaurants could refuse to accommodate blacks). The decision of Plessy v. Ferguson was eventually overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court, and now considered by many legal scholars to be one of the worst Supreme Court decisions.

Today, New Orleans is a cultural melting pot known for its great Cajon and Creole cuisine, festivals (e.g. Mardi Gras), music (e.g. jazz and blues), architecture, and famous landmarks such as the French Quarter, Jackson Square, and Bourbon Street.

New Orleans is also more recently remembered for the devastation that Hurricane Katrina inflicted upon the city in 2005. However, New Orleans is continually working to overcome the effects of Hurricane Katrina and remains one of America’s most unique cities.