1.
Louisiana
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Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Louisiana is the 31st most extensive and the 25th most populous of the 50 United States and its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the state in the U. S. with political subdivisions termed parishes. The largest parish by population is East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana is bordered by Arkansas to the north, Mississippi to the east, Texas to the west, and the Gulf of Mexico to the south. Much of the lands were formed from sediment washed down the Mississippi River, leaving enormous deltas and vast areas of coastal marsh. These contain a rich southern biota, typical examples include birds such as ibis, there are also many species of tree frogs, and fish such as sturgeon and paddlefish. In more elevated areas, fire is a process in the landscape. These support a large number of plant species, including many species of orchids. Louisiana has more Native American tribes than any other state, including four that are federally recognized, ten that are state recognized. Before the American purchase of the territory in 1803, the current Louisiana State had been both a French colony and for a period, a Spanish one. In addition, colonists imported numerous African people as slaves in the 18th century, many came from peoples of the same region of West Africa, thus concentrating their culture. Louisiana was named after Louis XIV, King of France from 1643 to 1715, when René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle claimed the territory drained by the Mississippi River for France, he named it La Louisiane. The suffix -ana is a Latin suffix that can refer to information relating to an individual, subject. Thus, roughly, Louis + ana carries the idea of related to Louis, the Gulf of Mexico did not exist 250 million years ago when there was but one supercontinent, Pangea. As Pangea split apart, the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico opened, Louisiana slowly developed, over millions of years, from water into land, and from north to south. The oldest rocks are exposed in the north, in such as the Kisatchie National Forest. The oldest rocks date back to the early Tertiary Era, some 60 million years ago, the history of the formation of these rocks can be found in D. Spearings Roadside Geology of Louisiana. The sediments were carried north to south by the Mississippi River
2.
United States
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Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
3.
Louisiana (New Spain)
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Louisiana was the name of an administrative district of the Viceroyalty of New Spain from 1762 to 1802 that consisted of territory west of the Mississippi River basin, plus New Orleans. Spain acquired the territory from France, who had named it La Louisiane in honor of King Louis XIV in 1682 and it is sometimes known as Spanish Louisiana. The district was retroceded to France, under the terms of the Third Treaty of San Ildefonso, in 1802, King Charles IV of Spain published a royal bill on 15 October, effecting the transfer and outlining the conditions. However, Spain agreed to continue administering the colony until French officials arrived and formalized the transfer. The ceremony was conducted at the Cabildo in New Orleans on 30 November 1803, Spain was largely a benign absentee landlord administering it from Havana, Cuba, and contracting out governing to people from many nationalities as long as they swore allegiance to Spain. During the American War of Independence, the Spanish funneled their supplies to the American revolutionists through New Orleans, in keeping with being absentee landlords, Spanish efforts to turn Louisiana into a Spanish colony were usually fruitless. For instance, while Spanish officially was the language of government. Even official business conducted at the Cabildo often lapsed into French, when Alejandro OReilly re-established Spanish rule in 1769, he issued a decree on December 7,1769, which banned the trade of Native American slaves. Although there was no movement toward abolition of the African slave trade, Spanish rule introduced a new law called coartación, which allowed slaves to buy their freedom, and that of others. A group of maroons led by Jean Saint Malo resisted re-enslavement from their base in the swamps east of New Orleans between 1780 and 1784, on May 4,1795,57 slaves and three local white men were put on trial in Point Coupee. Spanish colonial officials divided Luisiana into Upper Louisiana and Lower Louisiana at 36°35 North, in 1764, French fur trading interests founded St. Louis in what was then known as the Illinois Country. The Spanish referred to St. Louis as the city of Illinois, in 1778, several ships embarked for Louisiana with hundreds of settlers. The ships made stops in Havana and Venezuela, where half the settlers disembarked, in the end, between 2,100 and 2,736 Canarians arrived in Louisiana and settled near New Orleans. They settled in Barataria and in what is today St. Bernard Parish, however, many settlers were relocated for various reasons. Barataria suffered hurricanes in 1779 and in 1780, it was abandoned, in 1782, a splinter group of the Canarian settlers in Saint Bernard emigrated to Valenzuela. In 1779, another ship with 500 people from Málaga, arrived in Spanish Louisiana and these colonists, led by Lt. Col. Francisco Bouligny, settled in New Iberia, where they intermarried with Cajun settlers. In 1782, during the American Revolutionary War and the Anglo-Spanish War, Bernardo de Gálvez recruited men from the Canarian settlements of Louisiana and Galveston to join his forces. They participated in three military campaigns, the Baton Rouge, the Mobile, and the Pensacola, which expelled the British from the Gulf Coast
4.
Desertion
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In military terminology, desertion is the abandonment of a duty or post without permission and is done with the intention of not returning. In contrast, unauthorized absence or absence without leave refers to a temporary absence, the United States Marine Corps, United States Navy, and United States Coast Guard generally refer to this as unauthorized absence or UA. Personnel are dropped from their unit rolls after thirty days and then listed as deserters, however, people who are away for more than thirty days but return voluntarily or indicate a credible intent to return may still be considered AWOL. Those who are away for fewer than thirty days but can credibly be shown to have no intent to return may nevertheless be tried for desertion, in rare occasions, they may be tried for treason if enough evidence is found. Missing movement is another term used to describe members of the armed forces fail to arrive at the appointed time to deploy with their assigned unit, ship. In the United States Armed Forces, this is a violation of the Article 87 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, the offense is similar to absence without leave but may draw more severe punishment. Failure to repair consists of missing a formation or failing to appear at an assigned place and it is a lesser offense within article 86 of the UCMJ. In 2011, Vienna decided to honour Austrian Wehrmacht deserters, in 2014, on October, 24th a Memorial for the Victims of Nazi Military Justice was inaugurated on Viennas Ballhausplatz by Austrias President Heinz Fischer. The monument was created by German artist Olaf Nicolai and is located opposite the Presidents office, the inscription on top of the three step sculpture features a poem by Scottish poet Ian Hamilton Finlay with just two words, all alone. During WWI approximately 600 French soldiers were executed for desertion, during WWI, only 18 Germans who deserted in the First World War were executed. In contrast of the Germans who deserted the Wehrmacht,15,000 men were executed, in June 1988 the Initiative for the Creation of a Memorial to Deserters came to life in Ulm. A central idea was, Desertion is not reprehensible, war is, during WWI a total of 28 New Zealand soldiers were sentenced to death for desertion, of these, five were executed. These soldiers were pardoned in 2000 through the Pardon for Soldiers of the Great War Act. Those who deserted before reaching the front were imprisoned in what were claimed to be harsh conditions, the execution of soldiers for desertion is controversial, particularly considering the age of some of the soldiers and the potential of shell-shock. 270, dated August 16,1941, was issued by Joseph Stalin, the order required superiors to shoot deserters on the spot. Their family members were subjected to arrest,227, dated July 28,1942, directed that each Army must create blocking detachments which would shoot cowards and fleeing panicked troops at the rear. During World War II, the Soviets executed 158,000 soldiers for desertion, analyses of desertion rates argue that motivations were far less ideological than individual accounts claim. Desertion rates increased prior to announcements of upcoming operations, and were highest during the summer and winter, seasonal desertions were probably a response to the harsh weather conditions of the winter and immense field work required in the summer
5.
Spanish Empire
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The Spanish Empire was one of the largest empires in history. The Spanish Empire became the foremost global power of its time and was the first to be called the empire on which the sun never sets, the Spanish Empire originated during the Age of Discovery after the voyages of Christopher Columbus. Following the Spanish–American War of 1898, Spain ceded its last colonies in the Caribbean and its last African colonies were granted independence or abandoned during Decolonisation of Africa finishing in 1976. The unity did not mean uniformity, nevertheless, some historians assert that Portugal was part of the Spanish monarchy at the time, while others draw a clear distinction between the Portuguese and Spanish empires. During the 15th century, Castile and Portugal became territorial and commercial rivals in the western Atlantic. The conquest was completed with the campaigns of the armies of the Crown of Castile between 1478 and 1496, when the islands of Gran Canaria, La Palma, and Tenerife were subjugated. The Portuguese tried in vain to keep secret their discovery of the Gold Coast in the Gulf of Guinea, chronicler Pulgar wrote that the fame of the treasures of Guinea spread around the ports of Andalusia in such way that everybody tried to go there. Worthless trinkets, Moorish textiles, and above all, shells from the Canary and Cape Verde islands were exchanged for gold, slaves, ivory and Guinea pepper. The Crown officially organized this trade with Guinea, every caravel had to get a government license, the treaty delimited the spheres of influence of the two countries, establishing the principle of the Mare clausum. It was confirmed in 1481 by the Pope Sixtus IV, in the papal bull Æterni regis, thus, the limitations imposed by the Alcáçovas treaty were overcome and a new and more balanced worlds division would be reached at Tordesillas between both emerging maritime powers. Seven months before the treaty of Alcaçovas, King John II of Aragon died, Ferdinand and Isabella drove the last Moorish king out of Granada in 1492 after a ten-year war. The Catholic Monarchs then negotiated with Christopher Columbus, a Genoese sailor attempting to reach Cipangu by sailing west, Castile was already engaged in a race of exploration with Portugal to reach the Far East by sea when Columbus made his bold proposal to Isabella. Columbus discoveries inaugurated the Spanish colonization of the Americas and these actions gave Spain exclusive rights to establish colonies in all of the New World from north to south, as well as the easternmost parts of Asia. The treaty of Tordesillas was confirmed by Pope Julius II in the bull Ea quae pro bono pacis on 24 January 1506, Spains expansion and colonization was driven by economic influences, a yearning to improve national prestige, and a desire to spread Catholicism into the New World. The Catholic Monarchs had developed a strategy of marriages for their children in order to isolate their long-time enemy, the Spanish princes married the heirs of Portugal, England and the House of Habsburg. Following the same strategy, the Catholic Monarchs decided to support the Catalan-Aragonese house of Naples against Charles VIII of France in the Italian Wars beginning in 1494. As King of Aragon, Ferdinand had been involved in the struggle against France and Venice for control of Italy, these conflicts became the center of Ferdinands foreign policy as king. Only a year later, Ferdinand became part of the Holy League against France and this war was less of a success than the war against Venice, and in 1516, France agreed to a truce that left Milan in its control and recognized Spanish control of Upper Navarre
6.
Manila galleon
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The name of the galleon changed to reflect the city that the ship sailed from. The term Manila Galleons is also used to refer to the route between Acapulco and Manila, which lasted from 1565 to 1815. The Manila Galleons were also known in New Spain as La Nao de la China because it carried largely Chinese goods, the Manila Galleon trade route was inaugurated in 1565 after Augustinian friar and navigator Andrés de Urdaneta discovered the tornaviaje or return route from the Philippines to Mexico. The first successful round trips were made by Urdaneta and by Alonso de Arellano that year, the route lasted until 1815 when the Mexican War of Independence ended Spanish control of Mexican ports. The Manila galleons sailed the Pacific for 250 years, bringing to Spain their cargoes of goods, economic benefits. In 1521, a Spanish expedition led by Ferdinand Magellan sailed west across the Pacific using the trade winds. The expedition discovered the Mariana Islands and the Philippines and claimed them for Spain, although Magellan died there, one of his ships made it back to Spain by continuing westward. In order to settle and trade with these islands from the Americas, the first ship to try this a few years later failed. In 1529, Álvaro de Saavedra Cerón also tried sailing east from the Philippines, in 1543, Bernardo de la Torre also failed. In 1542, however, Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo helped pave the way by sailing north from Mexico to explore the Pacific coast, reaching as far north as the Russian River, just north of the 38th parallel. The Manila-Acapulco galleon trade finally began when Spanish navigators Alonso de Arellano, sailing as part of the expedition commanded by Miguel López de Legazpi to conquer the Philippines in 1565, Arellano and Urdaneta were given the task of finding a return route. Most of his crew died on the initial voyage, for which they had not sufficiently provisioned. Arellano, who had taken a more southerly route, had already arrived, the English privateer Francis Drake also reached the California coast, in 1579. After capturing a Spanish ship heading for Manila, Drake turned north and he failed in that regard, but staked an English claim somewhere on the northern California coast. Although the ships log and other records were lost, the location is now called Drakes Bay. The first motivation for land exploration of present-day California was to scout out possible way-stations for the seaworn Manila galleons on the last leg of their journey. Early proposals came to little, but in 1769, the Portola expedition established Alta California ports at San Diego and Monterey, providing safe harbors for returning Manila galleons. In Manila, the safety of ocean crossings was commended to the virgin Nuestra Señora de la Soledad de Porta Vaga in masses held by the Archbishop of Manila
7.
Battle of New Orleans
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The Battle of New Orleans was an engagement fought between January 8 and January 18,1815, constituting the final major battle of the War of 1812, and the most one-sided battle of that war. Preventing access to the lakes was an American flotilla, commanded by Lieutenant Thomas ap Catesby Jones, on December 14, around 1,200 British sailors and Royal Marines under Captain Nicholas Lockyer set out to attack Jones force. Lockyers men sailed in 42 longboats, each armed with a small carronade, Lockyer captured Jones vessels in a brief engagement known as the Battle of Lake Borgne. 17 British sailors were killed and 77 wounded, while 6 Americans were killed,35 wounded, the wounded included both Jones and Lockyer. On the morning of December 23, Keane and a vanguard of 1,800 British soldiers reached the east bank of the Mississippi River,9 miles south of New Orleans. During the afternoon of December 23, after he had learned of the position of the British encampment, Andrew Jackson reportedly said and this intelligence had been provided by Colonel Thomas Hinds Squadron of Light Dragoons, a militia unit from the Mississippi Territory. That evening, attacking from the north, Jackson led 2,131 men in a brief three-pronged assault on the unsuspecting British troops, then Jackson pulled his forces back to the Rodriguez Canal, about 4 miles south of the city. The Americans suffered 24 killed,115 wounded, and 74 missing, while the British reported their losses as 46 killed,167 wounded, historian Robert Quimby says, the British certainly did win a tactical victory, which enabled them to maintain their position. However, Quimby goes on to say, It is not too much to say that it was the battle of December 23 that saved New Orleans, the British were disabused of their expectation of an easy conquest. The unexpected and severe attack made Keane even more cautious. he made no effort to advance on the twenty-fourth or twenty-fifth, as a consequence, the Americans were given time to begin the transformation of the canal into a heavily fortified earthwork. On Christmas Day, General Edward Pakenham arrived on the battlefield and that evening, General Pakenham met with General Keane and Admiral Cochrane for an update on the situation, angry with the position that the army had been placed in. General Pakenham wanted to use Chef Menteur Road as the route, but he was overruled by Admiral Cochrane. Admiral Cochrane believed the veteran British soldiers would easily destroy Jacksons ramshackle army, whatever Pakenhams thoughts on the matter, the meeting settled the method and place of the attack. When the British reconnaissance-in-force withdrew, the Americans immediately began constructing earthworks to protect the artillery batteries and these defenses were then christened Line Jackson. The Americans installed eight batteries, which included one 32-pound gun, Jackson also sent a detachment to the west bank of the Mississippi to man two 24-pounders and two 12-pounders on the grounded warship USS Louisiana. Even so, Jacksons force was outnumbered by the attacking forces. The main British army arrived on New Years Day 1815, and this began an exchange of artillery fire that continued for three hours. Several of the American guns were destroyed or silenced, including the 32-pounder, a 24-pounder, the British artillery finally exhausted its ammunition, which caused Pakenham to cancel the attack
8.
War of 1812
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Historians in the United States and Canada see it as a war in its own right, but the British often see it as a minor theatre of the Napoleonic Wars. By the wars end in early 1815, the key issues had been resolved, the view was shared in much of New England and for that reason the war was widely referred to there as Mr. Madison’s War. As a result, the primary British war goal was to defend their North American colonies, the war was fought in three theatres. Second, land and naval battles were fought on the U. S. –Canadian frontier, Third, large-scale battles were fought in the Southern United States and Gulf Coast. With the majority of its land and naval forces tied down in Europe fighting the Napoleonic Wars, early victories over poorly-led U. S. armies demonstrated that the conquest of the Canadas would prove more difficult than anticipated. Despite this, the U. S. was able to inflict serious defeats on Britains Native American allies, both governments were eager for a return to normality and peace negotiations began in Ghent in August 1814. This brought an Era of Good Feelings in which partisan animosity nearly vanished in the face of strengthened American nationalism, the war was also a major turning point in the development of the U. S. military, with militia being increasingly replaced by a more professional force. The U. S. also acquired permanent ownership of Spains Mobile District, the government of Canada declared a three-year commemoration of the War of 1812 in 2012, intended to offer historical lessons and celebrate 200 years of peace across the border. At the conclusion of the commemorations in 2014, a new national War of 1812 Monument was unveiled in Ottawa. The war is remembered in Britain primarily as a footnote in the much larger Napoleonic Wars occurring in Europe, historians have long debated the relative weight of the multiple reasons underlying the origins of the War of 1812. This section summarizes several contributing factors which resulted in the declaration of war by the United States, as Risjord notes, a powerful motivation for the Americans was the desire to uphold national honour in the face of what they considered to be British insults such as the Chesapeake–Leopard Affair. The approaching conflict was about violations of American rights, but it was also vindication of American identity. Americans at the time and historians since often called it the United States Second War of Independence, in 1807, Britain introduced a series of trade restrictions via a series of Orders in Council to impede neutral trade with France, with which Britain was at war. The United States contested these restrictions as illegal under international law, the American merchant marine had come close to doubling between 1802 and 1810, making it by far the largest neutral fleet. Britain was the largest trading partner, receiving 80% of U. S. cotton, the British public and press were resentful of the growing mercantile and commercial competition. The United States view was that Britains restrictions violated its right to trade with others, during the Napoleonic Wars, the Royal Navy expanded to 176 ships of the line and 600 ships overall, requiring 140,000 sailors to man. The United States believed that British deserters had a right to become U. S. citizens and this meant that in addition to recovering naval deserters, it considered any United States citizens who were born British liable for impressment. Aggravating the situation was the reluctance of the United States to issue formal naturalization papers and it was estimated by the Admiralty that there were 11,000 naturalized sailors on United States ships in 1805
9.
Jean Lafitte
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Jean Lafitte was a French pirate and privateer in the Gulf of Mexico in the early 19th century. He and his brother, Pierre, spelled their last name Laffite. The latter has become the common spelling in the United States, Lafitte is believed to have been born either in Basque-France or the French colony of Saint-Domingue. By 1805, he operated a warehouse in New Orleans to help disperse the goods smuggled by his brother Pierre Lafitte, after the United States government passed the Embargo Act of 1807, the Lafittes moved their operations to an island in Barataria Bay, Louisiana. By 1810, their new port was successful, the Lafittes pursued a successful smuggling operation. Later, in return for a pardon for the smugglers, Lafitte. The Lafittes became spies for the Spanish during the Mexican War of Independence and moved to Galveston Island, Texas, Lafitte continued attacking merchant ships as a pirate around Central American ports until he died circa 1823, trying to capture Spanish vessels. Speculation about his life and death continues among historians, a number of details about Jean Lafittes early life remain obscure - often they contradict each other. He and his brother Pierre alternately claimed to have born in Bayonne. Ramsay says, this was a convenient time to be a native of France, other contemporary accounts claim that Lafitte was born in Orduna, Spain or in Westchester, New York. Ramsay speculates that Lafitte was born in the French colony of Saint-Domingue, in the late 18th century, adult children of the French planters in Saint-Domingue often resettled along the Mississippi River in La Louisiane, especially in its largest city of New Orleans. He has found families with the surname Lafitte in Louisiana documents dating as early as 1765, according to Ramsay, Lafitte, his elder brother Pierre, and his widowed mother migrated from Saint-Domingue to New Orleans in the 1780s. In approximately 1784, his mother married Pedro Aubry - a New Orleans merchant -, Pierre was raised by extended family elsewhere in Louisiana. According to Ramsay, as a man, Lafitte likely spent much time exploring the wetlands. In later years, he was described as having an accurate knowledge of every inlet from the Gulf than any other man. His elder brother Pierre became a privateer, he may have operated from Saint-Domingue, Lafitte likely helped his brother to sell or trade the captured merchandise. By 1805 he was thought to be running a warehouse in New Orleans, the biographer William C. Davis reports a different childhood for Lafitte. According to his book, Lafitte was born in or near Pauillac, France, the couple had six children, including at least three daughters
10.
St. Louis Cathedral (New Orleans)
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The Cathedral-Basilica of Saint Louis, King of France, also called St. Louis Cathedral, is the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans and is the oldest cathedral in the United States. The first church on the site was built in 1718, the third, the cathedral was expanded and largely rebuilt in 1850, with little of the 1789 structure remaining. It is located next to Jackson Square and facing the Mississippi River in the heart of New Orleans and it is one of the few Roman Catholic churches in the United States that fronts a major public square. Three Roman Catholic churches have stood on the site since 1718, the first was a crude wooden structure in the early days of the colony. Construction of a brick and timber church was begun in 1725 and was completed in 1727. Along with numerous buildings, the church was destroyed in the Great New Orleans Fire on Good Friday. The cornerstone of a new church was laid in 1789 and the building was completed in 1794, in 1793 Saint Louis Church was elevated to cathedral rank as the See of the Diocese of New Orleans, making it one of the oldest cathedrals in the United States. In 1819, a tower with the clock and bell was added. Enlarging the building to meet the needs of the congregation had been pondered since 1834. De Pouilly also designed St. Augustine Church in Tremé, the first church building dedicated as a church outside the French Quarter. On March 12,1849, the diocese contracted with John Patrick Kirwan to enlarge and restore the cathedral and these specified that everything except the lateral walls and the lower portions of the existing towers on the front facade be demolished. During the reconstruction, it was determined that the sidewalls would have to be demolished also, then, during construction in 1850, the central tower collapsed. De Pouilly and Kirwan were replaced, as a consequence, very little of the Spanish Colonial structure survived. The present structure dates to 1850. The bell from the 1819 tower was reused in the new building, during the renovation, St. Patricks Church served as the pro-cathedral for the city. On April 25,1909, a bomb was set off in the cathedral, blowing out windows. The following year a portion of the foundation collapsed, necessitating the buildings closure while repairs were made, the cathedral was designated as a minor basilica by Pope Paul VI in 1964. Pope John Paul II visited the cathedral in September 1987, today the parish has over 6000 members
11.
Jackson Square (New Orleans)
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Jackson Square is a historic park in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana. In 2012 the American Planning Association designated Jackson Square as one of America’s Great Public Spaces, Jackson Square was designed after the famous 17th-century Place des Vosges in Paris, France, by the architect and landscape architect Louis H. Pilié. Jackson Square is roughly the size of a city block, sculptor Clark Mills equestrian statue of Andrew Jackson, Battle of New Orleans hero and U. S. President for whom the former military parade ground was named, was erected in 1856. Iron fences, walkways, benches, and Parisian-style landscaping remain intact from the design by Micaela Almonester, Baroness de Pontalba. She also built the Pontalba Buildings, which flank the old square, the flagpole, symbolizing the 1803 ceremonial transfers from Spain to France and then from France to the United States, reflects Louisianas rich colonial history. During the 1930s, the Works Progress Administration repainted façades, renovated buildings, in 1971, the pedestrian zone in the vicinity of Jackson Square was created, when three surrounding streets were closed to vehicular traffic — Chartres, St. Peter, and St. Ann. Early French colonial New Orleans was centered on what was called the Place dArmes. Under Spanish colonial administration in the half of the 18th century. Following the 1815 Battle of New Orleans, during the first half of the 19th century, in the center of the park stands an equestrian statue of Andrew Jackson erected in 1856, one of four identical statues in the U. S. by the sculptor Clark Mills. The square also has 4 slightly older statues, neoclassical representations of personifications of the 4 Seasons, the square originally overlooked the Mississippi River across Decatur Street, but the view was blocked in the 19th century by the construction of higher levees. The riverfront was long devoted to shipping docks, the space between Decatur Street and the Moon Walk is designated as Washington Artillery Park. On the north side of the square are three 18th-century historic buildings, which were the heart in the colonial era. The center of the three is St. Louis Cathedral, the cathedral was designated as a minor Basilica by Pope Paul VI. To its left is the Cabildo, the old city hall, now a museum, to the cathedrals right is the Presbytère, built to match the Cabildo. The Presbytère was initially planned for housing the citys Roman Catholic priests, at the start of the 19th century, it was adapted as a courthouse, and in the 20th century it became a museum. The Place dArmes was the site for execution of criminals and rebellious slaves during the 18th. After the 1811 German Coast Uprising, three slaves were hanged here, the heads of some of the executed rebels were put on the citys gates. In the Reconstruction Era, Jackson Square served as an arsenal, during the insurrection following the disputed 1872 gubernatorial election, in March 1873, it was the site of the Battle of Jackson Square
12.
Lafcadio Hearn
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In the United States, Hearn is also known for his writings about the city of New Orleans based on his ten-year stay in that city. Hearn was born in and named after the island of Lefkada, one of the Greek Ionian Islands and he was the son of Surgeon-Major Charles Bush Hearn and Rosa Antoniou Kassimatis, a Greek woman of noble Kytheran lineage through her father, Anthony Kassimatis. His father was stationed in Lefkada during the British occupation of the islands, Lafcadio was baptized Patricios Lefcadios Hearn in the Greek Orthodox Church, but he seems to have been called Patrick Lefcadio Kassimati Charles Hearn in English. George Hearn died on 17 August 1850, two months after Lafcadios birth, in 1850 Hearns father was promoted to Staff Surgeon Second Class and was reassigned from Lefkada to the British West Indies. In 1852, he arranged to send his son and wife to live with his family in Dublin, Ireland, Charles Hearns mother, Elizabeth Holmes Hearn, had difficulty accepting Rosa Hearns Catholicism and lack of education. Despite Sarah Brenanes efforts, Rosa suffered from homesickness, when her husband returned to Ireland on medical leave in 1853, it became clear that the couple had become estranged. Charles Hearn was assigned to the Crimean Peninsula, again leaving his pregnant wife, when he came back in 1856, severely wounded and traumatized, Rosa had returned to her home island of Cerigo in Greece, where she gave birth to their third son, Daniel James Hearn. Lafcadio had been left in the care of Sarah Brenane, Charles Hearn petitioned to have the marriage with Rosa annulled, on the basis of her lack of signature on the marriage contract, which made it invalid under English law. After being informed of the annulment, Rosa almost immediately married Giovanni Cavallini, Cavallini required as a condition of the marriage that Rosa give up custody of both Lafcadio and James. As a result, James was sent to his father in Dublin, neither Lafcadio nor James saw their mother again, who had four children with her second husband. Rosa was eventually committed to the National Mental Asylum on Corfu, Charles Hearn, who had left Lafcadio in the care of Sarah Brenane for the past 4 years, now appointed her as Lafcadios permanent guardian. He married his sweetheart, Alicia Goslin, in July 1857, and left with his new wife for a posting in Secunderabad. Lafcadio never saw his father again, Charles Hearn died of malaria in the Gulf of Suez in 1866, in 1857, at age seven and despite the fact that both his parents were still alive, Hearn became the permanent ward of his great aunt, Sarah Brenane. She divided her residency between Dublin in the months, her husbands estate at Tramore, County Waterford on the southern Irish coast. Brenane also engaged a tutor during the year to provide basic instruction. Hearn began exploring Brenanes library and read extensively in Greek literature, Hearn became fluent in French and would later translate into English the works of Guy de Maupassant, who coincidentally attended the school shortly after Hearns departure. In 1863, again at the suggestion of Molyneux, Hearn was enrolled at St. Cuthberts College, Ushaw, in this environment, Hearn adopted the nickname Paddy to try to fit in better, and was the top student in English composition for three years. At age 16, while at Ushaw, Hearn injured his eye in a schoolyard mishap
