Most of the French-claimed territory to the…
1756 CE to 1767 CE
Most of the French-claimed territory to the east of the Mississippi is lost to the Kingdom of Great Britain in the French and Indian War, except for the area around New Orleans and the parishes around Lake Pontchartrain.
By the Treaty of Paris of 1763 ending the Seven Years War, the defeated French, ousted completely from eastern and northern North America, are able to transfer ownership of the Trans-Mississippian lands of Louisiana to Spain, along with the rapidly growing port of New Orleans.
Settlements in 1763, from New Orleans to Pointe Coupee (north of Baton Rouge) include 3,654 free persons and 4,598 enslaved persons.
Despite the fact that it is the Spanish government that now rules Louisiana, the pace of francophone immigration to the territory increases swiftly, due to another significant aftereffect of the French and Indian War.
Several thousand French-speaking refugees from the region of Acadia (now Nova Scotia, Canada) make their way to Louisiana after being expelled from their home territory by the newly ascendant British.
The first group of around 200 arrives in 1765, led by Joseph Broussard, aka "Beausoleil".
They settle chiefly in the southwestern Louisiana region now called Acadiana.
The Acadian refugees are welcomed by the Spanish, and their descendants will come to be called Cajuns.