The people of the new possessions had been governed by the whims of Spanish officers, and it was no reflection on them to say that a people accustomed to a military despotism was not prepared to suddenly receive the principles of our government. "These people can be made happy without extending to them all our privileges. What they need is not the extension to them of the theory of liberty, but the just operation of equal laws, and, if they could obtain practical justice, they would care little about our elementary political principles. The Council was rightly appointed by the President so that the government was not completely in the hands of the Governor."

The benefits which would come to the people of Louisiana were presented at considerable length: The people who had just thrown off their chains were not qualified to make laws. Law-making is a difficult process and these people knew nothing about the Constitution. They would be a hindrance in law-making. The object of the act was to extend the laws of the United States over Louisiana, not to enable the people of Louisiana to make the laws. So that this act instead of being despotic conferred important privileges. None but a virtuous and enlightened people is capable of self-government and the people of Louisiana were not yet ready for it. They were prepared to remain. in a passive state and to receive the blessings of the good laws; and if they receive these, they have no reason to complain. But even this bill would place them in better condition than those who were under the first grade of territorial government, because, under the first grade, the governor and judges have all the power, while here it is shared by thirteen counsellors. It would be time to give the people more power when they understood the principles of a free government and had a stronger attachment for the Union.

There were several changes in the draft of the bill, but its general features remained. It was finally passed, March, 1804, and gave to these people, to whom had been promised

liberty and equality, a government as despotic as anything that they had ever endured from Spain, but fortunately this provisional government was limited to one year. The men appointed to fill the executive positions were not qualified for them and the task of finding men who would accept positions as members of the Legislative Council proved to be very difficult; but this was after a time accomplished and the new government began its work.

Claiborne and Wilkinson despised the Creoles over whom they ruled and made no attempt to understand their language or institutions. This feeling of dislike was cordially reciprocated by the Creoles. The Spanish language disappeared from the courts, and American lawyers tried to administer Spanish law about which they were profoundly ignorant.

The Legislative Council convened in New Orleans in December, 1804, and in the same month a remonstrance was laid before Congress by the leading citizens of Louisiana. This instrument recited the joy which they felt at the time of the cession because there was held out to them the prospect of soon becoming American citizens. This implied. to them all that they could desire, and, among other blessings, the privilege of a free representative government. Many inconveniences had followed the transfer, such as a single magistrate with absolute power, the suspension of the forms of law to which they were accustomed, the introduction of a new language into the administration of justice and the errors which resulted because the judges did not know by what code they were to decide and were uncertain whether to follow the French, Spanish, or American forms of jurisprudence. They had submitted to all these annoyances, thinking them a necessary part of the transfer, but the law finally passed for the government of the Territory was contrary to the letter and spirit of the treaty. It did not incorporate them into the Union, nor did it give them the rights and immunities of American citizens, and it was inconsistent with every principle of civil liberty. The

law was in direct opposition to the principles enumerated in the Declaration of Independence. It was taxation without representation, an obligation to obey laws in whose forming they had no voice. It meant the undue influence of the executive and a dependent judiciary.

They claimed that they should not be excluded from these privileges because they had not hitherto enjoyed them; that should rather be a reason for haste in giving them. There was no promise of what might happen when the year of despotism should be over. The people had been greatly misrepresented as to their ability to make a proper use of freedom. It would be impossible for the President to select the right men for councillors. It would be much better to have these officials selected by the people themselves, who were the best judges of what they needed. The stories that the people were so ignorant that they could not govern themselves were base calumnies. There were many in the Territory who had been citizens of the United States; others who were among the first settlers were men of property, rank, and liberal education. The first establishment of Louisiana was on an equality with any other settlement in America as regards the respectability and information of those who composed it, and their descendants had not degenerated. The people were law-abiding as shown by the way in which they had passed through the late change of ownership.

It was the opinion of those making this remonstrance that the division of the Territory into two parts would better have been deferred till a greater population made it necessary. The prohibition of the African slave trade was a great injustice; this matter should have been left for the Territory itself to decide, for the prohibition entailed peculiar hardships upon Louisiana because of its tropical climate, and more than that, "the waters of the Mississippi need to be kept in by banks which can only be repaired by those whose natural constitution and habits of labor enable them to resist the combined effects of a deleterious moisture

and a degree of heat intolerable to whites. This labor is great, requires many hands and is important to the very existence of our country. Unless this is permitted, cultivation must cease and the great river resume its empire over our ruined fields and demolished habitations."

The petitioners did not think that these evils had been brought about through any desire on the part of the United States to be oppressive, but only on account of insufficient information and prejudiced reports, and that the nation would quickly right these wrongs as soon as they were made known.

These complaints were considered by Congress and as a result the people of the Territory of Orleans obtained a government like that of the Territory of Mississippi. This placed Orleans on the same footing as the other Territories. The people of the Territory were promised that Orleans should become a State when its population became sixty thousand.

This reorganized government, established March 2, 1805, was composed of a governor holding office for three years and a secretary of state for four, both appointed by the president, subject to the approval of the Senate; of a Legislative Council made up of five men, chosen by the president from candidates presented by the House of Representatives of the Territory, and a House of Representatives consisting of twenty-five members elected for two years by the people.

During the Territorial period a large number of penal laws were enacted, of which the following are worthy of notice: Stealing a slave, horse, or mule was punished by flogging and hard labor. The penalty for petty larceny was also flogging. Anyone guilty of forgery was to be condemned to hard labor for life. Perjury was punished by hard labor for a term of years and being placed in the pillory for two hours once in each year of imprisonment. Whoever in a quarrel deprived another of nose, tongue, eye, or ear might be made to pay a fine of $1,000 and be

sentenced to seven years of hard labor. Duellists were punishable by a fine of $500 and imprisonment for not more than two years.

Another interesting law related to vagabonds. A vagabond was defined as a person who, being able to work, lived in idleness without any settled habitation; or one who frequented drinking or gaming houses, and refused to give an account of his means of living, or could not bring credible witnesses to testify to his character. Vagabonds were required to give bonds for their good behavior, and if unable to do so, might be imprisoned for a month at hard labor. Anyone harboring a vagabond was liable to a fine not exceeding $500.

The Black Code is of special interest because it shows the effort of the Territorial Legislature to protect the negro from inhuman treatment by his master. Some of the more significant provisions of this code which required humane treatment of the slave were these: Each slave must have a barrel of corn and a pint of salt per month; a shirt and a pair of cotton pantaloons for the summer; a flannel shirt, a pair of woolen pantaloons, and a cap for winter, and a piece of ground to cultivate. Masters were required to care for the infirm, aged, and the blind. Children under ten years were not allowed to be sold apart from their mothers.

A master who ill-treated his slaves, or refused them necessary food and clothing, might be prosecuted on the information of one or more persons before a justice of the peace, and be condemned to pay a fine of $25 for every such offence. A master punishing his slaves with barbarity was liable to a fine of from $200 to $300.

There are also sections in the Black Code which show the constant fear on the part of the whites that a revolt might occur among the slaves. Slaves were forbidden to carry arms, or to hunt without permission from their masters. Any person finding a slave at a distance from his master's plantation might stop him and punish or even kill