Map Pontchratrain Basin Isle of Orleans 1880

Île d'Orléans ( French for "Isle of Orleans") was the historic name for the

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

area, in present-day

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

, U.S.A. In 1762,

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, anticipating that

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

would take

at the end of the

French and Indian War The French and Indian War, 1754 to 1763, was a colonial conflict in North America between Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of France, France, along with their respective Native Americans in the United States, Native American ...

, in the Treaty of Fontainebleau transferred to

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

all of Louisiana west of the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...

, as well as a newly-defined area east of the Mississippi which included

, called the Isle of Orleans. As the French had expected, in the

Treaty of Paris (1763) The Treaty of Paris, also known as the Treaty of 1763, was signed on 10 February 1763 by the kingdoms of Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain, Kingdom of France, France and Spanish Empire, Spain, with Kingdom of Portugal, Portugal in agree ...

the British took all of

east of the Mississippi, except for the Isle of Orleans, and incorporated it into their colony of

West Florida West Florida () was a region on the northern coast of the Gulf of Mexico that underwent several boundary and sovereignty changes during its history. Great Britain established West and East Florida in 1763 out of land acquired from France and S ...

, with the

capital Capital and its variations may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** Capital region, a metropolitan region containing the capital ** List of national capitals * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Econom ...

Pensacola Pensacola ( ) is a city in the Florida panhandle in the United States. It is the county seat and only city in Escambia County. The population was 54,312 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Pensacola metropolitan area, which ha ...

, and further to the north into their new British

Province of Quebec Quebec is Canada's largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, New Brunswick to the southeast and a coastal border ...

. Spanish possession of Louisiana west of the Mississippi River, and of the Isle of Orleans, was also confirmed in the Treaty of Paris. The Isle of Orleans was bounded by the

, the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico () is an oceanic basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, mostly surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north, and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States; on the southw ...

, Lakes Pontchartrain and Maurepas, the

Amite River The Amite River () is a tributary of Lake Maurepas in Mississippi and Louisiana in the United States. It is about long. It starts as two forks in southwestern Mississippi and flows south through Louisiana, passing Greater Baton Rouge, Louisia ...

, and Bayou Manchac, previously known as Iberville River. The Isle of Orleans was included in the 1803

Louisiana Purchase The Louisiana Purchase () was the acquisition of the Louisiana (New France), territory of Louisiana by the United States from the French First Republic in 1803. This consisted of most of the land in the Mississippi River#Watershed, Mississipp ...

. It formed the southern border of the short-lived

Republic of West Florida The Republic of West Florida (, ), officially the State of Florida, was a short-lived unrecognized republic in the western region of Spanish West Florida for just over months during 1810. In December, 1810, the United States occupied and an ...

, a few years later.

References

* Leroy E. Willie, ''The West Florida Revolution Controversy: 1810,'' self-published, 2007 (available from the Louisiana chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution) * * Stanley Clisby Arthur, ''The Story of the West Florida Revolution,'' Claitor's Publishing * Samuel C. Hyde, ''Consolidating the Revolution: Factionalism and Finesse in the West Florida Revolt, 1810'' Louisiana History, Summer 2010 {{DEFAULTSORT:Ile D'orleans, Louisiana French-American culture in Louisiana Pre-statehood history of Louisiana History of New Orleans