Colonial history of the United States Lower Louisiana. This vast tract was first settled at Mobile and Biloxi around 1700, and continued to grow when 7,000 French immigrants founded New Orleans in 1718. Settlement proceeded very slowly; New Orleans became an important port as the gateway to the Mississippi River, but there was little other economic development because the city lacked a prosperous hinterland. In 1763, Louisiana was ceded to Spain around New Orleans and west of the Mississippi River. In the 1780s, the western border of the newly independent United States stretched to the Mississippi River. The United States reached an agreement with Spain for
1922 in France representative of France had refused to sign this statement, insisting that no reduction of the figure of reparations could be considered until some arrangement had been made among the Allies by which France herself should be relieved of part of her debt to England and the United States. In home affairs, Parliament finally passed the eighteen months' service bill. The commercial difficulties with Spain were settled. The Poincaré ministry, though often assailed, remained unshaken. A new scheme of secondary education was introduced by the minister of education, Léon Bérard. The Poincaré cabinet also made efforts to refloat the Banque Industrielle