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
Battle of Milazzo (1718) Battle of Milazzo (1718) The Battle of Milazzo was fought on October 15, 1718 near the city of Milazzo in Sicily, Italy between Spain and Austria as part of the War of the Quadruple Alliance. Frustrated by the loss of his Italian possessions after the War of the Spanish Succession, King Philip V of Spain had invaded Sardinia, now in Austrian possession in August 1717 and Sicily, which had been awarded to the Duke of Savoy, in July 1718. He was taking advantage of the power vacuum in France after the death of Louis XIV, and the fact that Austria