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
The Bible in Spain The Bible in Spain The Bible in Spain, published in London in 1843, was a popular work by the British writer George Borrow (1803–1881). It ran through several editions. The book relates Borrow's travels through Spain while working as a Bible salesman between 1835 and 1838, during the Carlist Civil War. His activities were on behalf of the Bible Society, and encountered much opposition from the Roman Catholic Church and many national and local politicians. Borrow's book, "a song of wild Spain", was based on journals and notes he kept at the time, upon which he also drew for his