Mardi Gras in Mobile, Alabama Biloxi became the second capital of Louisiana, and also celebrated French customs. Due to fear of tides and hurricanes, in 1723, the capital was moved to New Orleans, founded in 1718. That city also later started a Mardi Gras celebration. In 1763, Mobile came under British control. Its restrictions on free blacks and racial segregation caused many Creoles to leave Mobile and move west towards New Orleans. In 1780, Spain took control of the Mobile area in the aftermath of the American Revolution. The Carnival celebration incorporated the Spanish custom of torch-lit parades on Twelfth Night (January 6, also known
Convention of 1800 This led to the Quasi-War of 1798–1800; largely dismantled after independence, the US Navy was quickly re-established and gained the upper hand, with limited support from the British Royal Navy. Despite this, President John Adams continued to seek a diplomatic solution; in addition to the cost of the Quasi-War, the US was increasingly concerned by French ambitions in North America. France ceded Louisiana-New Spain to Spain by the 1763 Treaty of Paris; combined with Spanish Florida, Spain controlled the Mississippi River basin (see Map), effectively blocking US expansion to the South and West. Efforts to manage this through diplomacy, including