| South America & Caribbean:Previous Hispanola: 1788 As the numbers of free mulattoes increases, white planters began to restrict more than their trades and employment. In 1788 they must now file a permit to conduct any trade other than farming. They cannot legally enter France, are denied the right of assembly, are refused noble status and barred from the regular army.Next |
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| **North America:**The U. S. Constitution becomes law. Marietta, Ohio is the first permanent settlement on the river and Cincinnati has its start. Dubuque, Iowa is a small settlement begun by a French trapper. New Jersey inventor improves steam engine for boats. Riots and death in New York when doctors rob graves to study cadavers. |
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| Europe: Carlos III of Spain dies. His enlightened reign is followed by the corrupt Carlos IV. France in economic chaos, sales in grain are confined to domestic markets, but shipments are seized by peasants. First practical steamboat in Scotland. Non-fiction by Madame de Stael; painting by Jacques Louis David, Zoffany. The Times of London. |
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January 1788  Spanish Officials: Alcaldes Ordinarios Primer -Joseph Foucher Segundo - Antonio Argote. Sindico Procurador General Antonio Bienville Mayordomo de Proprios Matias Alpuente. Antonio Bienvenu never attends and is replaced by his brother Juan, called his deputy. Luis Liotau is chosen for a new, third Cabildo escribano post. January 18, 1788; Carlos de Reggio becomes Alf�rez Real of New Orleans, inheriting the post from his father Francisco who died October 7, 1787. He will renounce his post on March 16, 1790. |
February 1788 |
March 1788 March 21, 1788The first Great Fire of New Orleans destroys 856 buildings out of 1,100. It destroys the first Cabildo, a modest colombage (brick between wooden posts) building. The Good Friday fire originates in the house of Army treasurer Don Jose Vicente Nu�ez at 619 Chartres Street, less than a block from the Place d’Armas (Jackson Square) and the Cabildo. Buildings remaining include the Customs House, Government House the two hospitals (Royal and Charity) and military, customs and tobacco warehouses, the Ursuline Convent and about 200 houses.The two fire engines are operational but the flames consume them. Many of the homeless moved out of the city temporarily or permanently. Governor Estaban Rodriguez Miro quickly sets up tents and provides food and other supplies. Much of the city will be rebuilt by 1791 except for several major buildings. The fires destroy most of the primitive structures of the French colony and the Spanish replace them with courtyards, thick walls and arcades to protect from the heat. Many documents containing personal endorsements and certifications of nobility and purity of blood were lost when the church and casa capitular burned down. New personal endorsements were made as written testimonials of character, service and status in the colony. The first casa capitular is destroyed in the fire and the Cabildo meets in the Casa del Gobierno (Government House) which is located on the Plaza de Armas near the river, until the Cabildo is begun by Almonester in 1796. |
April 1788 |
May 1788 May 10, 1788; Governor Estaban Rodriguez Miro will hold the office of Intendant until December 30, 1791 when Carondelet takes over and continues holding both offices. |
June 1788 |
July 1788 |
August 1788 |
September 1788 |
October 1788 In October 1788 the crown finally answers the Cabildo and orders the total withdrawal of paper money in the colony. However, in an unexpected move it seizes 170,000 of the 200,000 pesos earmarked to redeem the paper money and gives it to the Condesa de Galvez, the former governor’s widow who now lives in Madrid. Louisiana’s paper money remains in circulation for several more years. In October 1788 the council discovers that the city cemetery is filled. At this time it is near the center of the city and poses a future health hazard. A new site, three hundred feet by three hundred feet, is located behind the Charity Hospital and enclosed by a fence of stakes. The old cemetery would remain undisturbed until the Cabildo received royal permission to build on it. It receives consent in August 1789, but waits at least seven more years before any disinterments. |
November 1788 |
December 1788 |
| Population of Louisiana: 19,945 whites, 21,465 slaves, 1,701 free persons of color. |
 Almonester donates a small brick house at 919 Royal Street to be used as a school house. By the American era it is known as the Spanish School. In 1804 it becomes the first home of the U. S. Circuit Court where in 1815 Andrew Jackson will be fined $1000 for declaring martial law during the Battle of New Orleans. In 1805 it serves Philander Chase as the site of the first Protestant sermon in the Louisiana territory. The building is sold at a public auction in 1827 and is replaced by another building in 1888. Eight private schools operating in New Orleans enroll approximately 400 students. More will open in the 1790s with the arrival of refugees . Beltram Gravier, who owns the land closest upriver from the French Quarter subdivides his land and names it Villa Gravier. Later it was named Faubourg St. Mary, but is now called the Central Business District. His development of the land begins soon after the fire of 1788. Lafayette Square, planned in New Orleans as a public place for Faubourg Ste. Marie, the city’s first suburb. This square honors American Revolutionary War Hero, Marie Joseph Paul Ives Roch Gilbert Du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette. He declined the invitation to become the first Governor when the United States purchased Louisiana. During his April 9-15, 1825, visit to the city of New Orleans, his popularity was evidenced by resounding cheers of Vive Lafayette! |
In 1788 the Cabildo formalizes its system for licensing physicians. The examination will be conducted by two councilors, two physicians and all of the city’s surgeons. Joseph Labru de la Gardelle is the first to pass the exam. |
The Cabildo commissions regidore Carlos de Reggio to order firefighting equipment 60 leather buckets, two large hook and chain grapples and six wooden handled gaffs. Four fire pumps are requested from the Captain-General in Havana, but it was ignored. The ships that Estaban Rodriguez Miro sends to Philadelphia for flour after the fire in 1788 will begin direct trade with the Americans. Most of the flour will come down the Mississippi River from western settlements on the Ohio. Next year the Spanish crown decrees to let American goods paying a tax come down the river, assuring a constant supply of flour during the early 1790s. |
ARRIVALS DEATHS Charles III of Spain BIRTHS | |
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