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The state has been governed under ten different flags beginning in 1541 with
Hernando de Soto's claim of the region for Spain. La Salle later claimed it
for Bourbon France and over the years Louisiana was at one time or another
subject to the Union Jack of Great Britain, the Tricolor of Napoleon, the
Lone Star flag of the Republic of West Florida and the fifteen stars and stripes
of the United States. In 1803, Louisiana had become a part of the United States because of the region's importance to the trade and security of the American mid-west. New Orleans and the surrounding territory controlled the mouth of the Mississippi River down which much of the produce of the mid-west travelled to reach market. To get the vital region in American hands, President Thomas Jefferson negotiated the Louisiana Purchase with Napoleon.
The New Orleans, the first steamboat to navigate the Mississippi River, arrived at New Orleans from Pittsburgh on January 10, 1812, thereby opening the river to even more commerce.
Through much of its early history Louisiana was a trading and financial center, and the fertility of its land made it one of the richest regions in America as first indigo then sugar and cotton rose to prominence in world markets. Many Louisiana planters were among the wealthiest men in America.
The plantation economy was shattered by the Civil War although the state continued to be a powerful agricultural region. The discovery of sulphur in 1869 and oil in 1901, coupled with the rise of forestry sent the state on a new wave of economic growth.
The era of the modern Port of New Orleans began in 1879 with the construction of jetties in South Pass, one of three passes that flow from the river into the gulf. Sandbars had formed at intervals in these passes and had hindered ships entering the river since the city's founding. The jetties narrowed South Pass, forcing the river to cut a deeper channel to a depth of 30 feet (9 metres).