Editorial

Thursday is the 226th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence and it is certainly a day for celebration. Never before had such a statement of basic human rights been issued, stating to the world that humanity possesses certain unalienable rights which no government should be allowed to deny without due process.

Prior to this, the American colonies were subject to the whims of the British Crown and individual liberty was subject to the moods of a king an ocean away.

We in Louisiana celebrate the Fourth of July as we should – with recollection of the sacrifices made by those colonists and citizen-soldiers and the incredible work in crafting this form of government which has sustained the United States for all these years.

We might also recall Nov. 1, 1768.

It was on that date when, chafing under a similar situation with the King of Spain, colonists led by civic leaders in the River Parishes expelled the Spanish governor, Ulloa, from New Orleans.

That short-lived revolution lasted only until Aug. 28, 1769. The Spanish remained in charge until Louisiana was ceded to France on Oct. 1, 1800 (by secret treaty and received on Nov. 30, 1803), and then to the new United States on Dec. 30, 1803.

Next year, Louisiana will celebrate its bicentennial as part of the United States. However, it might be good, from time to time, when Louisiana stood alone as its own nation, free from foreign rule, and as the first European colony to snap the chains of overseas rule, even for nine months and 28 days.

That was the time when a group of River Parishes planters rose up, took up arms and tossed out foreign rule to stand as free Louisianians.

It was a lesson in what a group of determined colonists were capable of doing, for it took only seven more years until the idea caught on in the British colonies and the American Revolution was born.

Nov. 1 this year marks the 234th anniversary of the Louisiana Revolution. It was a lesson in courage, patriotism and ideals. And it started here – in the River Parishes.

L’Observateur