Claiborne Made Governor.

Wilkinson, now commander of the American army,—­the most disgraceful head it has ever had—­was entrusted with the governorship of all of Upper Louisiana.  Claiborne was made governor of Lower Louisiana, officially styled the Territory of Orleans.  He was an honest man, loyal to the Union, but had no special qualifications for getting on well with the Creoles.  He could not speak French, and he regarded the people whom he governed with a kindly contempt which they bitterly resented.  The Americans, pushing and masterful, were inclined to look down on their neighbours, and to treat them overbearingly; while the Creoles in their turn disliked the Americans as rude and uncultivated barbarians.  For some time they felt much discontent with the United States; nor was this discontent allayed when in 1804 the territory of Orleans was reorganized with a government much less liberal than that enjoyed by Indiana or Mississippi; nor even when in 1805 an ordinary territorial government was provided.  A number of years were to pass before Louisiana felt itself, in fact no less than in name, part of the Union.

    New Orleans Offers a Field For Sedition.

Naturally there was a fertile field for seditious agitation in New Orleans, a city of mixed population, where the numerically predominant race felt a puzzled distrust for the nation of which it suddenly found itself an integral part, and from past experience firmly believed in the evanescent nature of any political connection it might have, whether with Spain, France, or the United States.  The Creoles murmured because they were not given the same privileges as American citizens in the old States, and yet showed themselves indifferent to such privileges as they were given.  They were indignant because the National Government prohibited the importation of slaves into Louisiana, and for the moment even the transfer thither of slaves from the old States—­a circumstance, by the way, which curiously illustrated the general dislike and disapproval of slavery then felt, even by an administration under Southern control.  The Creoles further complained of Claiborne’s indifference to their wishes; and as he possessed little tact he also became embroiled with the American inhabitants, who were men of adventurous and often lawless temper, impatient of restraint.  Representatives of the French and Spanish governments still remained in Louisiana, and by their presence and their words tended to keep alive a disaffection for the United States Government.  It followed from these various causes that among all classes there was a willingness to talk freely of their wrongs and to hint at righting them by methods outlined with such looseness as to make it uncertain whether they did or did not comport with entire loyalty to the United States Government.

    The Filibusters.