 french colonial period 16991763  french colonial period 16991763 osarep fri 4092010 1245  1682  robert cavelier sieur de  la salle  16431687 reconnoitered the mississippi river from the great lakes locating its deltaic mouth on the  gulf of mexico  in april 1682 he claimed for france the vast area between the rocky mountains and the alleghenies drained by the mississippi and all of its tributaries we know this territory as  louisiana  ie belonging to king louis xiv of france la salle called the great river colbert in honor of the french minister of marine  1699  on february pierre le moyne sieur d iberville 16611706 french canadian soldier of fortune anchored his small exploratory fleet at ship island canadian and french soldiers led by iberville in the service of king louis xiv of france commenced the construction of fort maurepas at present day ocean springs mississippi in early april fort maurepas was named to honor the french minister of the marine navy jerome phelypeaux de maurepas comte earl de pontchartrain several locales in north america bear the name maurepas or pontchartrain lakes maurepas and pontchartrain in southeastern louisiana and point maurepas on the island of michipicoten ontario in lake superior the fort maurepas settlement was also called biloxi for the local siouxan indian tribe which lived on the pascagoula river iberville and fleet departed ship island for france in may he left a garrison of seventysix men and ten officers under sauvolle at fort maurepas  1700   1701  iberville ordered fort maurepas to be abandoned on december 17 1701  1702 fort maurepas was abandoned in the early months of 1702 as jeanbaptiste le moyne 16801768 sieur de bienville removed the french garrison to dauphin island  1719  french move louisiana colony government to old biloxi now ocean springs  1721  french move louisiana colony government to new biloxi now biloxi  1722  french move louisiana colony government to new orleans on the mississippi river  1763 british colonial period 17631780  the treaty of paris often called the peace of paris or the treaty of 1763 was signed on february 10 1763 by the kingdoms of great britain france and spain with portugal in agreement together with the treaty of hubertusburg it ended the french and indian war or seven years war 1 the treaties marked the beginning of an extensive period of british dominance outside of europe 2 while the bulk of conquered territories were restored to their prewar owners the british made some substantial overseas gains at the expense of france and to a lesser extent spain 3 preferring to keep guadaloupe france gave up new france canada and all of its claims to the territory east of the mississippi river to britain spain ceded florida to the british but later received new orleans and french louisiana from france manila and cuba were restored to spain france retained saint pierre and miquelon and recovered guadelupe martinique and saint lucia in exchange for dominica grenada saint vincent and the grenadines and tobago going to the british in india the french lost out to the british receiving back its factories trading posts but agreeing to support the british client governments as well as returning sumatra and agreeing not to base troops in bengal the british garrison on the mediterranean island of minorca was returned to her control having been captured by the french at the outbreak of hostilities in europe britain returned the slave station on the isle of goree to the french but gained the senegal river and its settlements britain agreed to demolish its fortifications in honduras but received permission from spain to keep a logwoodcutting colony there britain confirmed in the treaty the rights of its new subjects to practice the roman catholic religion 4 and received confirmation of the continuation of the british king s hanoverian right as a princeelector of the holy roman empire 1659 views  