When the United States purchased Louisiana territory from Napoleon in 1803 for $15 million, President Thomas Jefferson was quite surprised. He had authorized expenditure of $10 million for the city of New Orleans and now found his government indebted for 50% more money than he had authorized and the proud owners of a land package that would double the size of the country. Political opponents had described the Louisiana territory as “a worthless desert”, but Jefferson was a firm proponent of America’s westward expansion and despite his initial concerns and Federalist opposition, the U.S. Senate ratified the Louisiana treaty with Napoleon on October 20, 1803.
The Bayou State is the only state divided into parishes, which are seats of local government roughly equivalent to counties. Its economy of $168 billion ranks 24th in the nation and is powered by several industries, among them crude oil and natural gas production, agricultural production, and tourism. Rich in oil and natural gas, the state ranks fourth in crude oil production in the U.S. Louisiana is the biggest producer of crawfish in the world supplying roughly 90% of the planet’s “crawdads.” Other crops include cotton, soybeans, and sugarcane.
Roads
Interstate 49: I-49 is an intrastate highway as it is located entirely within the state of Louisiana. Its southern terminus is in Lafayette, and its northern one is in Shreveport.
Interstate 55: Running nearly 66 miles from north to south, I-55 travels from Laplace about 20 miles west of New Orleans to the border with Mississippi.
Interstate 10: I-10 runs through the southern part of Louisiana passing through New Orleans and Baton Rouge as well as beautiful Lake Charles.
Interstate 12: Like I-49, I-12 is contained entirely within the state of Louisiana. It starts in Baton Rouge and hugs the North Shore of Lake Pontchartrain before terminating near Slidell. In 1993, Louisiana’s state legislature renamed I-12 the “Republic of West Florida Parkway” to honor the state’s Florida Parishes.
Interstate 20: A major east-west Interstate spanning 1,535 miles from Texas to South Carolina, I-20 runs through northern Louisiana from Shreveport-Bossier City, through rural Louisiana, to Monroe.