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Question: Louisiana History Question!? !?
Who created a company by the name of The Company of the West!? The Company sold shares to French businessmen who wanted to invest in France 's new Louisiana colony!.Www@QuestionHome@Com


Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:
John Law, of Scotland!.

http://www!.sos!.louisiana!.gov/tabid/216/D!.!.!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

THE COMPANY OF THE WEST; FAILURE AFTER FAILURE
http://www!.sos!.louisiana!.gov/tabid/216/D!.!.!.
Section "1717-31'
"The Company of the West was an elaborate colonization scheme of the Scotsman JOHN LAW, endorsed by the French government, which WREAKED HAVOC on the entire economy of France!."

Section "1718"
"Sieur de Bienville began building New Orleans as a company town for the Company of the West!. By 1721 New Orleans had a population of more than 370 people, including 147 male colonists, 65 female colonists, 38 children, 28 servants, 73 slaves and 21 Indians!."

Section titled "1762"
"By the secret Treaty of Fontainebleau, France ceded its unprofitable and remote territories west of the Mississippi and the Isle of Orleans to Spain!. It was 23 months later before the colonists in Louisiana learned they were no longer French subjects!."

"Voltaire lamented the loss of Louisiana, saying that he could not conceive how Frenchmen could abandon "the most beautiful climate of the earth, from which one may have tobacco, silk, indigo, a thousand useful products!." The average annual winter temperature for the state is 50!.7 degrees, for the summer it is 82 degrees!. Average annual rainfall is 55!.45 inches!."

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EUROPEAN EXPLORATIONS OF LOUISIANA
http://memory!.loc!.gov/ammem/collections/!.!.!.
5th & 6th Paragraphs
"Crozat’s failure to turn Louisiana to his financial advantage once more made the colony a ward of the crown!. In September 1717 the Regent of France, Philippe, duke of Orléans, fearing that the province would again drain his country’s already bankrupt treasury, placed its fortunes into the hands of JOHN LAW, a Scottish investment banker!."

"Law cultivated a childhood talent for equations and games of chance into a career as a financier!. His Company of the West, MORE COMMONLY KNOWN AS THE MISSISSIPPI COMPANY, was granted a 25-year proprietorship with a commercial monopoly over the colony, along lines similar to those furnished Crozat!. A year earlier Law had made his reputation in Paris by founding a private bank with powers to issue paper money!. So successful was his venture that the regent had it chartered as the Royal Bank of France!."

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JOHN LAW'S OVER-INFLATED SHARES MARK RUIN
http://www!.lib!.lsu!.edu/special/purchase/!.!.!.
Section titled "Louisiana as a French Colony, 1682-1762"
"But Louisiana under the Company of the Indies fell victim to Law's Mississippi Bubble!. Law SOUGHT TO FINANCE Louisiana BY SELLING INFLATED SHARES of his company!. When the Company could NO LONGER PAY dividends on the stock the bubble burst and Louisiana became synonymous with failure and fraud!."Www@QuestionHome@Com