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The withdrawal of the Company of the Indies in 1731 simplified the administrative structure of the Louisiana colony. The council that had heretofore represented the company disappeared. Royal letters patent of 22 May 1731 re-established the Conseil Supérieur according to the 1716 edict, while abolishing the right of some company directors to sit there. These changes implied that the Louisiana government, separated since 1720 from Canada's, again became dependent upon the latter. Then the king named new administrators and councilors, notably Bienville (who arrived in 1733) as gouverneur particulier. As before, the Louisiana government was soon paralyzed by disagreements among its directors. Comparison of Louisiana's government with colonial governments in Canada and in the French West Indies shows that every colonial administration—even though based on the Coutume de Paris—was influenced by the milieu in which it operated.

The withdrawal of the Company of the Indies in 1731 simplified the administrative structure of the Louisiana colony. The council that had heretofore represented the company disappeared. Royal letters patent of 22 May 1731 re-established the Conseil Supérieur according to the 1716 edict, while abolishing the right of some company directors to sit there. These changes implied that the Louisiana government, separated since 1720 from Canada's, again became dependent upon the latter. Then the king named new administrators and councilors, notably Bienville (who arrived in 1733) as gouverneur particulier. As before, the Louisiana government was soon paralyzed by disagreements among its directors. Comparison of Louisiana's government with colonial governments in Canada and in the French West Indies shows that every colonial administration—even though based on the Coutume de Paris—was influenced by the milieu in which it operated.

Why did the French monarchy invest in so unpromising a colony as Louisiana after 1730? Probably in order to protect the Mississippi valley, which led to the Great Lakes and Canada. So a force of soldiers was based in Louisiana; they consumed a good deal of money, but remained an ineffective force. Even when they were combined with territorial forces, they could barely hold out against the Lndian allies of the British.