he French government took advantage of this need for colonists and sent Bienville all the dregs and misfits of society it could dig up. Included among them were prisoners, slaves, servants, and "fallen" women. They were the first ingredients to New Orleans' unique population stew that was to continue for at least another hundred years, leaving a kind of cultural gumbo for succeeding generations of New Orleanians. Later methods to get more people to come included the "casket girls" and the first real estate scam in the country's history. Casket girls were respectable women brought over by the Ursuline nuns, carrying all their worldly possessions in casket like trunks, to marry and bear children. In addition to this, the European poor came to Louisiana, with the promise of jobs, and thanks to the sales campaign run by the Company of the West, many people from all backgrounds and classes came looking for imaginary gold mines, pearl fisheries, and a delightful climate. They all soon found out the truth when they arrived there.

Life in Nouvelle Orleans was no easy feat, but no matter what the hardship, most of the Europeans stayed and the colony prospered. Social life began to resemble European society with its class distinctions, social circles, and manners befitting the royal court. It was in 1764 that New Orleanians were horrified by the news that Louis XV had secretly given their city to Charles III of Spain in order to stop the war between Spain and England. This was the beginning of the Spanish period in New Orleans, in which much of the buildings of the French Quarter seen today were constructed. The first Spanish governor to arrive, Antonio de Ulloa, faced resentment and was forced to resign almost immediately, so Spain sent Don Alexander O'Reilly, known as "Bloody O'Reilly," with about 3,000 troops in 1769 to put down the uprising and squelch any remaining revolutionaries who might be plotting against the Spanish crown. Eventually the Spanish aristocracy was accepted by the French nobility, and there was even intermarrying between the two to add a new flavor to the "Creole" mix. O'Reilly abolished the Superior Council which had governed the colony ever since its founding, and replaced it with a Cabildo, or Spanish Council. He then left a new governor in charge, Don Luis de Unzaga (1770-77), who fortified the city during the American Revolution because of the British threat of capture. The next governor, Don Bernardo de Galvez (1777-85), led successful attacks against the British outposts at Baton Rouge and Natchez. The Treaty of Paris was signed in 1783, ending the revolution and declaring the independence of the United States. Don Esteban Rodriguez Miro (1785-91) presided over one of the largest immigrant arrivals to Louisiana, the Acadians.

Disastrous fires struck the city in 1788 and 1794, destroying more than 850 buildings. As a consequence of this, a whole new city was built from the ashes in the Spanish style now, with its arches, courtyards, balconies, and iron grillwork. Contrary to its name, the French Quarter seen today is actually Spanish, not French, except for the Ursuline Convent, the only French period building that escaped both fires. New Orleans was now a coveted prize, due to its strategic position on the largest river in the United States, and it was fought over by the English, Americans, and the French, who now wanted it back. The governor during this period, Baron de Carondelet (1791-97), concerned about threats to the city, fortified the protective walls even further and armed the forts around the city with cannon. France finally regained it's possession in 1800 with the Treaty of San Ildefonso, in which Charles IV of Spain essentially bowed under pressure from Napoleon.