The history of jazz, and therefore jazz drumming, is acknowledged to have originated in New Orleans around 1900. Although there is evidence that jazz developed in other southern cities at the same time, New Orleans receives the lion's share of the credit. This is largely due to New Orleans' uniqueness upon the American scene. New Orleans was part of the Louisiana Territory and was founded about 1718 by the French, being named for the Duke of Orleans. The city was ruled by France for the next forty-six years, and then ceded to Spain in 1764. The Spanish governed the city for the next thirty-six years. In 1800