Collection Items
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ArticleA Question of Boundaries French and American representatives faced a vexing issue when they met in Paris in April 1803 to negotiate a treaty by which the United States would purchase the province of Louisiana from France. Since most of the territory to be exchanged had never been explored, surveyed, or mapped by any European nation or the United States, the negotiators were unable to include within the...
- Date: 1803
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PDFLouisiana: European Explorations and the Louisiana Purchase LOUISIANA: EUROPEAN EXPLORATIONS AND THE LOUISIANA PURCHASE A SPECIAL PRESENTATION FROM THE GEOGRAPHY AND MAP DIVISION OF THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS Table of Contents A Brief History of Louisiana to 1812 A Question of Boundaries European Explorations and Encounters Early Spanish Interests French Canada Explores the Mississippi River Valley Louisiana as a French Colony Difficult Early Years of the Colony Bienville and the Founding...
- Contributor: Geography and Map Division
- Date: 1803
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ArticleLouisiana as a French Colony Difficult Early Years of the Colony From its inception Louisiana faced an inauspicious existence. Its fate was bound to the French economy during the last years of the reign of Louis XIV. Already a vast empire, the French government and its highly centralized bureaucracy disfavored policies that would have nurtured the economic independence of its colonies. Further, the French treasury, depleted by wars in...
- Date: 1701
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ArticleLouisiana as a Spanish Colony Diplomacy of the French Cession The impetus to cede the French colony of Louisiana to the Spanish was the long, expensive conflict of the French and Indian War, also known as the Seven Year's War, between France and Great Britain. Initially, France offered Louisiana to Spain in order to bring Spain into the conflict on the French side. Spain declined. Spanish officials were uncertain...
- Date: 1762
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ArticleThe Cartographic Setting Evolving European and American Conceptions of Louisiana to 1803 Until 1803 the exploration and mapping of the territory acquired by the United States in the Louisiana Purchase was undertaken by the major colonial powers for a variety of reasons. Chief among them was the occupation of the lower Mississippi Valley, as well as the attempted possession of the Great Plains, the Missouri Basin, and...
- Date: 1650
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ArticleThe Louisiana Purchase Napoleonic France Acquires Louisiana On October 1, 1800, within 24 hours of signing a peace settlement with the United States, First Consul of the Republic of France Napoleon Bonaparte, acquired Louisiana from Spain by the secret Treaty of San Ildefonso. To the distress of the United States, Napoleon held title to the Mississippi River and the port of New Orleans.
- Date: 1800