A discussion of the Louisiana Territory from it's discovery to the purchase by the United States from France.

The Louisiana Colony or Territory would in 1803 double the size of the United States, however before that could happen it had to be discovered.
Robert Cavelier, Sieur de la Salle for King Louis XIV, discovered the land and named it Louisiana in homor of his king. France did not do much with most of the land before King Louis XV gifted it to his cousin King Charles III of Spain right before signing the Treaty of Paris with Britain in 1763. However, it was another six years before the land was formally transferred to Spanish control. New Orleans was a small town at the time of the official transfer.
By the time of the Treaty of San Lorenzo in 1795 New Orleans had become an important port and market to the settlers living in the Ohio Valley enabling them to move their produce to other parts of the country, and the world. One of the things the new treaty did was give them “rights of deposit” or the ability to use the port free of duty or charges except their storage fees for the next three years.
Without warning Spain signed a secret treaty on 1 Oct 1800 with France giving back the Louisiana Colony to France. One of the main discussion points and part of what held up the transfer until 1802 was the discussion about the Florida’s.
By this time Napoleon needed money to finance his war against Britain so it is questionable if he ever intended to honor either of the conditions staed in the transfer of the Colony. He had decided to sell it to the United States instead of giving it back to Spain.
Sometime in 1801 rumors of the transfer had finally reached Washington City. President Thomas Jefferson knew that if the rumors were true the United States would have to partner itself to Britain for its own protection. Whe the Spanish governor of New Orleans pulled the “rights of deposit” in the fall of 1802 President Jefferson knew the rumors were true and mentioned it in passing in his second annual address on 15 Dec 1802. However, he dedicated his entire message on 11 Jan 1803 to the Louisiana question briefly mentioning the possible threat and focusing on the possibility of purchasing New Orleans from France. Congress willingly awarded him two million dollars for the purchase.
United States Ambassador to France Robert R. Livingston received and acted upon his power to purchase New Orleans. He was flabbergasted when Minister Barbe Marbois countered with an offer for the whole of Louisiana Colony. Ambassador Livingston didn’t feel he could negotiate properly for the land in his own right, choosing to wait until Special Envoy James Monroe had presented his credentials to the French goernment. It’s interesting to note that once the negotiations started they were completed in about two weeks with the formal signing of the Treaties by all parties on 30 April 1803.
When Congress received the Treaty they were upset with the $15,000 price tag, especially with not knowing how much land they were purchasing. They ratified it on 31 October 1803 dividing the known land into two pieces with territorial governments for each. The lower section was called the Territory of Orleans while the upper section was called the district of Louisiana and added to the Indiana Territory. In that simple act President Jefferson and Congress doubled the size of the United States and the march west was true ly started for the bravest and strongest visionary men and women.