Louisiana
Louisiana was a colonial state established by France to administer lands conquered from Native American nations.
Geography
Louisiana effectively refers to all of New France that was south of the Great Lakes.
History
New France
The Mississippi basin was claimed explored by French explorers.
TODO: learn some history!
Spanish Louisiana
Following the French and Indian War, the territory was divided along the Mississippi. The east (essentially just the Illinois Country) was ceded to the British province of Quebec. The west was ceded to the Spanish, and became Spanish Louisiana.
TODO: learn some history!
Louisiana Purchase
France reaquired Louisiana in 1800 as part of the Treaty of Aranjuez, in exchange for Parma. In the context of the Haitian Revolution and the dissolution of armistice in Europe, the colony was sold to the United States in 1803.
The Louisiana Purchase was initially organized as the Territory of Orlean, with a capital in New Orleans, and the District of Louisiana. The district had a capital in St. Louis but was in fact overseen by Harrison as governor of the Indiana Territory.
In 1805, the district was reorganized into the actually independent Louisiana Territory.
Orlean entered into the union as the state of Louisiana in 1812.
Composition
At establishment, the colony was governed from Quebec. New France was ruled as part of an absolutist monarchy, with Louis XIV dictating the civil, criminal, and trade codes.
In the 17th century, the Mississippi basin was established as a separate governorship as Louisiana. However, there was no change to the absolutist governance model.
Spain did not successfully assert any significant control in the short period it ruled over the territory. Illinois Country in particular was effectively untouched by Spanish power.
The United States rapidly reorganized and dismantled Louisiana; joining it with other acquisitions, then parceling into smaller territories that could quickly accede to the union.