by Jarred James Breaux

Created on: March 05, 2008   Last Updated: October 29, 2010

The Mississippi River was always a vital asset to the United States, especially to settlers in the Ohio River Valley. Many of the agricultural goods produced in the frontier states were exported through the city of New Orleans. Founded and controlled by France until 1762, Louisiana was handed over to Spain in the Treaty of Fontainebleau.

The United States negotiated with Spain over the use of the Mississippi River and the port of New Orleans in 1795. The dependency of the United States on a foreign nation for such an important waterway and port left the United States vulnerable. After the Spanish banned American use of the port of New Orleans for a few years, the exchange of control of Louisiana from the Spanish back to the French further complicated the United States' ability to use the river.

In 1803, the United States, under the leadership of President Thomas Jefferson, sought to purchase the city of New Orleans from France to ensure American use of the Mississippi River. The United States would purchase the entire Louisiana territory from France, doubling the size of the United States overnight. The purchase not only opened up the West to American expansion, but it also brought into question the strict interpretation of the Constitution of the United States held by President Thomas Jefferson.

In 1682, the French explorer Ren-Robert Cavelier de La Salle claimed all the land which drained into the Mississippi river. He named this indeterminate area Louisiana, in honor of King Louis XIV. John Law, a Scottish man well established in France, and Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, governor of Louisiana, established the city of New Orleans on the crescent of the Mississippi River, which rapidly grew as a port city connecting the inner North American continent with the sea.

The Louisiana territory exchanged hands several times, first switching back and forth from a proprietary colony to a royal colony and then switching from France to Spain. By 1795, the city of New Orleans and the Mississippi River were so important to American traders that the United States had no choice but to negotiate a treaty with Spain over the use of the Mississippi River. Thomas Pinckney negotiated the use of the Mississippi River and the "right to deposit" in New Orleans for three years and sealed the deal with Pinckney's Treaty on October 27, 1795.

By 1800, France had signed the Treaty of San Ildefonso with Spain, which returned Louisiana to the French. However, this treaty remained

• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• Next Page >>