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Introduction
After many twists and turns, France finally regained her erstwhile colony from Spain, only to sell it immediately to the young United States, the latter thus doubling its land mass by a stroke of the pen.
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Commentary
– P. Hicks: Louisiana: to have and to have not…
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Timeline
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Bibliography
– Selection of works on the Louisiana Purchase
A close-up on: 1803: the purchase of Louisiana by the US from France
Discovered by the Spanish in the 16th century, Louisiana was explored a century later by the Frenchman, Robert Cavalier de la Salle (1643-1682). He gave this land to the French king as a present. In 1699, Pierre Le Moyne de Bienville (1680-1768) took possession of Louisiana in the name of the King of France, becoming the first governor of the province in 1715.
