By the secret Treaty of San lldefonso, Spain officially returned the Louisiana territory West of the Mississippi to France in 1800, to avoid a continuous deficit the colony caused.   Another factor was the possibility that Spain might have to fight the uneasy Americans to keep control of the land.  It was actually 1803 when France took control.
        In 1803, the greatest deal in history occurred.   The United States purchased, at the cost of only $15 million, the territory of Louisiana.  An American Minister to France, Robert Livingston said this about the purchase "We have lived long, but this is the noblest work of our whole lives... From this day the United States will take their place among the powers of the first rank... The instruments which we have just signed will cause no tears to be shed; they prepare ages of happiness for innumerable generations of human creature".
        The governor that was appointed to the Territory of Orleans in 1804 was William Charles Cole Claiborne.  The area is known today as Louisiana.  Before becoming governor of the Territory of Orleans, Claiborne was governor of the Mississippi Territory.  In 1803 Claiborne was selected as one of the commissioners to receive the Louisiana Territory from France.  Claiborne was elected the states first governor in 1812, which was a position he held until 1816.   He was then elected to the U.S. Senate.  He died in1817.
        The first Protestant church in Louisiana, an Episcopal church, was established in New Orleans in 1805.
        In Pointe Coupee Parish, the first public school in the state was established in 1808.
        The citizens of America that lived in Spains' West Florida territory took control of the Spanish Government in 1810.  They declared the territory a republic.  The republic consisted of the area of present day Louisiana known as the Florida Parishes.
        Louisiana formally became the 18th state to join the union in 1812.  The elected governor was William Charles Cole Claiborne. The beginning of the steamboat era began with the arrival of The New Orleans.  It was the first steamboat to navigate the Mississippi River.  It arrived from Pittsburgh.
        In 1815 Andrew Jackson defeated the British at the Battle of New Orleans.  This saved control of the lower Mississippi for the U.S.   The British troops out numbered Jackson 2 to 1.