| Description |
1 online resource (vi, 210 pages) |
| Contents |
"An object so dear to the heart of every American" : American interests and the purchase of Louisiana -- A conquered people : the view from Washington -- "A flame in the district" : the organization of protest against territorial government in Orleans -- "Pestered with intriguants" : territorial administration under attack in Orleans and Washington -- "A severe shock to W.C.C. and his gang" : the opposition's representatives in territorial and national government -- Folly and failure : the fall of the opposition faction -- Jefferson triumphant : republican Orleans and American Louisiana |
| Summary |
After the United States purchased Louisiana, many inhabitants of the new American territory believed that Louisiana would quickly be incorporated into the Union and that they would soon enjoy rights as citizens. In March of 1804, however, Congress passed the Act for the Organization of Orleans Territory, which divided Louisiana into two sections: Orleans Territory, which lay southwest of the Mississippi Territory; and the Louisiana District. Under this act, President Jefferson possessed the power to appoint the government of Orleans Territory and its thirteen-man legislative council. The act also prohibited importation of most slaves. Anxieties about their livelihoods and an unrepresentative government drove some Louisiana merchants and planters to organize protests. At first this group used petitions and newspaper editorials to demand revisions; later they pressed for reforms as a political faction within the territorial government. Because they caused politicians in the Congress to reconsider how people in areas acquired by the United States should be governed, and because they reinvigorated the national discussion about the future of slavery in the United States, the Orleans protesters played a significant role in influencing the shape of American territorial expansion |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references and index |
| Notes |
Online resource; title from digital title page (viewed on February 12, 2015) |
| Subject |
Government, Resistance to -- Louisiana -- History -- 19th century
|
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Slavery -- United States -- Extension to the territories.
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HISTORY -- United States -- State & Local -- General.
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HISTORY -- United States -- 19th Century.
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Government, Resistance to
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Politics and government
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Slavery -- Extension to the territories
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| SUBJECT |
Louisiana -- History -- 1803-1865. http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85078493
|
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Louisiana -- Politics and government -- 1803-1865. http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85078500
|
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United States -- Territorial expansion -- Political aspects
|
| Subject |
Louisiana
|
|
United States
|
| Genre/Form |
History
|
| Form |
Electronic book
|
| LC no. |
2012042680 |
| ISBN |
9781617037542 |
|
1617037540 |
|
9781621039310 |
|
1621039315 |
|
