Port of New Orleans closed to American traffic by Spanish administrator Juan Ventura Morales

Background. In 1800 Spain had ceded the Louisiana territory back to France under Napoleon's secret Third Treaty of San Ildefonso, though the territory nominally remained under Spanish control. In 1801 Spanish Governor Don Juan Manuel de Salcedo took over from the Marquess of Casa Calvo and restored the American right to deposit goods. Separately, in 1801 fear of an eventual French invasion spread across America after Napoleon sent a military force to nearby Saint-Domingue. Spain then procrastinated until late 1802 in executing the treaty to transfer Louisiana to France, allowing American hostility to build.

Diplomatic Context. Spain protested the transfer on grounds that France had promised not to alienate Louisiana and had not fulfilled treaty conditions regarding the King of Etruria. The French government replied these objections were baseless, noting the Spanish government had ordered Louisiana to be transferred in October 1802 despite knowing Britain had not recognized the King of Etruria in the Treaty of Amiens.

Immediate Aftermath. The territory nominally remained under Spanish control until a transfer of power to France on November 30, 1803, just three weeks before the formal cession of the territory to the United States on December 20, 1803. In hopes of securing control of the mouth of the Mississippi, Jefferson had sent Livingston to Paris in 1801 with the authorization to purchase New Orleans.