Territory of Louisiana | |||||
Organized incorporated territory of the United States | |||||
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A map of the Territory of Louisiana | |||||
Government | Organized incorporated territory | ||||
Governor | |||||
• | 1805–1807 | James Wilkinson | |||
• | 1807–1809 | Meriwether Lewis | |||
• | 1813–1820 | William Clark | |||
History | |||||
• | Established | July 4, 1805 | |||
• | Renaming at Louisiana's Statehood | June 4, 1812 |
The Territory of Louisiana or Louisiana Territory was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 4, 1805, until June 4, 1812, when it was renamed the Missouri Territory.
Louisiana Territory was formed out of the Indiana Territory-administered District of Louisiana, which consisted of all Louisiana Purchase lands north of the 33rd parallel. The 33rd parallel now forms the southern border of Arkansas and the northern border of Louisiana. The territory's predecessor, the District of Louisiana, as well as the District of Orleans, were formed from the lands acquired by the United States in the Louisiana Purchase, in which colonial Louisiana was purchased from France.
The Eighth Congress of the United States on March 26, 1804, passed legislation entitled "An act erecting Louisiana into two territories, and providing for the temporary government thereof," which established the Territory of Orleans and the civil District of Louisiana.
This act, which went into effect on October 1, 1804, expanded the authority of the governor and judges of the Indiana Territory to provide temporary jurisdiction over the District of Louisiana.