Treaty between France and Spain involving the colonial territory of Louisiana
Spain secretly retroceded Louisiana to France in 1800, setting the stage for the 1803 Louisiana Purchase that doubled the size of the United States.
Key Facts
- Date signed
- 1 October 1800
- Parties
- Spain and the French Republic
- Territory exchanged
- Louisiana for Tuscany territories
- Confirmed by
- Treaty of Aranjuez, March 1801
- Spanish administration ended
- 1803, via Louisiana Purchase
- Louisiana statehood
- 1812
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Spain controlled Louisiana following earlier treaties but faced pressure from Napoleonic France seeking to restore a French empire in the Americas. France sought to recover Louisiana in exchange for offering Spain territorial compensation in Italy, specifically the promise of a kingdom in Tuscany for Spanish dynastic interests.
On 1 October 1800, Spain and the French Republic signed the secret Third Treaty of San Ildefonso, by which Spain agreed in principle to retrocede the colony of Louisiana to France in exchange for territories in Tuscany. The agreement was subsequently confirmed by the Treaty of Aranjuez in March 1801, though Spain continued administering Louisiana until 1803.
Although France formally received Louisiana under the treaty, Spanish officials continued to govern the territory until 1803. Napoleon ultimately sold Louisiana to the United States in the Louisiana Purchase of 1803, after which the territory's population tripled before Louisiana achieved statehood in 1812.
Political Outcome
Spain retroceded Louisiana to France in exchange for promised Italian territories; France subsequently sold Louisiana to the United States in 1803.
Spain held sovereignty over the Louisiana colony in North America.
France nominally held Louisiana, leading to the 1803 Louisiana Purchase by the United States.