Virginia Argus. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1796-1816, 1804-09-29

we possess from the Illinois be unitlc SO
Tar as occasion require to the'general go,
vernment OF New France, and become
part thereof, reserviug however to our
selyes the liberty OF enlaiging as We shall
thiLk tit the extent e the government of
the said county Of Ioui,iSna."
This is solemn declaration tha, the wa
tiers running directly or INDIRECTLY into The
Mississippi and he country they embrace,
constituted the province oG Lru,siana.--
Within these limits Frarc conIinuel wiih-
out disturbance To extend her settlements
till the year l765. Outing thi>period were
formed the treaties of Eyswicl; IN 1897, Of
Utrecht in WIS, and or Rastadt in l7t4,
TO which Spain was party and which IN
none OF their provisions inyaliila;e the
rights of France.
In Is, the i'r nch took Pensacola from
Spain. % whom twas restored al The neacc
! of viz; since which the Perdido between
Mobile and Pensacola, has been the ac-
knowlcdged boundary between Louisiana
and Florida.
! The boundaries OF Louisiana, then, as
held by France, were the coast and islands
from the Perdldo 10 the Rio Norte; up
that river 10 It's source thence 10 the high
lands and round the sources Of the Mis-
souri, and Mississippi, and their waters 10
The Allegheny mountains, along those
/ mountains and the high lands surrounding
the waters of The Mobile 10 The head Of
the Ferdido, and down that river to the O.
cean.
] here was, Il is true, o collision between
these claims and those OF the English CO.
Ia sea; but these Interfering claims were
adjusted by the treaty OF Paris Of 1863
by which the Mississippi and Ibervile
were made the limits o. the English pos
sessions on the East, and Louisiana on the
I West.
Thus far then, that is 10 the year 1863,
there is no doubt that, what is nos demo-
miuated West Florida, was part of Lou
isIana.
To TIE war which commenced between
France and England in l755, SPAN in l762
became party ON the side of France
England having been so successful as 10
conquer considerable portion of the ISL
and Of Cuba from SPAN, negotiations were
entered into for peace. IN these negoA
Citations Great Britain required Florida
and that part OF Louisiana between The lb-
erville and the Perdldo, in exchange for
Cuba. 10 enable Spain Ia DIR these as
as an equivalent, France. by a secret trea-
ty dated November 3, 1862, Che same day
ON which the preliminary treaty of peace
was sighed) consented TO cede 20 Spain all
Louisiana. BY thepde6pili,e treaty, sign
ed on the 10th February, 1863, France
cedcd to England ali Louisiana east of the
. | Al 81 r ~,
leans; witch, With The remainder of the
prov nee She coded TO Spain. The cess-
on 10 f gland, alho' formally on The part
ct France (lor the treaty between France
and Spain was sill secieD was substantially
made by Spain, who had become the real
proprietor Of all Louisiana.
Eogiand MIN diately divided her new.
l. acquired possessions into two distinct
governments; to one she gave the name
OF Vest ft0rida, which embraced the tract
wes, fthe Apalachicola and 10 the o,her,
embracing the residue Of her possessions,
she gave that Of East Florida. This is the
hist hat we hear Of Vest Florida, it being
3 name given by Great Britain to subGi-e
vision of her territory.
Al the close OF the American war i'm
1888 Great Britain restored TO Spain Flo
rIda, and the country east Of the Ibervile.
Spain, on taking possession, continued,
with some modification, the English ar
engagements, placing, however, West Flo
rida under the jurisdiction Of the govern
or Of Louisiana, who resided at New Or
leans; and since that time this territory,
as well in public Instruments, and in ge-
neral conversation, has gone by the names
of Louisiana or West Florida, sometimes
the one and sometimes the other meme be-
ing used.
On the lst Of October, 1900, by the trea-
ty of st. lldelonso, Spain leceded 10 France
the "colony or province of IL lisiana,
with the same extent that il actually has
in the hands Of Spaip--that ii had when
France possessed it--and such as it ought
to be alter The treaties passed subsequent-
ly between Spain ard other states"
On the 3Olh of April, 1903, France
coded to the United States all the terri
tory which she had thus acquired from
Spain.
These are the facts on Which a decision
IstO be made " bethe The res ,iuuby France