question. It was not until December first,
1803, that he took final possession of the provinces. Twenty days
afterwards he turned it over to the American authorities.

Claiborne Made Governor.

Wilkinson, now commander of the American army,--the most disgraceful
head it has ever had--was entrusted with the governorship of all of
Upper Louisiana. Claiborne was made governor of Lower Louisiana,
officially styled the Territory of Orleans. He was an honest man, loyal
to the Union, but had no special qualifications for getting on well with
the Creoles. He could not speak French, and he regarded the people whom
he governed with a kindly contempt which they bitterly resented. The
Americans, pushing and masterful, were inclined to look down on their
neighbours, and to treat them overbearingly; while the Creoles in their
turn disliked the Americans as rude and uncultivated barbarians. For
some time they felt much discontent with the United States; nor was this
discontent allayed when in 1804 the territory of Orleans was reorganized
with a government much less liberal than that enjoyed by Indiana or
Mississippi; nor even when in 1805 an ordinary territorial government
was provided. A number of years were to pass before Louisiana felt
itself, in fact no less than in name, part of the Union.

New Orleans Offers a Field For Sedition.

Naturally there was a fertile field for seditious agitation in New
Orleans, a city of mixed population, where the numerically predominant
race felt a puzzled distrust for the nation of which it suddenly found
itself an integral part, and from past experience firmly believed in the
evanescent nature of any political connection it might have, whether
with Spain, France, or the United States. The Creoles murmured because
they were not given the same privileges as American citizens in the old
States, and yet showed themselves indifferent to such privileges as they
were given. They were indignant because the National Government
prohibited the importation of slaves into Louisiana, and for the moment
even the transfer thither of slaves from the old States--a circumstance,
by the way, which curiously illustrated the general dislike and
disapproval of slavery then felt, even by an administration under
Southern control. The Creoles further complained of Claiborne's
indifference to their wishes; and as he possessed little tact he also
became embroiled with the American inhabitants, who were men of
adv