Spain ceded Louisiana to France in 1800, however, did not take full control of the territory until 1803 because things moved a lot slower back then. Napoleon Bonapart was in charge of the French Empire at the time and was considering what to do with this giant chunk of land. At this time, Napoleon was already thinking of a sale even before sending a governor to run his new acquisition.
He had a very strong idea that if Great Britain wanted the territory, they could just take it. In addition, he knew war with Britain was right around the corner itself (it's Napoleon, it's what he does). Wars are extraordinarily expensive and so is running and protecting large overseas territories.
With that information in his head, and only having the territory for a very brief period of time, Napoleon decided to sell the whole territory of Louisiana instead of just New Orleans and access to the Mississippi river (as the United States were initially interested in just New Orleans and access to the Mississippi). The American's were happy with this surprise and purchased the whole territory for $15 million.
At the time of the purchase, the Creoles lived in French Louisiana with over half of the population as slaves. And soon they went from being French subjects to American subjects. However, America considered them a territory that pays all the taxes but is neither citizens nor get the benefits of their taxes. For the people living here at the time of the purchase, the significant change for them would have been the change of military from French to American.
The Missouri Compromise
“Missouri question...like a fire bell in the night, awakened and filled me with terror. I considered it at once as the knell of the Union. It is hushed indeed for the moment. But this is a reprieve only, not a final sentence.”– Thomas Jefferson, in a letter to a friend.
With growing tensions over slavery, the U.S Congress was working hard to maintain the balance of its pro-slavery and anti-slavery senators. When Missouri applied for statehood, it was evident that they wanted to be a slave state, which was first of its kind on the west of the Mississippi. The Missouri territory was "part of the more than 800,000 square miles bought from France in the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, it was known as the Louisiana Territory until 1812, when it was renamed to avoid confusion with the newly admitted state of Louisiana" (History.com). Missouri's statehood application and interests in being a pro-slavery territory sparked a lot of concerns and debate in the congress as many opposed the idea of slavery in the new territories being created. Some also expressed concern that the admission of Missouri as a slave state would "upset the balance that currently existed between slave and free states in the Union" (History.com).
New York Rep., James Tallmadge proposed an amendment to Missouri's statehood bill, calling for its eventual end to slavery. Although this bill narrowly passed in the House of Representatives (which had more Northerners), the Senate (with equal pro and anti-slavery number of senators) managed to strike out this amendment to the bill.
Not giving up, Missouri reapplied for statehood again in 1819 and this time is admitted into the Union as a slave state. However, Maine (then part of Massachusetts) was also admitted as a free state, thereby reinstating the balance between slave and free states in the Union.
St. Louis
In 1763 before the sale of the Louisiana territory to America, this piece of land was under the control of different leadership. France had it until 1770 when Spain took over its ownership. At the start of the 1800s, Spain returned Louisiana territory back to France in a treaty under Napoleon Bonapart.
It was during France's first time ownership of this territory that St. Louis got its name from Pierre Laclede. St. Louis was established as a fur trading village and named after King Louis IX who was "the patron saint of Laclede's then ruler King Louis XV (Explorestlouis.com).
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