Editing Arkansas County, Arkansas (section)

===Westward expansion and the Civil War (1804–1865)===
{{See also|Louisiana Purchase|Arkansas in the American Civil War|l2=Arkansas in the Civil War}}
Napoleon Bonaparte's French army conquered Spain, and Napoleon made his brother the new king of Spain. Napoleon's brother, acting as king of Spain, then "gave" the Louisiana territory back to France.<ref>History of Joseph Bonaparte: King of Naples and of Italy by John Stevens Cabot Abbott · 1869</ref><ref>Louisiana Purchase - Page 3 by Carole Marsh · 2003</ref> Arkansas County was created by the Missouri Territorial Legislature on December 31, 1813. It was called Arkansas after the Arkansas River, and the Arkansas tribe of Native Americans. It is one of seven current counties that have the same name as the state in which it is located.{{#tag:ref|[[Hawaii County, Hawaii|Hawaii County]], [[Idaho County, Idaho|Idaho County]], [[Iowa County, Iowa|Iowa County]], [[Manhattan|New York County]], [[Oklahoma County, Oklahoma|Oklahoma County]], and [[Utah County, Utah|Utah County]].|group=Note}}

Its original boundaries were New Madrid County to the north, [[Louisiana]] to the south, the [[Mississippi River]] to the east, and the Indian Boundary Line south of Fort Clark to the west.<ref name="harvard pictorial" /> Arkansas County was within the Missouri Territory until creation of the Arkansas Territory on March 2, 1819.<ref name="1868report">{{ cite book |last=Daniels |first=Charlie |authorlink=Charlie Daniels (politician) |year=2002 |title=The 1868 Report: A Collection of Historical Documents from Arkansas's First Land Commissioner |publisher=[[Arkansas Commissioner of State Lands]] |location=Little Rock |page=15 |isbn=9781563118333 |lccn=2002111524 |oclc=57004142 }}</ref> The county seat was moved from Arkansas Post to DeWitt, a newly established town created at the request of the Arkansas County Quorum Court on February 19, 1853.<ref>{{harvp|"Pictorial"|1890|p=830}}.</ref> County government officially held court for the first time in DeWitt in October 1855.<ref name="1868report" />

This area was developed for cotton plantations through the antebellum period, based on the labor of enslaved African-American workers. Major planters earned considerable wealth with the commodity crop, for which there was high demand. Citizens of the county supported the Secession Convention to discuss secession from the Union in 1861 by an 80% to 20% margin. The anti-immediate secession delegates negotiated a compromise to put the question on the statewide ballot in August, but to remain in the Union.

Following [[President Lincoln's 75,000 volunteers|President Lincoln's 1861 militia call]] after the [[Confederate States of America|Confederate]] [[Battle of Fort Sumter|seizure of Fort Sumter]], citizens of several counties (including Arkansas County) formed [[Military volunteer|volunteer]] companies to capture the [[Tower Building of the Little Rock Arsenal|U.S. Arsenal at Little Rock]].<ref>{{harvp|"History"|1978|p=142}}.</ref> Arkansas County initially sent two companies to serve in what would become Company H ("Crockett Rifles") and Company K ("DeWitt Guards") of the [[1st Arkansas Infantry Regiment|First Arkansas Infantry Regiment]]. A third volunteer company ("Dixie Grays") joined the [[6th Arkansas Infantry Regiment|Sixth Arkansas Infantry Regiment]].<ref>{{harvp|"History"|1978|pp=142-143}}.</ref>