Editing Louisiana Purchase (section)

==Slavery==
{{see also|History of slavery in Louisiana|History of slavery in Missouri|Slavery in the United States}}
Governing the Louisiana Territory was more difficult than acquiring it. Its European peoples primarily of ethnic French, Spanish and Mexican descent were largely [[Catholic Church|Catholic]]; in addition, there was a large population of [[Slavery in the United States|enslaved Africans]], as Spain had continued the [[Atlantic slave trade|transatlantic slave trade]]. This was particularly true in the area of the present-day state of Louisiana, which also contained a large number of [[free people of color]]. Both present-day Arkansas and Missouri already had some slaveholders in the 18th and early 19th century.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |title=The Louisiana Purchase: Liberty, Slavery, and the Incorporation of the Territory of Orleans |encyclopedia=Oxford Research Encyclopedia of American History |publisher=Oxford University Press |last=Spear |first=Jennifer M. |date=2018-03-28 |language=en |doi=10.1093/acrefore/9780199329175.013.272 |isbn=978-0-19-932917-5}}</ref>

During this period, south Louisiana received a large influx of French-speaking refugees fleeing the large slave revolt in Saint-Domingue, including [[Planter class|planters]] who brought their slaves with them. Many Southern slaveholders feared that acquisition of the new territory might inspire American-held slaves to follow the example of those in Saint-Domingue and revolt. They wanted the U.S. government to establish laws allowing slavery in the newly acquired territory so they could be supported in taking their slaves there to undertake new agricultural enterprises, as well as to reduce the threat of future slave rebellions.{{sfnp|Herring|2008|p=104}}

The Louisiana Territory was broken into smaller portions for administration, and the territories passed slavery laws similar to those in the southern states but incorporating provisions from the preceding French and Spanish rule (for instance, Spain had prohibited slavery of Native Americans in 1769, but some slaves of mixed African–Native American descent were still being held in St. Louis in Upper Louisiana when the U.S. took over).<ref name="Foley">{{cite journal|title=Slave Freedom Suits before Dred Scott: The Case of Marie Jean Scypion's Descendants |url=http://statehistoricalsocietyofmissouri.org/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/mhr&CISOPTR=41510&CISOSHOW=41366 |access-date=February 18, 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130113145717/http://statehistoricalsocietyofmissouri.org/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/mhr&CISOPTR=41510&CISOSHOW=41366|archive-date=2013-01-13 |first=William E. |last=Foley |journal=Missouri Historical Review|volume=79|issue=1|date=October 1984|page=1|via=The State Historical Society of Missouri}}</ref> In a [[freedom suit]] that went from Missouri to the [[Supreme Court of the United States|U.S. Supreme Court]], slavery of Native Americans was finally ended in 1836.<ref name="Foley"/> The institutionalization of slavery under U.S. law in the Louisiana Territory contributed to the [[American Civil War]] a half century later.{{sfnp|Herring|2008|p=104}} As states organized within the territory, the status of slavery in each state became a matter of contention in Congress, as southern states wanted slavery extended to the west, and northern states just as strongly opposed new states being admitted as "[[Slave states and free states|slave states]]". The [[Missouri Compromise]] of 1820 was a temporary solution.<ref>{{cite book|author=Leslie Alexander|title=Encyclopedia of African American History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uivtCqOlpTsC&pg=PA340|year=2010|publisher=ABC-CLIO|page=340|isbn=9781851097746}}</ref>