Louisiana Territorial Period
Claiborne moved to New Orleans and oversaw the transfer of Louisiana to U.S. control after the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. He governed what would become the State of Louisiana, then termed the "Territory of Orleans", during its period as a United States territory from 1804 through 1812.
Relations with Louisiana's Créole population were initially rather strained: Claiborne was young, inexperienced and unsure of himself, and on his arrival spoke no French. He gradually gained their confidence, saw the territory take in Francophone refugees from the Haitian Revolution, and suppressed a slave revolt in the area around La Place.
In 1805, Claiborne appointed Alexander Fulton, the founder of Alexandria, as the coroner of Rapides Parish.
He presided over the suppression of the largest slave revolt in American history, the 1811 German Coast Uprising.
After West Florida secured its independence from Spain in 1810, Claiborne annexed the area on the orders of President Madison, who considered it part of the Louisiana Purchase.
Read more about this topic: William C. C. Claiborne
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