Colonial history of the United States Lower Louisiana. This vast tract was first settled at Mobile and Biloxi around 1700, and continued to grow when 7,000 French immigrants founded New Orleans in 1718. Settlement proceeded very slowly; New Orleans became an important port as the gateway to the Mississippi River, but there was little other economic development because the city lacked a prosperous hinterland. In 1763, Louisiana was ceded to Spain around New Orleans and west of the Mississippi River. In the 1780s, the western border of the newly independent United States stretched to the Mississippi River. The United States reached an agreement with Spain for
1803 United States Senate election in New York to succeed Armstrong. 1803 United States Senate election in New York The 1803 United States Senate election in New York was held on February 1, 1803, by the New York State Legislature to elect a U.S. Senator (Class 1) to represent the State of New York in the United States Senate. Gouverneur Morris had been elected in 1800 to complete the term (1797-1803) after Philip Schuyler (1797-98), John Sloss Hobart (1798), William North (1798) and James Watson (1798-1800) had occupied the seat. Morris's term would expire on March 3, 1803. At the State election in April 1802, the Democratic-Republican Party