History of Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States States of America. In 1763, France ceded Louisiana to Spain to compensate for the loss of Florida, which had been ceded to the British in 1763 after losing the war of the 7 years (Spain and France were allies). The Government of Louisiana lived in New Orleans, capital of Lower Louisiana, but had representatives (or "commandants") in Saint Louis, Missouri, capital of Upper Louisiana (also named Illinois Country) since that Louisiana was obtained by Spain. During the Louisiana´s Spanish period, many Spanish settlers emigrated to this region (such was the case of Manuel Lisa´s father (who was from Murcia, Spain),
France in the American Revolutionary War France and the U.S. was weakened. Thus the influence of France and Spain in future negotiations was limited. The war formally ended in September 1783 with the signing of the Treaty of Paris. France gained (or regained) territories in the Americas, Africa, and India. Losses in the 1763 Treaty of Paris and in the Treaty of Utrecht (1713) were in part regained: Tobago, Saint Lucia, the Senegal River area, as well as increased fishing rights in Terra Nova. Spain regained Florida and Minorca, but Gibraltar remained in the hands of the British. Because the French involvement in the war was