Senator William Giles of Virginia had already submitted a petition for statehood, in March 1810, based on the ordinance of 1787. The senate passed the petition on April 27, 1810, by a vote of 15 to 8, and ordered the territory to assemble a convention to draft a constitutional amendment. Because the president incorporated the area of West Florida into the Orleans Territory, Representative Julien Poydras (Orleans Territory) on December 17, 1810, petitioned for statehood based on Article III of the Louisiana Purchase. On Dec. 27, U.S. Representative Nathaniel Macon submitted a petition based on the inclusion of the territory of West Florida.