Oh, and thanks to Stratfor for this part:
The United States solved this problem in three phases. First, there was the direct purchase of the Louisiana Territory from France in 1803. (Technically, France’s Louisiana Territory was Spanish-held at this point, its ownership having been swapped as a result of the Treaty of Paris in 1763 that ended the Seven Years’ War. In October 1800, France and Spain agreed in secret to return the lands to French control, but news of the transfer was not made public until the sale of the lands in question to the United States in July 1803. Therefore, between 1762 and 1803 the territory was legally the territory of the Spanish crown but operationally was a mixed territory under a shifting patchwork of French, Spanish and American management.)
Back when I taught American history, I remember noting that we were seeking to buy the territory through the French and the Spanish. A student questioned whether it was France alone or both. The textbook only mentioned France. I afffirmed my statement on that, but couldn't point to a source on it. But I trusted my memory that there was some uncertainty of ownership. It is nice, twenty years later, to find that my memory was trustworthy on that score.
