Arrayed Upon Opposite Sides

Texas And The Louisiana Territory

From the Magazine Of American History:

In the European complications that arose towards the close of the eighteenth century, France and Spain were arrayed upon the opposite sides of a struggle, one of the results of which was that Spain was compelled to make a retrocession of the territory acquired from France by the treaty of 1763; viz., Louisiana and the island of Orleans. This retrocession was consummated by the secret treaty of San Ilefonso (1801) and shortly after (1803) the wrested domain passed by purchase from France to the possession of the United States.