France exercised sovereignty over the lower Mississippi valley, named “The Province of Louisiana," by right of discovery. It was governed by officials sent from Paris, without any charter. King Louis XIV, via letters patent, granted a monopoly of trade and commerce for the term of fifteen years to Anthony Crozart on September 14, 1712, but it was surrendered in less than two years. On September 6, 1717, a similar grant was made to the "Company of the West," subsequently the "Company of the Indies," which was controlled by John Law. In 1723 New Orleans became the new capital, only five years after it was founded. Law's grant was surrendered in 1730. France ceded that portion of the province of Louisiana lying east of the Mississippi River, including the city of New Orleans, to Spain on November 3, 1762, in the Treaty of Fontainebleau. Spanish rule, however, was not asserted until 1769. It was retroceded to France by the Treaty of San Ildefonso on October 1, 1800, which was confirmed by the treaty of Madrid, March 21, 1801 (Treaty of Aranjuez).
