What was Iowa before it became a state?

Answer 1

What is now Iowa was a small part of the huge area which French explorers claimed in 1682 and named Louisiana in honor of French King Louis XIV. At that time French Louisiana extended all the way from the Appalachian Mountains in the east to the Rocky Mountains in the west and from the Great Lakes in the north to the Gulf of Mexico in the south. As a result of the French and Indian War, France lost its claim to Louisiana in 1763. The part west of the Mississippi River, including today's Iowa, was ceded to Spain. After France defeated Spain in the War of the Pyrenees, the entire Spanish colony of Louisiana was returned to France as part of the Third Treaty of Ildefonso of 1800. Then in 1803 the huge territory was purchased from France by the United States.

In 1804 the southernmost part of the region, which controlled the mouth of the Mississippi River, was organized by the federal government as the Territory of Orleans, and in 1805 all the remaining area was organized as the Territory of Louisiana. The name Louisiana was given to the Orleans Territory when it was granted statehood in 1812, so the name of the Louisiana Territory was changed to the Missouri Territory. In 1821, a small portion of Missouri Territory was granted statehood as the State of Missouri. Aside from Arkansas Territory south of Missouri, the rest of the former Missouri Territory remained unorganized for over a decade. Then in 1834 the US gave a large part of the unorganized territory, including all of today's Iowa, to Michigan Territory, changing the western border of Michigan Territory from the Mississippi River to the Missouri River. In 1836, Michigan Territory was divided. The eastern part kept the name and became the State of Michigan in 1837, and the name of the rest of the territory was changed to Wisconsin Territory. In 1838 Wisconsin Territory was split along the Mississippi River. The eastern part kept the Wisconsin name, and the western part became Iowa Territory. Finally, in December of 1846, the southern third of Iowa Territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Iowa.

Answer 2

Polk