﻿HISTORICAL 
  OUTLINE. 
  67 
  

  

  son's 
  Creek, 
  passed 
  under 
  the 
  dominion 
  of 
  Spain, 
  and 
  

   the 
  British 
  rule 
  that 
  had 
  existed 
  for 
  sixteen 
  years 
  was 
  

   terminated. 
  

  

  Spain 
  now, 
  two 
  hundred 
  and 
  thirty-nine 
  years 
  after 
  

   the 
  discovery 
  and 
  exploration 
  by 
  De 
  Soto, 
  was 
  for 
  the 
  

   first 
  time 
  possessed 
  of 
  the 
  country. 
  

  

  Galvez, 
  leaving 
  Colonel 
  De 
  Grand 
  Pre 
  in 
  command 
  at 
  

   Baton 
  Rouge, 
  with 
  two 
  officers 
  under 
  him 
  at 
  Fort 
  Bute 
  

   and 
  Fort 
  Panmure, 
  returned 
  to 
  New 
  Orleans. 
  

  

  In 
  the 
  mean 
  time, 
  four 
  years 
  before 
  the 
  close 
  of 
  the 
  

   war 
  of 
  Independence, 
  Congress, 
  informed 
  of 
  the 
  rupture 
  

   between 
  Spain 
  and 
  Great 
  Britain, 
  entered 
  into 
  negotia- 
  

   tion 
  with 
  the 
  former, 
  claiming 
  this 
  territory 
  as 
  part 
  of 
  

   the 
  United 
  States, 
  and 
  insisting 
  upon 
  the 
  right 
  to 
  the 
  

   free 
  navigation 
  of 
  the 
  Mississippi. 
  

  

  This 
  claim 
  was 
  resisted 
  by 
  Spain, 
  by 
  whom 
  it 
  was 
  

   contended 
  that 
  no 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  territory 
  was 
  included 
  

   within 
  the 
  limits 
  of 
  any 
  of 
  the 
  States, 
  but 
  that 
  as 
  a 
  

   part 
  of 
  Florida, 
  it 
  was 
  a 
  possession 
  of 
  the 
  British 
  crown, 
  

   and 
  as 
  such 
  might 
  be 
  legitimately 
  subdued 
  by 
  the 
  Span- 
  

   ish 
  arms, 
  and 
  held 
  as 
  a 
  permanent 
  acquisition. 
  This 
  

   conquest 
  by 
  Spain 
  was 
  therefore 
  made 
  under 
  a 
  virtual 
  

   protest 
  by 
  the 
  United 
  States. 
  

  

  The 
  population 
  of 
  the 
  Natchez 
  District 
  was 
  at 
  .this 
  

   time 
  composed 
  in 
  a 
  great 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  English; 
  reduced 
  

   officers 
  and 
  soldiers 
  of 
  the 
  British 
  army, 
  and 
  their 
  asso- 
  

   ciates, 
  together 
  with 
  numbers 
  who 
  had 
  emigrated 
  from 
  

   the 
  American 
  States. 
  None 
  of 
  these 
  were 
  well 
  affected 
  

   towards 
  the 
  Spaniards, 
  and 
  the 
  sudden 
  change 
  of 
  rulers 
  

   and 
  of 
  institutions 
  was 
  very 
  repugnant 
  to 
  their 
  feelings. 
  

   They 
  complained 
  that 
  they 
  had 
  been 
  sacrificed, 
  and 
  the 
  

   country 
  surrendered, 
  by 
  the 
  capitulation 
  of 
  Baton 
  Rouge, 
  

   without 
  giving 
  them 
  an 
  opportunity 
  of 
  resistance. 
  

  

  Uninformed 
  of 
  these 
  changes, 
  Congress, 
  in 
  the 
  same 
  

  

  