Admission of the State of Louisiana (act)

Admission of the State of Louisiana

An Act for the admission of the state of Louisiana into the Union, and to extend the laws of the United States to the said state

Whereas the representatives of the people of all that part of the territory or country ceded, under the name of “Louisiana,” by the treaty made at Paris on the thirtieth day of April, one thousand eight hundred and three, between the United States and France, contained within the following limits, that is to say : Beginning at the mouth of the river Sabine ; thence, by a line to be drawn along the middle of said river, including all islands, to the thirty-second degree of latitude ; thence due north to the northernmost part of the thirty-third degree of north latitude ; thence along the said parallel of latitude to the river Mississippi ; thence down the said river to the river Iberyule ; and from thence along the middle of the said river, and lakes Maurepas and Pontchar.train, to the gulf of Mexico ; thence bounded by the said gulf to the place of beginning, including all islands within three leagues of the coast, did, on the twenty-second day of January, one thousand eight hundred and twelve, form for themselves a constitution and state government, and give to the said state the name of the state of Louisiana in pursuance of an act of Congress entitled “An act to enable the people of the territory of Orleans to form a constitution and state government, and for the admision of the said state into the Union on an equal footing with the original states, and for other purposes ;“ and the said constitution having been transmitted to Congress, and by them being hereby approved : Therefore,

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, That the said state shall be one, and is hereby declared to be one, of the United States of America, and admitted into the Union on an equal footing with the original states, in all respects whatever, by the name and title of the state of Louisiana ; Provided, That it shall be taken as a condition upon which the said state is incorporated in the Union, that the river Mississippi, and the navigable rivers and waters leading into the same, and into the gulf of Mexico, shall be common highways and forever free, as well to the inhabitants of the said state as to the inhabitants of other states and the territories of the United States, without any tax, duty, impost, or toll therefor, imposed by the said state; and that the above condition, and also all other the conditions and terms contained in the third section of the act, the title whereof is hereinbefore recited, shall be considered, deemed, and taken fundamental conditions and terms, upon which the said state is incorporated in the Union.

Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That until the next general census and apportionment of representatives, the said state shall be entitled to one representative in the House of Representatives of the United States ; and that all the laws of the United States not locally inapplicable shall be extended to the said state, and shall have the same force and effect within the same as elsewhere within the United States.

Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That the said state, together with the residue of that portion of Country Which was Comprehended Within the territory of Orleans, as Constituted by the act entjtujed “An act erecting Louisiana into two territories, and Providing for the temporary government thereof,” shall be one district, and be called the Louisiana district ; and there shall be established in the said district a district court, to consist of one judge, who shall reside therein, and be called the district judge ; and there shall be, annually, four stated sessions of the said court held at the city of Orleans ; the first to commence on the third Monday in July next, and the three other sessions progressively on the third Monday of every third calendar month thereafter The said judge shall, in all things, have and exercise the same jurisdjctio and Powers which, by the act the title Whereof is in this section recited, Were given to the district judge of the territory of Oleans; and he shall be allowed an annual compensation of three thousand dollars, to be paid uarteryearly at the treasury of the United States. The said judge shall appoint a clerk of the said court, who shall reside and keep the records of the court in the city of Orleans, and shall receive for the services performed by him the same fees heretofore allowed to the clerk of the Orleans territory.

Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, That there shall be appointed in the said district a person learned in the law, to act as attorney for the United States, who shall, in addition to his stated fees, be paid six hundred dollars annually as a full compensation for all extra services There shall also be appointed a marshal for the said district, who shall perform the same duties, be subject to the same regulation and penalties, and be entitled to the same fees to which marshals in other districts are entitled for similar services; and shall, moreover, be paid two huxidred dollars annually as a compensation for all extra services.

Sec. 5. And be it further enacted, That nothing in this act shall be construed to repeal the fourth section of an act entitled “An act for laying and collecting duties on imports and tonnage within the territories ceded to the United States by the treaty of the thirtieth of April, one thousand eight hundred and three, between the United States and the French Republic, and for other purposes ; “ and that the collection-district shall be and remain as thereby established.

Sec. 6. And be it further enacted, That this act shall commence and be in force from and after the thirtieth day of April, eighteen hundred and twelve.

Approved, April 8, 1812.

''Act of Congress April 8, 1812, c. 50, 2 U.S.Stat. 701''