Ancien Régime

French for "old regime," Ancien Régime is the term used to describe France's monarchic rule that lasted from the 15th century until the French Revolution in 1792.

Commissary

Those with a military background might be wondering why the Louisiana Purchase authors wanted to send a grocery store to Louisiana to aid in its transfer from French to American hands, but in this context, a commissary is just another word for "government representative."

Convention

Kind of the same thing as a treaty, but whereas treaties are 100 percent binding once they're ratified, conventions may or may not be. It's a less formal kind of agreement.

Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen

The French version of the American Declaration of Independence, this gem of a doc asserts equality for all (men, that is), the need for fair and just laws, and freedom for all individuals. This document was so inspiring that it caused French slaves everywhere to revolt; the most successful of these (or any slave revolt, really) happened in Haiti.

Estates-General

French King Louis XIV tried to do the right thing and get a bunch of people together to figure out what could be done about the country's money and food problems, but that assembly totally came back to bite him in the butt when everyone decided to overthrow the monarchy and kick the French Revolution into high gear. That bite-y little assembly was called the Estates-General.

Envoy Extraordinary

A certain type of plenipotentiary, not quite as cool or powerful as an ambassador but a little cooler (and more powerful) than a chargé d'affaires. This was James Monroe's title during his Louisiana Purchase trip to Paris; Robert R. Livingston thought maybe he should have been the one who got to be all extraordinary.

First Consul

The title Napoleon gave himself after he put himself in charge of France. This is like a U.S. president, but with way more power and way fewer term limits.

Floréal

Floréal was the eighth month in the French Revolutionary Calendar, which was in existence from 1793 to 1806. This calendar was a huge flop, not only because its months aligned with the zodiac calendar instead of the "normal" calendar but because it instituted a nine-day work week followed by one day of rest. "Boo," said everyone with a job.

French Revolution

Sick and tired of being all poor and hungry and ruled by monarchs who were neither, the people of France stood up and said, "We're not gonna take it anymore." Their revolution officially lasted for 10 years and resulted in five iffy revolutionary governments, a bunch of beheadings, and a dude named Napoleon Bonaparte taking over.

His Catholic Majesty

Another way of referring to the king of Spain at the time, a sassy old guy named King Charles IV.

Intendant

The king of France's go-to guy in a certain province or colony, the intendant had all the responsibilities of a governor but was still accountable to the throne in Paris. Spain had a similar set-up.

Louisiana Territory

Some 828,000 square miles of awesome wilderness that stretched from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico and from the Rocky Mountains to the Mississippi River. Originally claimed by the French, it also belonged to Spain for a little while, and pieces of it belonged to Great Britain for an even smaller while before the Americans bought the whole shebang in 1803.

Mississippi River

Not only is it one of the biggest rivers in the world (over 2,000 miles long, yo), the Mississippi was also, for a long time, the biggest thing to happen to American commerce. With its mouth in New Orleans and tributaries all over the country, this river made it possible for people and goods to get where they needed to go since cars and airplanes and trains and stuff hadn't happened yet. When the United States thought that Spain or France might cut off access to the river and the port of New Orleans, they were mighty worried. Solution: the Louisiana Purchase.

Napoleonic Wars

Napoleon's quest for French world domination took him and his country on a whirlwind tour of death and destruction all over Europe, Russia, the Middle East, the Caribbean, and more between the years 1803 and 1815, when he was finally ousted. Spoiler alert: France did not end up dominating the world, although their food and fashion did.

New Orleans

This beautiful port city was like a perfectly cooked slice of bacon: everybody wanted it. Not only was it just kind of a cool place to be, it was also situated very conveniently at the mouth of the Mississippi River, the nation's commercial lifeblood and western boundary. Of course, this made it the site of all kinds of skirmishes and tense moments.

Pain au chocolat

A French dessert, kind of like a croissant filled with chocolate. Not mentioned in the treaty, but any mention of France makes Shmoop think about it.

Plenipotentiary

When a government sends a person to a different country and gives them the authority to act on said government's behalf—that's a plenipotentiary.

Saint-Domingue

A French colony on the island of Hispañiola in the Caribbean that existed from 1659 to 1804. Today, we call it Haiti.

Treaty

A binding agreement made between two or more nations. It has to be ratified by the peeps involved, and it usually comes into existence to solve or prevent some kind of conflict.

Vendémiaire

This was the first month in the French Revolutionary Calendar. It started sometime between September 22nd and 24th and ran until roughly October 21st to 23rd. The word itself translates as "grape harvester."