Under the light of General Butlers brutal laws and orders a question emerges on the rights of Louisianians (the entire purchased area).

Under the treaty of April 30, 1803, Article III between France and the United States.

"The inhabitants of the ceded territory shall be incorporated in the Union of the United States and admitted as soon as possible according to the principles of the federal Constitution to the enjoyment of all these rights, advantages and immunities of citizens of the United States, and in the mean time they shall be maintained and protected in the free enjoyment of their liberty, property and the Religion which they profess."

It seems the people of the old Louisiana territory had the right (still probably do) to invoke protection by France guaranteed by that treaty against the martial laws imposed by Butler.