France formally relinquished its claim to its region of Texas in 1762, when it ceded French Louisiana to the Spanish Empire. The inclusion of Spanish Louisiana into New Spain meant that Tejas lost its significance as essentially a buffer province. The easternmost Texas settlements were disbanded,[by whom?] with the population relocating to San Antonio. However, in 1799 Spain gave Louisiana back to France, and in 1803 Napoléon Bonaparte (First Consul of the French Republic) sold the territory to the United States of America as part of the Louisiana Purchase
