Or, as Jefferson put it in his usual understated way, The fertility of thecountry, its climate and extent, promise in due season importantaids to our treasury, an ample provision for our posterity, and a wide-spread field for the blessings of freedom., American historians today are more outspoken in their enthusiasm for the acquisition. Furthermore, the Spanish prime minister had authorized the U.S. to negotiate with the French government "the acquisition of territories which may suit their interests." It hangs not far from a color engraving of the French Declaration of the Rights of Man, which was composed in 1789 by Lafayette with the advice of his American friend Thomas Jefferson. But the purchase was also fueled by a slave revolt in Haitiand tragically, it ended up expanding slavery in the United States. [42], Although the War of the Third Coalition, which brought France into a war with the United Kingdom, began before the purchase was completed, the British government initially allowed the deal to proceed as it was better for the neutral Americans to own the territory than the hostile French. Peace is our passion, he declared, and expressed the concern that hotheaded members of the opposition Federalist Party might force us into war. He had already instructed Livingston in early 1802 to approach Napolons foreign minister, Charles Maurice de Talleyrand, to try to prevent the cession of the territory to France, if this had not already occurred, or, if the deal was done, to try to purchase New Orleans. [42] The first group of bonds were issued on January 16, 1804, but the banks had already provided a 10 million franc advance to France in July 1803. In addition, the DunbarHunter Expedition (18041805) explored the Ouachita River watershed. The asking price was $125 million. One man is everything.. The Louisiana Purchase, made 200 years ago this month, nearly doubled the size of the United States. The Federalists strongly opposed the purchase, favoring close relations with Britain over closer ties to Napoleon. Bruce Kauffmann is a historian, syndicated columnist, author, and speaker. Its believed that the failure of France to put down a slave revolution in Haiti, the impending war with Great Britain and probable British naval blockade of France combined with French economic difficulties may have prompted Napoleon to offer Louisiana for sale to the United States. It was all in a days work at the New Orleans, Louisiana slavemarket, the largest and most lucrative in the pre-Civil War United States. The Louisiana Purchase doubled the size of the United States, reshaping the environmental and economic makeup of the country. The scene caused a servant to faint, and when Lucien lingered to try to argue the point, Napoleon said to his brother that if he opposed him he would break him like a snuffbox which he smashed into the floor. In his initial meeting with Napolon after taking up his Paris post in 1801, Livingston had been warned about Old World ways. Cookie Settings, Five Places Where You Can Still Find Gold in the United States, Scientists Taught Pet Parrots to Video Call Each Otherand the Birds Loved It, Balto's DNA Provides a New Look at the Intrepid Sled Dog, The Science of California's 'Super Bloom,' Visible From Space, What We're Still Learning About Rosalind Franklins Unheralded Brilliance. Terms of Use [52] If the territory included all the tributaries of the Mississippi on its western bank, the northern reaches of the purchase extended into the equally ill-defined British possessionRupert's Land of British North America, now part of Canada. In 1802 Bonaparte forced Spain to return Louisiana to France in the secret Treaty of San Ildefonso. Feb 14, 2023 - France sold the Louisiana Territory in 1803 because it was ruled by Napoleon and needed money in order to fight the British. All or parts of 15 Western states would eventually be carved from its nearly 830,000 square miles, which stretched from the Gulf of Mexico to Canada, and from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains. I require a great deal of money for this war [with Britain]., Thierry Lentz, a Napolon historian and director of the Fondation Napolon in Paris, contends that, for Napolon, It was basically just a big real estate deal. However, the territory, like a regifted picture frame, was swapped among European powers. The treaty was dated April 30 and signed on May 2. None of these held a candle, though, to sugar, which dominated French colonial holdings. A Washington newspaper, the National Intelligencer, reflecting how most citizens felt, referred to the widespread joy of millions at an event which history will record among the most splendid in our annals. Though we have no historical evidence of how Jefferson felt about the purchase, notes Cerami, reports from those in his circle like Monroe refer to the presidents great pleasure, despite his fear that the deal had gone beyond his constitutional powers. The revolution brought the colony to a state of insurrection and civil war. 2023, A&E Television Networks, LLC. This could weaken Britain's war effort against France and give Napoleon victory. Cantonment Belle Fontaine 8051826 The First U.S. Fort West of the Mississippi River. See chapter iii, "Treaty Ceding Louisiana to the United States" (1803 ff.). The Boston Columbian Centinel editorialized, We are to give money of which we have too little for land of which we already have too much. And Congressman Joseph Quincy of Massachusetts so opposed the deal that he favored secession by the Northeastern states, amicably if they can; violently if they must.. [21] The Louisiana Territory was vast, stretching from the Gulf of Mexico in the south to Rupert's Land in the north, and from the Mississippi River in the east to the Rocky Mountains in the west. On April 15, Monroe and Livingston proposed $8 million. Reports of the retrocession caused considerable unease in the United States. Jefferson confronted questions of presidential authority in deciding whether or not to acquire the territory, since the US Constitution does not explicitly give the president the power to purchase territory. When Livingston tried to discuss the territory, Talleyrand simply denied that there was any treaty between France and Spain. Napoleon was reported to have said of Louisiana in his treasury minister's memoir, "To attempt obstinately to retain it would be folly.". The British had re-entered the war and France was losing the Haitian Revolution and could not defend Louisiana. By the time Monroe arrived in Paris on April 12, the situation had, unknown to him, radically altered: Napolon had suddenly decided to sell the entire Louisiana Territory to the United States. The remaining 60 million francs ($11.25 million) were financed through U.S. government bonds carrying 6% interest, redeemable between 1819 and 1822. The crunch came for Jefferson in October 1802. Let the Land rejoice, Gen. Horatio Gates, a prominent New York state legislator, told President Thomas Jefferson when details of the deal reached Washington, D.C. For you have bought Louisiana for a song., Rich in gold, silver and other ores, as well as huge forests and endless lands for grazing and farming, the new acquisition would make America immensely wealthy. Napoleon Bonaparte sold the land because he needed money for the Great French War. So many slaves died of yellow feverand ill treatment that the entire slave population turned overevery 20 years, and slaves were held in subjugation through a strict caste system. In return for fifteen million dollars, or approximately eighteen dollars per square mile, the United States nominally acquired a total of 828,000sqmi (2,140,000km2; 530,000,000 acres) in Middle America. However, in 1800 Spain had ceded the Louisiana territory back to France as part of Napoleon's secret Third Treaty of San Ildefonso. This was coupled with the importation of enslaved Africans. They wrote an enthusiasticletter to Secretary of State James Madison: "An acquisition of so great an extent was, we well Know, not contemplated by our appointment; but we are persuaded that the Circumstances and Considerations which induced us to make it, will justify us, in the measure, to our Government and Country.". However, one has to question whether the French ruler considered the consequences of selling France's interest in Louisiana. The acquisition of the Louisiana Territory for the bargain price of less than three cents an acre was among Jeffersons most notable achievements as president. A mahogany and gilded bronze swan bed that belonged to the famous French beauty Juliette Rcamier is also on display. In 1800, Napoleon, the First Consul of the French Republic, regained ownership of Louisiana as part of a broader effort to re-establish a French colonial empire in North America. From March 10 to September 30, 1804, Upper Louisiana was supervised as a military district, under its first civil commandant, Amos Stoddard, who was appointed by the War Department. Napoleon no longer needed Louisiana as a supply depot for the Island of Saint-Domingue. The superpower had built a vast network of colonies in the Americas, capitalizing on European tastes for coffee, indigo and other commodities. Her work has appeared in outlets like The Washington Post, National Geographic, The Atlantic, TIME, Smithsonian and more. As for France, it never seriously established a colonial presence in the Americas again. [57] As states organized within the territory, the status of slavery in each state became a matter of contention in Congress, as southern states wanted slavery extended to the west, and northern states just as strongly opposed new states being admitted as "slave states." Without the profits from Saint-Domingue, it did not make sense to try to defend the sprawling Louisiana Territory, and Napoleon was worried about the British. Why did France sell Louisiana? Also, Spain's refusal to cede Florida to France meant that Louisiana would be indefensible. Majority Leader John Randolph led the opposition. The Louisiana Purchase was the start of the United States' incredible expansion from a group of Eastern Seaboard states on the North American continent. By Edmund Duncan May 31, 2022. As the lands were being gradually settled by American migrants, many Americans, including Jefferson, assumed that the territory would be acquired "piece by piece." But when the colonial government back in St. Domingue refused to recognize the law, the groundwork was laid for violence and revolt. Louverture, as a French general, had fended off incursions from other European powers, but had also begun to consolidate power for himself on the island. In 1762, during the French and Indian War, France ceded French Louisiana west of the Mississippi River to Spain and in 1763 transferred nearly all of its remaining North American holdings to Great Britain. "[19] On July 4, 1803, the treaty was announced,[20] but the documents did not arrive in Washington, D.C. until July 14. How was the Louisiana Territory acquired? She has been a regular contributor to History.com since 2017. But he did manage to sell something that he didnt really have any control overthere were few French settlers and no French administration over the territoryexcept on paper. As for Jefferson, notes historian Cerami, he actually wasnt out to make this big a purchase. In 1801, Spanish Governor Don Juan Manuel de Salcedo took over from the Marquess of Casa Calvo, and restored the American right to deposit goods. In a way, this almost came to pass in the War of 1812. This secret deal did not remain secret for long. The Louisiana Purchase is perhaps the most famous real estate deal in American history. [44][42] With the bankers' help, the French and American negotiators settled on a price of 80 million francs ($15 million), down from an initial price of 100 million francs, a sum the Americans could not afford and the financers could not provide. At the same time, this territorial expansion also allowed for the growth and expansion of slavery in the United States, which finally culminated in the American Civil War. The rest was history. Earlier in 1803, Francis Baring and Company of London had become the U.S. government's official banking agent in London following the failure of Bird, Savage & Bird. That same month Jefferson asked James Monroe, a former member of Congress and former governor of Virginia, to join Livingston in Paris as minister extraordinary with discretionary powers to spend $9,375,000 to secure New Orleans and parts of the Floridas (to consolidate the U.S. position in the southeastern part of the continent). [8] In 1801, Jefferson supported France in its plan to take back Saint-Domingue (present-day Haiti), which was then under control of Toussaint Louverture after a slave rebellion. Meanwhile, Louisiana, which also became a state after the purchase, remained a slave state, and New Orleans remained a critical hub of the slave trade. What if France never sold Louisiana? Thomas Jefferson He also realized that with Britain's superior naval power, it would be relatively easy for them to take Louisiana at will. [61], During the War of 1812, Great Britain hoped to annex all or at least portions of the Louisiana Purchase should they successfully defeat the U.S. Aided by their Indian allies, the British defeated U.S. forces in the Upper Mississippi; the U.S. abandoned Forts Osage and Madison, as well as several other U.S. forts built during the war, including Fort Johnson and Fort Shelby. Although the purchase was undeniably a bargain, the price was still more than the young U.S. treasury could afford. All Rights Reserved. Why did France sell Louisiana? France wanted to sell the Louisiana Territory to raise funds for Napoleon Bonaparte's war effortsin Europe and to cut its losses in the Americas after losing its colony of Saint-Domingue (Haiti). The favorable majority, however, easily prevailed and New England remained in the Union. The Kingdom of France had controlled the Louisiana territory from 1699 until it was ceded to Spain in 1762. This, together with the successful French demand for an indemnity of 150 million francs in 1825, severely hampered Haiti's ability to repair its economy after decades of war. The idea was taken up by lawmakers such as Senator James Ross of Pennsylvania, who drafted a resolution calling on Jefferson to form a 50,000-man army to take the city. Why did France decide to sell Louisiana to the U.S.? The Louisiana Purchase had major consequences for the United States. The British had re-entered the war and France was losing the Haitian Revolution and could not defend Louisiana. The Louisiana Territory, in Napolons view, was useful mainly as a granary for Saint Domingue. As a result, the State Department describes how the president began military preparations along the Mississippi and sent James Monroe to France with authorization to buy New Orleans and West Florida for up to $10 million. [34] The United States Senate advised and consented to ratification of the treaty with a vote of twenty-four to seven on October 20. Refinement, he declared, does not exist in the United States. 2), which is just what Jefferson did. Spain had not yet completed the transfer of Louisiana to France, and war between France and the UK was imminent. While the transfer of the territory by Spain back to France in 1800 went largely unnoticed, fear of an eventual French invasion spread across America when, in 1801, Napoleon sent a military force to secure New Orleans. I renounce Louisiana, Napolon told him. (There is also a portrait of the marquis himself and a 1784 painting by French artist Jean Suau, Allegory of France Liberating America.) . are incalculable, warned the U.S. vice-consul in New Orleans, Williams E. Hulings, in a dispatch to Secretary of State James Madison. Behind the scenes, he plotted to take the island back over and reinstitute slavery. Auctions at which human bodies were prodded, compared, and purchased. When Thomas Jefferson purchased the Louisiana Territory from France, he altered the shape of a nation and the course of history Joseph A. Harriss April 2003 The Louisiana Purchase nearly. He planned on using that money to build a better army and navy. Learn more about Erin and her work at erinblakemore.com. The treaty was signed by Barb-Marbois, Livingston and Monroe on May 2 and backdated to April 30. But if Haiti was under the control of the slaves, his plan was for naught. Jefferson ultimately came to the conclusion before the ratification of the treaty that the purchase was to protect the citizens of the United States therefore making it constitutional. The French were fascinated by Americawhich they often symbolized in paintings and drawings as a befeathered Noble Savage standing beside an alligatorbut they could not decide whether it was a new Eden or, as the naturalist Georges-Louis Leclerc de Buffon declared, a primitive place fit only for degenerate life-forms. The main issue for the Americans was free transit of the Mississippi out to sea. [39] New Orleans was the administrative capital of the Orleans Territory, and St. Louis was the capital of the Louisiana Territory. UNDERSTANDABLY, Pierre Clment de Laussat was saddened by this unexpected turn of events. Felix S. Cohen, Interior Department Lawyer who helped pass ICCA, is often quoted as saying, "practically all of the real estate acquired by the United States since 1776 was purchased not from Napoleon or any other emperor or czar but from its original Indian owners", roughly estimating that Indians had received twenty times as much as France had for the territory bought by the United States, "somewhat in excess of 800 million dollars". [50] Spain insisted that Louisiana comprised no more than the western bank of the Mississippi River and the cities of New Orleans and St. WATCH: Full episodes of The American Presidency with Bill Clinton online now. The entire economy of Americas Western territories was in jeopardy. The social order of the island crumbled and in an attempt to stop the violence, France abolished slavery. Washington University in St. Louis Press. The lack of instructions and the necessity of consulting ones government are always legitimate excuses in order to obtain delays in political affairs, he once wrote. Aside from the obvious drive for conquest by Napoleon, he knew that when war started between the two countries, Britain would attempt to take Louisiana. As Jefferson had written in April 1802 to the U.S. minister in Paris, Robert R. Livingston, it was crucial that the port of New Orleans remain open and free for American commerce, particularly the goods coming down the Mississippi River. [60] With tensions increasing with Great Britain, in 1809 Fort Bellefontaine was converted to a U.S. military fort and was used for that purpose until 1826. Napoleon Bonaparte used the cash to finance his war efforts, but he was finally and permanently defeated at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. Selling the Louisiana territory gave Napoleon a significant windfall from a territory he was probably going to lose anyway. Napoleon wanted its revenues and productivity for France restored. This respite gave Napoleon breathing room in his failed attempt to recover Saint-Domingue. Jeffersons America & Napolons France (April 12-August 31), an unprecedented exhibition of paintings, sculptures, decorative arts, memorabilia and rare documents, presents a dazzling look at the arts and leading figures of the two countries at this pivotal time in history. When word got around that Napoleon was giving up Louisiana to the Americans, not everybody agreed. Gentlemen, he announced, think what you please about it. The sale of Louisiana was a FIRE SALE for France, and specifically, its self-appointed ruler, Napoleon Bonaparte, for these reasons: 1) France had gotten "burned" with her earlier misadventures in North America. Napoleon sent a massive 30,000 troops French expeditionary force commanded by his brother-in-law Charles Victor Emmanuel Leclerc to St. Domingue to accomplish this goal. [55], Because the western boundary was contested at the time of the purchase, President Jefferson immediately began to organize four missions to explore and map the new territory. But almost before Laussat had learned to appreciate a good gumbo and the relaxed Creole pace of life, Napolon Bonaparte had abruptly decided to sell the territory to the United States. A slaves life in Haiti was usually short and miserable. He had contacts at Britains Baring & Co. Bank, which agreed, along with several other banks, to make the actual purchase and pay Napolon cash. As described by History, under the leadership of Toussaint Louverture, the enslaved allied with nonwhite free people and successfully overthrew the slave order, taking control of all of Hispaniola, not just Saint-Domingue. National Geographicpoints out that in modern dollars, the Louisiana Purchase would have cost $342 million. And St. Domingue, which is now known as Haiti, was one of the great sugar capitals of the world. [24], Henry Adams and other historians have argued that Jefferson acted hypocritically with the Louisiana Purchase, because of his position as a strict constructionist regarding the Constitution since he stretched the intent of that document to justify his purchase. Inspired by republican ideals of liberty, fraternity and equality, they pressed for their rights, and some were given the right to vote in 1790 by the French government. The difficulties and risks . Why did France leave Louisiana? France wanted to end Louvertre's rule and reinstate slavery. "[29] The sale of course was not "worthless"the U.S. actually did take possession. The Louisiana Purchase opened up a new can of worms in the United Stateshow much of the new territory should be open to slavery? With Congress and a vociferous press calling for action, Jefferson faced the nations most serious crisis since the American Revolution. Alain Chappet, Roger Martin, Alain Pigeard. A seascapeportrays the Marquis de Lafayettes ship La Victoire setting sail to carry him across the Atlantic in 1777 to fight in the American Revolution. It takes a certain amount of chutzpah to think you can establish a global empire, and Napoleon Bonaparte is no exception. France's land was mainly unexplored wilderness, and so the fertile soils and other valuable natural resources we know are present today might not have been factored in . Acquiring the territory doubled the size of the United States. The key to opening the western goal was securing the Mississippi River and the Louisiana Territory. At the time, Britain and France were at war in Europe, and if France had not sold Louisiana that war would most likely have spread to North America. Jefferson, as a strict constructionist, was right to be concerned about staying within the bounds of the Constitution, but felt the power of these arguments and was willing to "acquiesce with satisfaction" if the Congress approved the treaty. Joseph A. Harriss France ceded the territory to Spain in 1762 in the secret Treaty of Fontainebleau. In November 1803, France withdrew its 7,000 surviving troops from Saint-Domingue (more than two-thirds of its troops died there) and gave up its ambitions in the Western Hemisphere. Free shipping for many products! The Louisiana Purchase was one of history's greatest bargains, a chance for the United States to buy what promised to be one of France's largest and wealthiest territories and eliminate a. Fashion-conscious American ladies reportedly imitated Rcamiers attire, but not her custom of receiving visitors in her bedroom. France was slow in taking control of Louisiana, but in 1802 Spanish authorities, apparently acting under French orders, revoked a U.S.-Spanish treaty that granted Americans the right to store. He argued that the three-year term of the 1795 treaty that had granted America this right and free passage through Spanish territory on the Mississippi had expired. How did the French Own Louisiana? When Thomas Jefferson purchased the Louisiana Territory from France, he altered the shape of a nation and the course of history. The Louisiana Purchase extended United States sovereignty across the Mississippi River, nearly doubling the nominal size of the country. I renounce Louisiana. [25] The American purchase of the Louisiana territory was not accomplished without domestic opposition. Napoleon Bonaparte sold the land because he needed money for the Great French War. [43] Hopes brought to the transaction experience with issuing sovereign bonds and Barings brought its American connections.[42]. [24], The opposition of New England Federalists to the Louisiana Purchase was primarily economic self-interest, not any legitimate concern over constitutionality or whether France indeed owned Louisiana or was required to sell it back to Spain should it desire to dispose of the territory. But when French forces invaded Haiti in an attempt to restore the original order, the slave rebellion refused to budge. The British had re-entered the war and France was losing the Haitian Revolution and could not defend Louisiana. [citation needed], In Saint-Domingue, Leclerc's forces took Louverture prisoner, but their expedition soon faltered in the face of fierce resistance and disease. This week (May 2) in 1803, the United States and France formally signed the treaty that transferred the Louisiana Territory, including the port city of New Orleans, to the United States for the paltry sum of $11,250,000. Saint-Domingue was a powder keg, ready to explode. pp. Just three weeks earlier, on November 30, 1803, Spanish officials had formally conveyed the colonial lands and their administration to France. [28], Henry Adams claimed "The sale of Louisiana to the United States was trebly invalid; if it were French property, Bonaparte could not constitutionally alienate it without the consent of the French Chambers; if it were Spanish property, he could not alienate it at all; if Spain had a right of reclamation, his sale was worthless. France was in shock, and Napoleon began to realize that his dream of a French empire in the Americas might be doomed. The problem with Saint-Domingue was that its entire economy was supported by and depended entirely upon slavery. The purchase included land from fifteen present U.S. states and two Canadian provinces, including the entirety of Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Nebraska; large portions of North Dakota and South Dakota; the area of Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado east of the Continental Divide; the portion of Minnesota west of the Mississippi River; the northeastern section of New Mexico; northern portions of Texas; New Orleans and the portions of the present state of Louisiana west of the Mississippi River; and small portions of land within Alberta and Saskatchewan. In 1718, French explorer Jean-Baptiste le Moyne, Sieur de Bienville, founded a settlement near the site of La Salles proclamation, and named it la Nouvelle Orlans for Philippe, Duke of Orlans and Regent of France.
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