In the meeting, he said that Napoleon had read an account in the London press that 50,000 British troops might be sent to New Orleans. The United States was leery of Frances intentions with the territory, and the port city of New Orleans was critical to the US economy.2. The U.S. claimed that Louisiana included the entire western portion of the Mississippi River drainage basin to the crest of the Rocky Mountains and land extending to the Rio Grande and West Florida. Why did France sell Louisiana to the US? Napoleon. The resources and land from theLouisiana territory considerably helped the United States become the global power it is today. This was emphasized when in the memoir of Franois Barb-Marbois, Napoleon gave up his claim to the territory saying, "Irresolution and deliberation are no longer in season. French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte ultimately sold the Louisiana territory to the United States for four reasons: the French government needed money, an impending war with Great Britain, the fallout from the Haitian Revolution, and the difficulty in maintaining a North American colony. To Napoleon's line of thinking, if the United States took control of Louisiana, then it would deny Britain the opportunity of conquering it. The Haitian Revolution began in 1791 and lasted for over a decade. This was possible because the Louisiana territory did not only encompass Louisiana as the state that exists today. The Louisiana Purchase (1803) was a land deal between the United States and France, in which the U.S. acquired approximately 827,000 square miles of land west of the Mississippi River for $15 million. ' Weegy: Napoleon sold the Louisiana Territory to the United States because he would have a hard time managing . 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. Even if the British did not seize the territory, the United States also posed a significant future threat. Upon word of the Louisiana territory transfer from Spain to France, some hot-headed members of Congress proposed a preemptive strike against New Orleans. It was even subject to a speculative bubble which ruined fortunes. Even more puzzling, the French had just reacquired the Louisiana territory and critical port city of New Orleans in the secret 1800 Treaty of San Ildefonso with Spain. The territory made up all or part of fifteen modern U.S. states between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains. This gave Jefferson and his cabinet until October, when the treaty had to be ratified, to discuss the constitutionality of the purchase. Nobody really knows what post-victory plans for New Orleans and Upper Louisiana were given by the British government to Major General Sir Edward Pakenham and his second-in-command Major General Samuel Gibbs because both generals were killed in action at the Battle of New Orleans. 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. As a result, Napoleon's view of Louisiana transformed from that of an outpost to that of a poker chip, ready to cash in. The Louisiana territory was now worthless to him, and he immediately sought to offload the territory to the United States. The Louisiana Purchase (French: Vente de la Louisiane, lit. These wars, the Napoleonic Wars, lasted from 1803 to 1815 and led, as described by the New World Encyclopedia, to a brief French dominance of Europe. It cannot be understated just how important the Louisiana Purchase was to the United States. Pamela Martin In 1803, Napoleon Bonaparte surprised U.S. negotiators with an offer to sell the Louisiana Territory for approximately 4 cents per acre. Overcoming the opposition of the Federalist Party, Jefferson and Secretary of State James Madison persuaded Congress to ratify and fund the Louisiana Purchase. "Napoleon, Jefferson, and the Louisiana Purchase. [25] The American purchase of the Louisiana territory was not accomplished without domestic opposition. [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. As a result, Thomas Jefferson instructed James Monroe and Robert Livingston to purchase New Orleans in 1802. First, an empowered United States could effectively act as a formidable rival to Britain. This success stuck in Napoleon's craw. 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 Library of Congress explains how President Thomas Jefferson realized the precariousness of having France as a neighbor. The great expansion of the United States achieved by the Louisiana Purchase did receive criticism, though . The jewel of the French overseas empire was Saint-Domingue in the Caribbean, which is today's Haiti on the large island of Hispaniola. Napoleon was reported to have said of Louisiana in his treasury minister's memoir, "To attempt obstinately to retain it would be folly.". [6] The territory nominally remained under Spanish control, until a transfer of power to France on November 30, 1803, just three weeks before the formal cession of the territory to the United States on December 20, 1803.[7]. The additional land helped lead to the Indian Removal Act of 1830 and the various frontier wars and broken treaties with the Plains natives of the late 1800s. 2), which is just what Jefferson did. The French Revolution and the Politics of Government Finance, 1770-1815. The Journal of Economic History, vol. The problem with Saint-Domingue was that its entire economy was supported by and depended entirely upon slavery. The confederations that are called perpetual, only last till one of the contracting parties finds it to its interest to break them, and it is to prevent the danger, to which the colossal power of England exposes us, that I would provide a remedy. National Geographicpoints out that in modern dollars, the Louisiana Purchase would have cost $342 million. The Louisiana Territory was established, as described by Smithsonian Magazine, in 1682, when the French explorer Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, arrived at the mouth of the Mississippi River, put up a cross and column, and declared to a group of puzzled Native Americans that the entire river basin belonged to France. Also, Spain's refusal to cede Florida to France meant that Louisiana would be indefensible. Britain and France renewed hostilities on May 18, 1803, shortly after the deal was finalized. True False, Federalists believed in a strict following of the Constitution exactly as it was worded. Napoleon's brothers, Lucien and Joseph, objected, thinking it a black mark on France's reputation and glory. Slaves were routinely terrorized in a race-based social order. 5057. The first plan of government used by the United States was under the: Who was the President at the time of the Alien and Sedition Act? Alain Chappet, Roger Martin, Alain Pigeard. The Sac and the Fox lived on the northern Mississippi River, the Osage on the Missouri River and on the Arkansas River in present eastern Oklahoma, and the Quapaw at the . Many members of the House of Representatives opposed the purchase. Livingston wrote to James Madison, "We shall do all we can to cheapen the purchase, but my present sentiment is that we shall buy.". Perhaps the most important reason as to why Napoleon sold the Louisiana territory to the United States was the Haitian Revolution. Even in 1803, that was dirt cheap. [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. Your email address will not be published. explored the Louisiana Territory and points west. Through the Louisiana Purchase, the United States' territory doubled at once. The Louisiana Territory That Was Sold. Part of his evolving strategy involved giving du Pont some information that was withheld from Livingston. 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". While Napoleon had grand plans for the Louisiana territory, those dreams were far off. The Real Reason France Sold The Louisiana Territory To The United States, National Museum of American History/Wikimedia Commons, National Archives and Records Administration/Wikimedia Commons. History and Geography 807: The Industrial Nat, Social Studies American History: Reconstruction to the Present Guided Reading Workbook, Deborah Gray White, Edward L. Ayers, Jess F. de la Teja, Robert D. Schulzinger, Alan Brinkley, Albert S. Broussard, Donald A. Ritchie, James M. McPherson, Joyce Appleby, Creating America: A History of the United States. While Napoleons reasons were valid, his decision to sell the Louisiana territory certainly came as a surprise. [42] Barings had a close relationship with Hope & Co. of Amsterdam, and the two banking houses worked together to facilitate and underwrite the purchase. There was no arguing with Napoleon, who would, after all,crown himself Emperor in 1804. Napoleon brought stabilization to the regime, though direct taxes on the population made up a sky-high ~60% of all government revenues, compared to just 30% pre-revolution.2, In addition, Napoleons government maintained a large standing army to protect the nation and ward off enemies. (land, gold, and to start a new life). [57], The Louisiana Territory was broken into smaller portions for administration, and the territories passed slavery laws similar to those in the southern states but incorporating provisions from the preceding French and Spanish rule (for instance, Spain had prohibited slavery of Native Americans in 1769, but some slaves of mixed African-Native American descent were still being held in St. Louis in Upper Louisiana when the U.S. took over). The vast territory was named after Louis XIV, the so-called Sun King. [63], The Louisiana Purchase was negotiated between France and the United States, without consulting the various Indian tribes who lived on the land and who had not ceded the land to any colonial power. The Lewis and Clark expedition followed shortly thereafter. [citation needed], Governing the Louisiana Territory was more difficult than acquiring it. In 1763, Louis XV gave Louisiana to his cousin, Charles III of Spain. When the United States found out that instead of Spain as their neighbor, it was to be France under Napoleon with imperial ambitions, the Americans feared that their access to the Mississippi would be cut off. [62] The U.S. later built or expanded forts along the Mississippi and Missouri rivers, including adding to Fort Bellefontaine, and constructing Fort Armstrong (1816) and Fort Edwards (1816) in Illinois, Fort Crawford (1816) in Wisconsin, Fort Snelling (1819) in Minnesota, and Fort Atkinson (1819) in Nebraska. President Thomas Jefferson had acquired purchased the Louisiana Territory almost a year earlier, for the price of about $15 million (about $342 million in 2020, adjusted for inflation).The ceremony took place in St. Louis, Missouri, earning the U.S. city its nickname "Gateway to . The French government replied that these objections were baseless since the promise not to alienate Louisiana was not in the treaty of San Ildefonso itself and therefore had no legal force, and the Spanish government had ordered Louisiana to be transferred in October 1802 despite knowing for months that Britain had not recognized the King of Etruria in the Treaty of Amiens. How did Jefferson acquire Louisiana Territory? However, the territory north of the 49th parallel (including the Milk River and Poplar River watersheds) was ceded to the UK in exchange for parts of the Red River Basin south of 49th parallel in the Anglo-American Convention of 1818. This exact scenario is what happened to Mexico with their province of Tejas during the Texan Revolution. 53, no. Jefferson considered a constitutional amendment to justify the purchase; however, his cabinet convinced him otherwise. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. 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. [46], Because Napoleon wanted to receive his money as quickly as possible, Barings and Hopes purchased the bonds for 52 million francs, agreeing to an initial 6 million franc payment upon issuance of the bonds followed by 23 monthly payments of 2 million francs each. It was the first and only time that a slave revolt had seen such success, and this epochal event in San-Domingue is linked with the Louisiana Purchase. [5], Following the establishment of the United States, the Americans controlled the area east of the Mississippi and north of New Orleans. See chapter iii, "Treaty Ceding Louisiana to the United States" (1803 ff.). Monroe, along with the minister to France, Robert Livingston, made the inquiry. Spain turned the territory over to France in a ceremony in New Orleans on November 30, a month before France turned it over to American officials. [22] In 1804 Haiti declared its independence; but fearing a slave revolt at home, Jefferson and the rest of Congress refused to recognize the new republic, the second in the Western Hemisphere, and imposed a trade embargo against it. pp. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/2123552. Required fields are marked *. [citation needed], During this period, south Louisiana received an influx of French-speaking refugee planters, who were permitted to bring their slaves with them, and other refugees fleeing the large slave revolt in Saint-Domingue. He added later, "I require money to make war on the richest nation in the world.". He engaged in back-channel diplomacy with Napoleon on Jefferson's behalf during a visit to France and originated the idea of the much larger Louisiana Purchase as a way to defuse potential conflict between the United States and Napoleon over North America.[11]. The Louisiana Purchase encompassed 530,000,000 acres of territory in North America that the United States purchased from France in 1803 for $15 million. The relatively narrow Louisiana of New Spain had been a special province under the jurisdiction of the Captaincy General of Cuba, while the vast region to the west was in 1803 still considered part of the Commandancy General of the Provincias Internas. Aside from the strategic reasons, the United States was the best market to sell the Louisiana Territory. While this strategy was successful at first, by 1803, disease and heavy casualties forced the French to withdraw. But although the Americans never asked for it, Napoleon dangled the entire territory in front of them on April 11, 1803. (80) Napoleon sold the Louisiana territory to the United States in 1803 because he hoped to increase the U. S. status against what nation?A. Another concern was whether it was proper to grant citizenship to the French, Spanish, and free black people living in New Orleans, as the treaty would dictate. The Federalists even tried to prove the land belonged to Spain, not France, but available records proved otherwise. The former slaves fought the French forces to a standstill while yellow fever and malaria outbreaks decimated the French invaders. U.S. ownership of the whole Louisiana Purchase region was confirmed in the Treaty of Ghent (ratified in February 1815) and guaranteed on the battlefield at the decisive Battle of New Orleans when the British sent over 10,000 of the best British Army soldiers to try to take New Orleans in a 5 month long campaign starting from September 1814 (First Battle of Fort Bowyer) to February 1815 (Second Battle of Fort Bowyer).