Overcoming the opposition of the Federalist Party, Jefferson and Secretary of State James Madison persuaded Congress to ratify and fund the Louisiana Purchase. Though there were 10 black slaves for every white person in Haiti, slaves occupied the bottom rung of society and were treated like expendable commodities. By the sale, Napolon hoped to create a huge country in the Western Hemisphere to serve as a counterweight to Britain and maybe make trouble for it., On April 11, when Livingston called on Talleyrand for what he thought was yet another futile attempt to deal, the foreign minister, after the de rigueur small talk, suddenly asked whether the United States would perchance wish to buy the whole of the Louisiana Territory. See chapter iii, "Treaty Ceding Louisiana to the United States" (1803 ff.). And he saw the Mississippi River not as the western edge of the country, but as the great spine that would hold the continent together., As it was, frontiersmen, infuriated by the abrogation of the right of deposit of their goods, threatened to seize New Orleans by force. Privacy Statement The Federalists strongly opposed the purchase, favoring close relations with Britain over closer ties to Napoleon. This was the key to our international influence., The bicentennial is being celebrated with yearlong activities in many of the states fashioned from the territory. [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. Advertisement Advertisement mira11111 mira11111 Answer: he needed money for the French War. What Napoleon needed was a way to divest himself of the territory while at the same time preventing it from falling into British hands. The Louisiana Purchasewas one of historys greatest bargains, a chance for the United States to buy what promised to be one of Frances largest and wealthiest territories and eliminate a European threat in the process. [37][38], Effective October 1, 1804, the purchased territory was organized into the Territory of Orleans (most of which would become the state of Louisiana) and the District of Louisiana, which was temporarily under control of the governor and judicial system of the Indiana Territory. [1][2], Domestic opposition and constitutionality, Formal transfers and initial organization. Livingston wrote to James Madison, "We shall do all we can to cheapen the purchase, but my present sentiment is that we shall buy.". France had surrendered its North American possessions at the end of the French and Indian War. Throughout this time, Jefferson had up-to-date intelligence on Napoleon's military activities and intentions in North America. 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.. And St. Domingue, which is now known as Haiti, was one of the great sugar capitals of the world. 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. They also feared that this would lead to Western states being formed, which would likely be Republican, and dilute the political power of New England Federalists. He was in a hurry to get some money for the depleted French treasury, although the relatively modest price shows that he was had in that deal. Bruce Kauffmann is a historian, syndicated columnist, author, and speaker. He had a vision of America as an empire of liberty, says Douglas Brinkley. The British had re-entered the war and France was losing the Haitian Revolution and could not defend Louisiana. Jefferson justified the purchase by rationalizing, "it is the case of a guardian, investing the money of his ward in purchasing an important adjacent territory; & saying to him when of age, I did this for your good." 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. The French and Indian war cost her Canada and all of her other possessions on the east bank of the Mississippi. In 1763, Louis XV gave Louisiana to his cousin, Charles III of Spain. Napoleon's brothers, Lucien and Joseph, objected, thinking it a black mark on France's reputation and glory. Gentlemen, he announced, think what you please about it. But the official view was summed up by Antoine de La Mothe Cadillac, whom Louis XIV named governor of the territory in 1710: The people are aheap of the dregs of Canada, he sniffed in a 42-page report to the king written soon after he arrived. But in 1800, the region again changed hands, when Napolon negotiated the clandestine Treaty of San Ildefonso with Spains Charles IV. The Lewis and Clark expedition followed shortly thereafter. A wily political survivor who held high offices under the French Revolution, and later under Napolons empire and the restored Bourbon monarchy, Talleyrand had spent the years 1792 to 1794 in exile in America after being denounced by the revolutionary National Convention, and had conceived a virulent contempt for Americans. The British had re-entered the war and France was losing the Haitian Revolution and could not defend Louisiana. [32] The Senate quickly ratified the treaty, and the House, with equal readiness, authorized the required funding, as the Constitution specifies. Part or all of 15 states were eventually created from the land deal, which is considered one of the most important achievements of Thomas Jeffersons presidency. To their surprise, France offered to sell them the entire territory of Louisiana instead. According to the Library of Congress, Napoleon did not have enough troops to occupy Louisiana while simultaneously subduing Saint-Domingue. Updated: June 6, 2019 | Original: December 2, 2009. The favorable majority, however, easily prevailed and New England remained in the Union. The Louisiana Purchase opened up a new can of worms in the United Stateshow much of the new territory should be open to slavery? A group of Northern Federalists led by Senator Timothy Pickering of Massachusetts went so far as to explore the idea of a separate northern confederacy. But Napolons troops in Saint Domingue were being decimated by a revolution and an outbreak of yellow fever. And in 1801, Spain signed a secret treaty with France to return the Louisiana Territory to France. All Rights Reserved. The Louisiana Purchase is perhaps the most famous real estate deal in American history. Napoleon saw in the sale of Louisiana something he needed more than anything else cold, hard cash. The four decades following the Louisiana Purchase was an era of court decisions removing many tribes from their lands east of the Mississippi for resettlement in the new territory, culminating in the Trail of Tears. [30], Other historians counter the above arguments regarding Jefferson's alleged hypocrisy by asserting that countries change their borders in two ways: (1) conquest, or (2) an agreement between nations, otherwise known as a treaty. The House called for a vote to deny the request for the purchase, but it failed by two votes, 5957. 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. While this was just a rumor, he had made up his mind to sell the territory. French historians point out that Napolon had several reasons for this decision. 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. France ceded the territory to Spain in 1762 in the secret Treaty of Fontainebleau. A. i only B. i and iv only C. ii and iii only While the concept of "manifest destiny" would not make it into the American lexicon until 1845, the idea that the United States had a divine mission to expand had been in place since the earliest colonial times. But an elated Livingston was aware that nearly doubling the size of America would make it a major player on the world scene one day, and he permitted himself some verbal euphoria: We have lived long, but this is the noblest work of our whole lives, he said. [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. According to the Library of Congress, the Louisiana Territory was mainly ignored by the French government and remained unprofitable. Why did France give Louisiana to Spain? All articles are regularly reviewed and updated by the HISTORY.com team. [5], Following the establishment of the United States, the Americans controlled the area east of the Mississippi and north of New Orleans. 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]. [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. Many Southern slaveholders feared that acquisition of the new territory might inspire American-held slaves to follow the example of those in Saint-Domingue and revolt. | READ MORE, 2023 Smithsonian Magazine 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. [50] Spain insisted that Louisiana comprised no more than the western bank of the Mississippi River and the cities of New Orleans and St. By the middle of the 18th century, France controlled more of the present-day United States than any other European power: from New Orleans northeast to the Great Lakes and northwest to modern-day Montana. In October, the U.S. Senate ratified the purchase, and in December 1803 France transferred authority over the region to the United States. 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.