Why did France sell Louisiana ? - French Glimpses As a result, Napoleon's view of Louisiana transformed from that of an outpost to that of a poker chip, ready to cash in. In mid-April 1803, shortly before Monroes arrival, the French asked a surprised Livingston if the United States was interested in purchasing all of Louisiana Territory. On March 9 and 10, 1804, another ceremony, commemorated as Three Flags Day, was conducted in St. Louis, to transfer ownership of Upper Louisiana from Spain to France, and then from France to the United States. 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. [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. 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. On January 1, 1804, Haiti declared its independence. To Napoleon's line of thinking, if the United States took control of Louisiana, then it would deny Britain the opportunity of conquering it. 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. At the time of the purchase, the territory of Louisiana's non-native population was around 60,000 inhabitants, of whom half were enslaved Africans. The problem with Saint-Domingue was that its entire economy was supported by and depended entirely upon slavery. Why did France sell Louisiana? 2), which is just what Jefferson did. You have come to a very corrupt world, Napolon told him frankly, adding roguishly that Talleyrand was the right man to explain what he meant by corruption. High around 75F. Brown University explains that Saint-Domingue created a tax revenue base of 1 billion livres and exported up to 170 million livres into France on an annual basis. Why did France give Louisiana to Spain? GOP Election Officials Walk Fine Line On Fraud, Integrity - HuffPost The treaty was signed by Barb-Marbois, Livingston and Monroe on May 2 and backdated to April 30. HISTORY.com works with a wide range of writers and editors to create accurate and informative content. Louisiana under Spanish control fared little better. By the 1720s, several settlements had developed, the chief of which was the territory's capital at New Orleans. When Thomas Jefferson purchased the Louisiana Territory from France, he altered the shape of a nation and the course of history. On April 12, 1803, Franois Barb-Marbois met with the Americans. Meanwhile, Haitis free black people were organizing. On March 11, 1803, Napoleon began preparing to invade Great Britain. If we had not made this purchase, it would have pinched off the possibility of our becoming a continental power, he says. The territory's boundaries had not been defined in the 1762 Treaty of Fontainebleau that ceded it from France to Spain, nor in the 1801 Third Treaty of San Ildefonso ceding it back to France, nor the 1803 Louisiana Purchase agreement ceding it to the United States.[49]. [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. To their surprise, France offered to sell them the entire territory of Louisiana instead. There he confirmed Napolons desire to sell the territory for $22,500,000. Southern Quarterlynotes, "What is often remembered as a remarkably 'peaceful' transfer of land was in fact predicated on events of enormous violence that took place in the Caribbean.". The entire economy of Americas Western territories was in jeopardy. France sold the Louisiana Territory to fund its European wars. Just three weeks earlier, on November 30, 1803, Spanish officials had formally conveyed the colonial lands and their administration to France. How did the French Own Louisiana? 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. From this day the United States take their place among the powers of the first rank., It wasnt until July 3 that news of the purchase reached U.S. shores, just in time for Americans to celebrate it on Independence Day. [5], Following the establishment of the United States, the Americans controlled the area east of the Mississippi and north of New Orleans. Free shipping for many products! The press joined the fray. (Livingston) Napoleon intended to gain money by selling Louisiana. By early 1803, Napoleon decided to abandon his plans to rebuild France's New World empire. He added later, "I require money to make war on the richest nation in the world.". 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. [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." Who bought the Louisiana Purchase? - TimesMojo And the price, $15 million, or about four cents an acre, was a breathtaking bargain. What Napoleon needed was a way to divest himself of the territory while at the same time preventing it from falling into British hands. In 1763, Louis XV gave Louisiana to his cousin, Charles III of Spain. 8 Things You May Not Know About the Louisiana Purchase - History However, in 1800 Spain had ceded the Louisiana territory back to France as part of Napoleon's secret Third Treaty of San Ildefonso. In 1802 Bonaparte forced Spain to return Louisiana to France in the secret Treaty of San Ildefonso. Livingston replied that hewould be ready to purchase provided the sum was reduced to reasonable limits. Then he rushed home and worked until 3 a.m. writing a memorandum to Secretary of State Madison, concluding: We shall do all we can to cheapen the purchase; but my present sentiment is that we shall buy.. So while a slave rebellion helped drive the Louisiana Purchase, the new territory was destined to become a place of suffering and exploitation for the thousands of slaves forced to work there. France regained sovereignty of the western territory in the secret Third Treaty of San Ildefonso . 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. Even in 1803, that was dirt cheap. Napoleon's goal: an American empire. Alain Chappet, Roger Martin, Alain Pigeard. The Kingdom of France had controlled the Louisiana territory from 1699 until it was ceded to Spain in 1762. Why did France sell the Louisiana Territory? 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. 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. [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. France ceded the territory to Spain in 1762 in the secret Treaty of Fontainebleau. How did France obtain the Louisiana Territory? - 2023 All these soldiers needed to be fed, housed, and paid. Livingston and Monroe were only authorized to spend up to $10 million for the purchase of New Orleans and West Florida. The answer fell into his lap. [50] Spain insisted that Louisiana comprised no more than the western bank of the Mississippi River and the cities of New Orleans and St. Claiborne and Gen. James Wilkinson, the new commissioners of the territory, officially took possession of it in the name of the United States, assuring all residents that their property, rights and religion would be respected, celebratory salvos boomed from the forts around the city. The rest was history. 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. 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. In 1796, Spain allied itself with France, leading Britain to use its powerful navy to cut off Spain from America. The whole thing came as a total surprise to him and his negotiating team in Paris, because it was, after all, Napolons idea, not his., Showing up unexpectedly at the dinner party Livingston gave on April 12 for Monroes arrival, Barb-Marbois discreetly asked Livingston to meet him later that night at the treasury office. He probably concluded that, following American independence, France couldnt hope to maintain a colony on the American continent, says Jean Tulard, one of Frances foremost Napolon scholars.
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