Louisiana Purchase

I thought the Louisiana Purchase would be an interesting topic to research and learn more about. Previously if I ever thought about the Louisiana Purchase I thought of it as a simple business transaction between the Colonies and Spain for a huge chunk of land.  I realized that I never really payed much attention as to what led to the Louisiana Purchase, and why Napoleon would part with so much land in the first place, or what the Purchase did for America in the long-run. Well lucky that you told us not to come into this research paper with any faith in what we already knew, and to base my knowledge off of what I find. It turns out that the purchase of Louisiana was actually a quite complicated matter that involved a ton of power politics and proves that it was one of Jefferson’s greatest achievements. My research first led me to the events that brought about the Louisiana Purchase.

        When the French and Indian War finally came to an end in 1763, the French lost near everything it owned in Northern America, crushing their hopes of having a colonial empire. Instead, their empire stayed on the Caribbean Island of Santo Domingo, for the sole reason of how much sugar they produced out of there. The territory of Louisiana, which was under French control, stretched from New Orleans up the Missouri River and into what it is now Montana, was originally intended for the Spanish Empire as a granary that would produce flour, salt, lumber, and food for their islands. According to the Treaty of Fontainbleau written in 1763, however, the piece of Louisiana that was located west of the Mississippi was ceded to Spain, while the British obtained the eastern portion.

        After the United States won back its independence from Great Britain in 1783, its first major concern was that they needed complete access to the Mississippi River, and that they had a strong European power as a western neighbor. As the settlers of the colonies began to push westward, they discovered that the large Appalachian Mountains proved to be an impassable wall that prevented getting goods eastward. The simplest way to ship produce was to make a flatboat and just cruise down the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers right into the port of New Orleans, where they could transfer said goods onto an ocean-bound vessel. Well it proved to be not so simple now that the Spanish controlled both sides of the Mississippi below Natchez. Something had to be done to allow U.S. production to continue being shipped through New Orleans.

        In 1795 the U.S. discussed the Pinckney Treaty with Spain, giving the United States the right of passage on the river so they could have access to New Orleans ports. The treaty was only to stay in effect for a mere three years, with only the possibility of a renewal. Seven years later in 1802, farmers, businessman, trappers and lumberman of the United States were conjuring over $1 million worth of goods through the ports of New Orleans every year, concerning Spanish officials because the U.S. was moving closer to their territory. Spain was more than ready to deprive itself of Louisiana, which was nothing more than a black hole for their finances. On October 1, 1800, Napoleon Bonaparte, the First Consul of France, finished the Treaty of San Ildefonso with Spain, returning French ownership over Louisiana in exchange for Italy.

        Napoleon had large ambitions for Louisiana that involved the establishment of a new empire being centered around the sugar trade in the Caribbean. Written on the Treaty of Ameins in 1800, Great Britain gave back the islands of Martinique and Guadaloupe to the French. Napoleon planned to use Louisiana as the depot for the sugar islands, and to buffer the settlements in the United States. October 1801, Napoleon sends a formidable military force to reconquer Santo Domingo, which was taken in a slave revolt around the 1790s. These were the first steps in Napoleon putting his plan into action.

        The third President of the United States, Thomas Jefferson, was disturbed by Napoleon’s goals of bringing French colonies into America. If Napoleon were to cast his shadow over New Orleans, he could cut off U.S. commerce over the Mississippi at any given time. Jefferson immediately took action by sending Robert R. Livingston, the U.S. Minister to France, to discuss the terms of purchase of the entire city of New Orleans, a few portions of the east bank of the Mississippi, and for use of the Mississippi for commerce.

        Meanwhile the transfer of Louisiana over to French ownership was not yet official, and everyone began learning the news of Napoleon’s deal with the Spanish. This ignited an event that could well be a miracle, a man by the name of Juan Ventura Moralis, the Acting Intendant of Louisiana, brought to light the intention of Spain to abolish the right of deposit at New Orleans for any kind of cargo from the United States. This caused much anger in the states and eventually commerce in the west was blockaded. At the time, it was believed that the revocation of the right of deposit was due to French intrigues, but historians believe that it was prompted by abuses of the Americans. Jefferson didn’t mind the pressure to go to war with France, instead he appointed James Monroe special envoy to Napoleon, in order to help in obtaining New Orleans for the colonies. President Jefferson was determined to get New Orleans so he increased the expenditure of funds to $10 million.

        Meanwhile in the Caribbean, Napoleon’s plans were being discouraged by one Toussaint L’Ouverture, his willing army of ex-slaves, and by the deadly yellow fever. During ten months of grueling fighting on Santo Domingo, France lost more than 40,000 men. Since Napoleon could not obtain Santo Domingo his ambitions to have a French empire in America were destroyed. This loss also made Louisiana a pointless and expensive piece of land for him, since it would prove useless as a granary if it had no islanders to feed. Napoleon began to recognize the temper of the U.S., where opinions were growing against France and stronger bonds with Great Britain were being discussed. When Spain refused to sell Florida, Napoleon decided to focus back on Europe, since selling Louisiana would give him the funds he required to wage his war back home. Napoleon quickly told his ministers, Talleyrand and Barbe-Marbois, to go and offer the whole Louisiana territory to the colonies.