"Let
the Land rejoice, for you have bought Louisiana for a Song."
Gen.
Horatio Gates to President Thomas Jefferson, July 18, 1803
“Robert
Livingston and James Monroe closed on the sweetest real estate deal of the
millennium when they signed the Louisiana Purchase Treaty in Paris on April 30,
1803. They were authorized to pay France up to $10 million for the port of New
Orleans and the Floridas. When offered the entire territory of Louisiana–an
area larger than Great Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Portugal
combined–the American negotiators swiftly agreed to a price of $15 million.
Although
President Thomas Jefferson was a strict interpreter of the Constitution who
wondered if the U.S. Government was authorized to acquire new territory, he was
also a visionary who dreamed of an "empire for liberty" that would
stretch across the entire continent. As Napoleon threatened to take back the
offer, Jefferson squelched whatever doubts he had, submitted the treaty to
Congress, and prepared to occupy a land of unimaginable riches.
The Louisiana
Purchase added 828,000 square miles of land west of the Mississippi River to
the United States. For roughly 4 cents an acre, the United States had purchased
a territory whose natural resources amounted to a richness beyond anyone's
wildest calculations” (Miller, 1931, para. 1 - 3).
The Louisiana Purchase can go down in history as one
of the largest land thefts in the history of this country. France claimed a
large chunk of land that ran from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico. Land in which
many indigenous people resided. The land exchanged hands between Spain and
France and ended up in France’s possession much to the surprise of President
Jefferson. At the same time, tension rose between France and Britain. The
Island of Saint Dominique lost appeal for Napolean Bonapart after slave
rebellions and British interference. After negotiations, France sold a young
United States the Louisiana territory. End results of the sale was the
migration of many white settlers, battles between Native Americans and pioneers,
the ravages of disease and a huge loss of land and its valuable resources for
the indigenous people. The Louisiana Purchase was the largest land takeover in
the history of this country without the act of war playing a part.
In April of 1682, Robert Cavelier, Sieur (Lord) de La
Salle, a French Explorer, made claim to land near the mouth of the Mississippi
River when he read a declaration before a group of confused Indian people. He
pronounced his claim, for his country, the entire Mississippi basin. Cavelier
named the area for the Prince Louis the Great. Hence the name Louisiana which
was in honor of Louis XIV.
The French explorer Jean-Baptise le Moyne, Sieur de
Bienville later founded a settlement near the site of La Salle’s claim named it
Nouvelle Orleans for Philippe, Duke of Orleans and Regent of France. By the
time of the Louisiana Purchase, the population of whites, slaves of African
American descent and Native Americans numbered approximately 8,000 (Harris,
2003).
Ownership of Louisiana went back and forth between France
and Spain. Spain took over and had control of the territory of Louisiana in
October 1800 when Napolean made a secret deal to take back New Orleans and
Louisiana from Spain. He wished to amass and send an army to protect his land
holdings. Jefferson did not learn until 1801 that Napolean had reclaimed
Louisiana. Faced with trepidation about how powerful France became, he did not
want France to have control of the United State’s trade routes. Jefferson made
plans about how he was going to buy Louisiana from France. He equated France’s
ownership of Louisiana as big of threat as the Revolutionary War (Cerami, 2003).
Napolean pondered his hold of the island of Saint
Domingue which could provide France and other countries with a vast amount of
sugar, cotton, cocoa and coffee. France could use the port of New Orleans to
ship the crops to Europe. The residents of Saint Domingue believed the French
were going to reinstate slavery like what happened on Guadeloupe. Slavery was
reinstated. The slave population suffered from food shortages and brutally
forced hard labor. The slaves revolted which forced Napolean to sends more
troops. More than half of the French army died from diseases, mostly Yellow
Fever. Napolean’s interest in the island diminished severely (Cerami, 2003).
Napolean
feared a war with Britain may ensue and he did not have the funds to pay for
such a war. He thought Britain may attack Louisiana from Canada and he would
rather fight Britain from France and not Canada.
The treaty which permitted the U.S. to use Spanish
territory on the Mississippi had expired. American shipments could not be
stored in New Orleans warehouses. Merchandise and produce had to be left on
open wharfs while awaiting shipment to the other locations which risked
exposure to weather and theft. The U.S. economy was in jeopardy.
Senator James Ross of Pennsylvania drafted a resolution
which requested Jefferson to form a 50,000 man army to take over the city of
New Orleans. France and the U.S. definitely had a stake in the outcome of the
ownership of Louisiana.
French Minister, Francois de Barbe-Marbois, Robert Livingston,
a New Yorker and the American Minster of France and James Monroe, former member
of Congress and former governor of Virginia met in Paris on April 12th
to discuss the sale of Louisiana. Much to their surprise Napolean, was more
than ready to sell and confirmed and stated his asking price of $22,500,000.
Livingston told him the price needed to be lowered considerably.
Barbe-Marbois stalled pretending that Napolean lost
interest in the sale. By April 27th he told the Americans that
Napolean firmly agreed to a selling price of $15,000,000. The treaty was signed
by the three men on May 2 but was backdated to April 30. Livingston did not
have permission to carry out the land deal but they needed to act fast. Nearly
doubling the size of America could help make it a world power in the future.
Jefferson
approved the purchase and requested the Senate to ratify the Louisiana Purchase
Treaty in which they voted 24 to 7 on October 20, 1803. Congress approved the
treaty. Money needed to be borrowed in the form of bonds from European
countries which had to be paid back in 15 years. Business took time to be
carried out because transatlantic mail took weeks and sometimes months.
Finally, Louisiana belonged to the United States (Harris, 2003).
Fifteen
states joined the union as the result of the Louisiana Purchase: Louisiana;
Missouri; Arkansas; Texas; Iowa; Minnesota; Kansas; Nebraska; Colorado; North
Dakota; South Dakota; Montana; Wyoming; Oklahoma; and New Mexico. Some of the
aforementioned states were entirely within the boundaries of the Louisiana
Purchase and others were also a part of the deal struck with Mexico after the
Mexican/American War (Raum, 2014). States developed statehood as a result of
the 1787 Northwest Ordinance in which land was considered a territory that had
a population of at least five thousand and full-fledged statehood would occur
when the population reached 60,000. Self-governance applied for territories and
states according to the ordinance (Cerami, 2003).
The
Louisiana Purchased with an accumulated land mass of approximately 830,000
square miles led to a great westward migration. White settlers believed they
had a right to move to the uncharted
territories. The Indian population did not fare well after the purchase. Much
of the game, land and other valuable resources were taken over by the white
settlers. They faced starvation and died from diseases such as small pox. Many
were killed in battles with white settlers or American armies. Land purchased
from a country by a country who were not the original inhabitants.
TREATY BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND
THE FRENCH REPUBLIC
The President of the United States of America
and the First Consul of the French Republic in the name of the French People
desiring to remove all Source of misunderstanding relative to objects of
discussion mentioned in the Second and fifth articles of the Convention of the 8th Vendmiaire on
9/30 September 1800 relative to the rights claimed by the United States in
virtue of the Treaty concluded at Madrid the 27 of October 1795, between His Catholic
Majesty & the Said United States, & willing to Strengthen the union and
friendship which at the time of the Said Convention was happily reestablished
between the two nations have respectively named their Plenipotentiaries to wit
The President of the United States, by and with the advice and consent of the
Senate of the Said States; Robert R. Livingston Minister Plenipotentiary of the
United States and James Monroe Minister Plenipotentiary and Envoy extraordinary
of the Said States near the Government of the French Republic; And the First
Consul in the name of the French people, Citizen Francis Barbé Marbois
Minister of the public treasury who after having respectively exchanged their
full powers have agreed to the following Articles.
Whereas by the Article the third of the Treaty concluded at St Ildefonso the 9th Vendamiaire on 1st October 1800
between the First Consul of the French Republic and his Catholic Majesty it was
agreed as follows.
"His Catholic Majesty promises and engages
on his part to cede to the French Republic six months after the full and entire
execution of the conditions and Stipulations herein relative to his Royal
Highness the Duke of Parma, the Colony or Province of Louisiana with the Same
extent that it now has in the hand of Spain, & that it had when France
possessed it; and Such as it Should be after the Treaties subsequently entered
into between Spain and other States."
And whereas in pursuance of the Treaty and particularly of the third article the French Republic has an incontestible title to the domain
and to the possession of the said Territory--The First Consul of the French
Republic desiring to give to the United States a strong proof of his friendship
doth hereby cede to the United States in the name of the French Republic
forever and in full Sovereignty the said territory with all its rights and
appurtenances as fully and in the Same manner as they have been acquired by the
French Republic in virtue of the above mentioned Treaty concluded with his Catholic
Majesty.
In the cession made by the preceeding article
are included the adjacent Islands belonging to Louisiana all public lots and
Squares, vacant lands and all public buildings, fortifications, barracks and
other edifices which are not private property.--The Archives, papers &
documents relative to the domain and Sovereignty of Louisiana and its
dependances will be left in the possession of the Commissaries of the United
States, and copies will be afterwards given in due form to the Magistrates and
Municipal officers of such of the said papers and documents as may be necessary
to them.
The inhabitants of the ceded territory shall be
incorporated in the Union of the United States and admitted as soon as possible
according to the principles of the federal Constitution to the enjoyment
of all these rights, advantages and immunities of citizens of the United
States, and in the mean time they shall be maintained and protected in the free
enjoyment of their liberty, property and the Religion which they profess.
There Shall be Sent by the Government of France
a Commissary to Louisiana to the end that he do every act necessary as well to
receive from the Officers of his Catholic Majesty the Said country and its
dependances in the name of the French Republic if it has not been already done
as to transmit it in the name of the French Republic to the Commissary or agent
of the United States.
Immediately after the ratification of the
present Treaty by the President of the United States and in case that of the first
Consul's shall have been previously obtained, the commissary of the French
Republic shall remit all military posts of New Orleans and other parts of the
ceded territory to the Commissary or Commissaries named by the President to
take possession--the troops whether of France or Spain who may be there shall
cease to occupy any military post from the time of taking possession and shall
be embarked as soon as possible in the course of three months after the
ratification of this treaty.
The United States promise to execute Such
treaties and articles as may have been agreed between Spain and the tribes and
nations of Indians until by mutual consent of the United States and the said
tribes or nations other Suitable articles Shall have been agreed upon.
As it is reciprocally advantageous to the
commerce of France and the United States to encourage the communication of both
nations for a limited time in the country ceded by the present treaty until
general arrangements relative to commerce of both nations may be agreed on; it
has been agreed between the contracting parties that the French Ships coming
directly from France or any of her colonies loaded only with the produce and
manufactures of France or her Said Colonies; and the Ships of Spain coming
directly from Spain or any of her colonies loaded only with the produce or
manufactures of Spain or her Colonies shall be admitted during the Space of
twelve years in the Port of New-Orleans and in all other legal ports-of-entry
within the ceded territory in the Same manner as the Ships of the United States
coming directly from France or Spain or any of their Colonies without being
Subject to any other or greater duty on merchandize or other or greater tonnage
than that paid by the citizens of the United. States.
During that Space of time above mentioned no
other nation Shall have a right to the Same privileges in the Ports of the
ceded territory--the twelve years Shall commence three months after the
exchange of ratifications if it Shall take place in France or three months
after it Shall have been notified at Paris to the French Government if it Shall
take place in the United States; It is however well understood that the object
of the above article is to favour the manufactures, Commerce, freight and
navigation of France and of Spain So far as relates to the importations that
the French and Spanish Shall make into the Said Ports of the United States
without in any Sort affecting the regulations that the United States may make
concerning the exportation of the produce and merchandize of the United States,
or any right they may have to make Such regulations.
In future and forever after the expiration of
the twelve years, the Ships of France shall be treated upon the footing of the
most favoured nations in the ports above mentioned.
The particular Convention Signed this day by the respective Ministers, having for its
object to provide for the payment of debts due to the Citizens of the United
States by the French Republic prior to the 30th Sept. 1800 (8th Vendé miaire
an 9) is approved and to have its execution in the Same manner as if it had
been inserted in this present treaty, and it Shall be ratified in the same form
and in the Same time So that the one Shall not be ratified distinct from the
other.
Another particular Convention Signed at the Same date as the
present treaty relative to a definitive rule between the contracting parties is
in the like manner approved and will be ratified in the Same form, and in the
Same time and jointly.
The present treaty Shall be ratified in good and
due form and the ratifications Shall be exchanged in the Space of Six months
after the date of the Signature by the Ministers Plenipotentiary or Sooner if
possible.
In faith whereof the respective
Plenipotentiaries have Signed these articles in the French and English
languages; declaring nevertheless that the present Treaty was originally agreed
to in the French language; and have thereunto affixed their Seals.
Done at Paris the tenth day of Floreal in the
eleventh year of the French Republic; and the 30th of April 1803.
Robt R Livingston [seal]
Jas. Monroe [seal]
Barba Marbois [seal]
Source:
Miller,
H. (Ed.), (1931). Treaties and Other International Acts of the United States of
America. Volume 2. Documents 1 – 40, 1776 – 1818. Washington: Government
Printing Office.
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