why did france sell louisiana why did france sell louisiana

French historians point out that Napolon had several reasons for this decision. 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. All articles are regularly reviewed and updated by the HISTORY.com team. Today, the 31st parallel is the northern boundary of the western half of the Florida Panhandle, and the Perdido is the western boundary of Florida. [33][35], When Spain later objected to the United States purchasing Louisiana from France, Madison responded that America had first approached Spain about purchasing the property but had been told by Spain itself that America would have to treat with France for the territory.[36]. Thus, the correct answer is option A. 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. Auctions at which human bodies were prodded, compared, and purchased. As France and the United States negotiated the Louisiana purchase, Haiti became an independent country run by the victorious former slaves. The final price after the 15-year bonds were paid was $27 million, still a very good deal for the United States, and not really a bad one for Napoleon, considering the pressure he was under to dump the territory. But when French forces invaded Haiti in an attempt to restore the original order, the slave rebellion refused to budge. By any measure, it was one of the most colossal land transactions in history, involving an area larger than todays France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Germany, Holland, Switzerland and the British Isles combined. To their surprise, France offered to sell them the entire territory of Louisiana instead. 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. [citation needed], Governing the Louisiana Territory was more difficult than acquiring it. The Louisiana Purchase encompassed 530,000,000 acres of territory in North America . The Louisiana Purchase (French: Vente de la Louisiane, lit. [25] The American purchase of the Louisiana territory was not accomplished without domestic opposition. The most ambitious event opens this month at the New Orleans Museum of Art. The difficulties and risks . By early 1803, Napoleon decided to abandon his plans to rebuild France's New World empire. dollar. Jefferson had authorized Livingston only to purchase New Orleans. [8] In 1801, Jefferson supported France in its plan to take back Saint-Domingue (present-day Haiti), which was then under control of Toussaint Louverture after a slave rebellion. 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. Why did France sell Louisiana? Both Federalists and Jeffersonians were concerned over the purchase's constitutionality. 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. Louisiana had never been considered one of New Spain's internal provinces. Washington University in St. Louis Press. Thomas Jeffersonand his cabinet, themselves terrified of a French presence so close to the United States, used this conundrum as an opening. In 1799, he had seized power in a coup d'tat in France and wanted to restore French glory in the Americas. It was even subject to a speculative bubble which ruined fortunes. Charles A. Cerami, author of Jeffersons Great Gamble, agrees. [23], After Monroe and Livingston had returned from France with news of the purchase, an official announcement of the purchase was made on July 4, 1803. [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. 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. By the time Monroe arrived in Paris on April 12, the situation had, unknown to him, radically altered: Napolon had suddenly decided to sell the entire Louisiana Territory to the United States. American expansion westward into the new lands began immediately, and in 1804 a territorial government was established. National Geographic also adds that it paved the way for the imperial expansion and conquest of the Native American tribes of the West. The Federalists strongly opposed the purchase, favoring close relations with Britain over closer ties to Napoleon. "[29] The sale of course was not "worthless"the U.S. actually did take possession. A. i only B. i and iv only C. ii and iii only The Louisiana territory was born on April 9, 1682, when the French explorer Robert Cavelier, Sieur (Lord) de La Salle, erected a cross and column near the mouth of the Mississippi and solemnly read a declaration to a group of bemused Indians. The British had re-entered the war and France was losing the Haitian Revolution and could not defend Louisiana. The social order of the island crumbled and in an attempt to stop the violence, France abolished slavery. This must have been a wrenching moment for Jefferson, who had long been a Francophile. Alain Chappet, Roger Martin, Alain Pigeard. 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]. This made it difficult, when compared to Britain, to obtain the necessary money to wage large-scale wars. In fact, Talleyrand was intruding on a deal that Napolon had assigned to the French finance minister, Franois de Barb-Marbois. Browman, David L (2018). 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. 2023, A&E Television Networks, LLC. The acquisition of the Louisiana Territory for the bargain price of less than three cents an acre was among Jeffersons most notable achievements as president. But Livingston, although an inexperienced diplomat, tried to keep himself informed about the country to which he was ambassador. As for France, it never seriously established a colonial presence in the Americas again. Meanwhile, Louisiana, which also became a state after the purchase, remained a slave state, and New Orleans remained a critical hub of the slave trade. 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. High around 75F. France was in shock, and Napoleon began to realize that his dream of a French empire in the Americas might be doomed. "The district of Louisiana changed to the territory of Louisiana". Slavery was now legal in Missouri, and the new state added pro-slave members to Congress. [24], Henry Adams and other historians have argued that Jefferson acted hypocritically with the Louisiana Purchase, because of his position as a strict constructionist regarding the Constitution since he stretched the intent of that document to justify his purchase. Articles with the HISTORY.com Editors byline have been written or edited by the HISTORY.com editors, including Amanda Onion, Missy Sullivan and Matt Mullen. Or, as Jefferson put it in his usual understated way, The fertility of thecountry, its climate and extent, promise in due season importantaids to our treasury, an ample provision for our posterity, and a wide-spread field for the blessings of freedom., American historians today are more outspoken in their enthusiasm for the acquisition. 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. The Louisiana Purchase, as it is known, is . 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. Overcoming the opposition of the Federalist Party, Jefferson and Secretary of State James Madison persuaded Congress to ratify and fund the Louisiana Purchase. 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. This would allow the Americans to retain clear access to the river. The soldiers there were untrained and undisciplined, he lamented, and the whole colony was not worth a straw at the present time. Concluding that the area was valueless, Louis XV gave the territory to his Bourbon cousin Charles III of Spain in 1763. [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. Acquisition of Louisiana was a long-term goal of President Thomas Jefferson, who was especially eager to gain control of the crucial Mississippi River port of New Orleans. Feb 14, 2023 - France sold the Louisiana Territory in 1803 because it was ruled by Napoleon and needed money in order to fight the British. When Jefferson heard rumors of Napolons secret deal, he immediately saw the threat to Americas Western settlements and its vital outlet to the Gulf of Mexico. What we wanted to do was enrich peoples understanding of the significance of this moment, says Gail Feigenbaum, lead curator of the show. By April 30, 1803, they hashed out an agreement where the Americans would pay $15 million, a considerable reduction, although its constitutionality was debated. Access hundreds of hours of historical video, commercial free, with HISTORY Vault. A slaves life in Haiti was usually short and miserable. Without that, the United States' international influence would be less, as would its influence over the development of democracies. When Livingston tried to discuss the territory, Talleyrand simply denied that there was any treaty between France and Spain. Spain had not yet completed the transfer of Louisiana to France, and war between France and the UK was imminent. Then, too, Napolon was gearing up for another campaign against Britain and needed funds for that. In a way, this almost came to pass in the War of 1812. 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 British had re-entered the war and France was losing the Haitian Revolution and could not defend Louisiana. Refinement, he declared, does not exist in the United States. At the time, Britain and France were at war in Europe, and if France had not sold Louisiana that war would most likely have spread to North America .The emergence of a vastly larger British North America might also have made it easier to confine slavery within the southern states. Saint-Domingue was a powder keg, ready to explode. On April 15, Monroe and Livingston proposed $8 million. There was no arguing with Napoleon, who would, after all,crown himself Emperor in 1804. This was coupled with the importation of enslaved Africans. According to the memoirs of Franois Barb-Marbois, in what was a prophetic statement foreshadowing the American Civil War, Napoleon said, "Perhaps it will also be objected to me, that the Americans may be found too powerful for Europe in two or three centuries: but my foresight does not embrace such remote fears. Would that make the United States too powerful? Before the revolution, France had derived enormous wealth from St. Domingue at the cost of the lives and freedom of the slaves. (Louisiana Shaping) I renounce Louisiana, Napolon told him. [27], Spain protested the transfer on two grounds: First, France had previously promised in a note not to alienate Louisiana to a third party and second, France had not fulfilled the Third Treaty of San Ildefonso by having the King of Etruria recognized by all European powers. The House called for a vote to deny the request for the purchase, but it failed by two votes, 5957. But he did manage to sell something that he didnt really have any control overthere were few French settlers and no French administration over the territoryexcept on paper. As for Jefferson, notes historian Cerami, he actually wasnt out to make this big a purchase. The press joined the fray. The revolution brought the colony to a state of insurrection and civil war. 4 and 7. successful French demand for an indemnity, Indian Territory Indian Reserve and Louisiana Purchase, Foreign affairs of the Jefferson administration, Territorial evolution of the United States, Territories of the United States on stamps, "The True Cost of the Louisiana Purchase", "Congressional series of United States public documents", "Milestones: 18011829 Office of the Historian", "3 Of The Most Lucrative Land Deals In History", "Primary Documents of American History: Louisiana Purchase", "America's Louisiana Purchase: Noble Bargain, Difficult Journey", "The Louisiana Purchase: Jefferson's constitutional gamble", National Archives and Records Administration, "Aspecten van de Geschiedenis van Hope & Co en van Gelieerde Ondernemingen", "Convention Between the United States of America and the French Republic (Article III)", "Statutes & Constitution :Constitution: Online Sunshine", "Slave Freedom Suits before Dred Scott: The Case of Marie Jean Scypion's Descendants", Case and Controversies in U.S. History, Page 42, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Louisiana_Purchase&oldid=1150213397, Gleijeses, Piero. By the time of the Louisiana Purchase, its population of whites, slaves of African origin and free persons of color was about 8,000. The asking price was $125 million. On April 30, 1803, France ceded Louisiana to the Americans for 15 million dollars.A sum that will serve Bonaparte's European military projects, in exchange for a territory covering nearly a quarter of the current surface of the United States.Before Louisiana was sold to the United States, it had already been ceded once to Spain. Napoleon no longer needed Louisiana as a supply depot for the Island of Saint-Domingue. [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. They burned cities, used guerrilla warfare and killed thousands. The Louisiana Purchase of 1803 brought into the United States about 828,000 square miles of territory from France, thereby doubling the size of the young republic. Napoleonic France Acquires Louisiana How was the Louisiana Territory acquired? It was all in a days work at the New Orleans, Louisiana slavemarket, the largest and most lucrative in the pre-Civil War United States. According to the University of Kentucky, slaves outnumbered free people at least 10 to 1. 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. The crunch came for Jefferson in October 1802. The French loss of Saint-Domingue sent a shudder through the world. Twelve years before, he had returned from a five-year stint as American minister to Paris, shipping home 86 cases of furnishings and books he had picked up there. It remained in Spanish hands until 1800, when Napoleon Bonaparte negotiated a secret treaty with Spain and took the vast holding back in exchange for tiny Etruria in Northern Italy. 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. The U.S. claimed the land as far as the Perdido River, and Spain claimed that the border of its Florida Colony remained the Mississippi River. The Library of Congress explains how President Thomas Jefferson realized the precariousness of having France as a neighbor. A seascapeportrays the Marquis de Lafayettes ship La Victoire setting sail to carry him across the Atlantic in 1777 to fight in the American Revolution. [4] New Orleans was already important for shipping agricultural goods to and from the areas of the United States west of the Appalachian Mountains. . They wrote an enthusiasticletter to Secretary of State James Madison: "An acquisition of so great an extent was, we well Know, not contemplated by our appointment; but we are persuaded that the Circumstances and Considerations which induced us to make it, will justify us, in the measure, to our Government and Country.". 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. Why did France sell Louisiana? He had a vision of America as an empire of liberty, says Douglas Brinkley. And in 1801, Spain signed a secret treaty with France to return the Louisiana Territory to France. I renounce Louisiana. Also, Spain's refusal to cede Florida to France meant that Louisiana would be indefensible. [58] In a freedom suit that went from Missouri to the U.S. Supreme Court, slavery of Native Americans was finally ended in 1836. Francis Baring's son Alexander and Pierre Labouchre from Hopes arrived in Paris in April 1803 to assist with the negotiations. It is the Hudson, the Delaware, the Potomac, and all the navigable rivers of the Atlantic States, formed into one stream.. There was also concern that an increase in the number of slave-holding states created out of the new territory would exacerbate divisions between North and South. Jefferson soon commissioned the Lewis and Clark Expedition, led by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, to explore the territory acquired in the Louisiana Purchase. Why did France sell the Louisiana Territory? 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. Alarmed over the French actions and its intention to re-establish an empire in North America, Jefferson declared neutrality in relation to the Caribbean, refusing credit and other assistance to the French, but allowing war contraband to get through to the rebels to prevent France from regaining a foothold. Majority Leader John Randolph led the opposition. On April 12, 1803, Franois Barb-Marbois met with the Americans. We strive for accuracy and fairness. 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.. 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. The American representatives were prepared to pay up to $10million for New Orleans and its environs but were dumbfounded when the vastly larger territory was offered for $15million. This, together with the successful French demand for an indemnity of 150 million francs in 1825, severely hampered Haiti's ability to repair its economy after decades of war. France was slow in taking control of Louisiana, but in 1802 Spanish authorities, apparently acting under French orders, revoked a U.S.-Spanish treaty that granted Americans the right to store. [40], To pay for the land, the American government used a mix of sovereign bonds and the assumption of French debts. Considering France was on one different continent and that Louisiana Territory was on another continent, owning that territory would seem less important to what's currently . The British had re-entered the war and France was losing the Haitian Revolution and could not defend Louisiana. The Louisiana Purchase was the latter, a treaty. 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. Why did France sell Louisiana : to finance the conquests. In June, Napolon ordered Gen. Claude Victor to set out for New Orleans from the French controlled Netherlands. On March 11, 1803, Napoleon began preparing to invade Great Britain. Meanwhile, Haitis free black people were organizing. Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for SIGNED Roughneck Daddy: A Memoir by Donna F. Orchard, Paperback Louisiana Oil at the best online prices at eBay! Louisiana Purchase of 1803 | Napoleon Bonaparte of France By early April, 1803, Napoleon Bonaparte had had a change of mind and decided to sell the entire Louisiana Territory. [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. [64], The purchase of the Louisiana Territory led to debates over the idea of indigenous land rights that persisted into the mid 20th century. He planned on using that money to build a better army and navy. The Louisiana Purchase was the start of the United States' incredible expansion from a group of Eastern Seaboard states on the North American continent. He stood up and then splashed back down into the water so heavily that his brothers got soaked. The French ruler was just about to embark on a series of devastating wars. Plenty of sunshine. [59] In 1808 two military forts with trading factories were built, Fort Osage along the Missouri River in western present-day Missouri and Fort Madison along the Upper Mississippi River in eastern present-day Iowa. Free shipping for many products! Napolons brothers Joseph and Lucien had gone to see him at the Tuileries Palace on April 7, determined to convince him not to sell the territory. Reports of the retrocession caused considerable unease in the United States. Jefferson tasked James Monroe and Robert R. Livingston with purchasing New Orleans. The British would have likely garrisoned New Orleans and would have occupied it for a very long time because they and their ally Spain did not recognize any treaties and land deals conducted by Napoleon since 1800, especially the Louisiana Purchase. Jefferson sent Livingston to Paris in 1801[9] with the authorization to purchase New Orleans. Though the Americans then countered with $12.7 million, the deal was struck for $15 million on April 29. Why did France sell Louisiana? Among Eurocentric circles, the Louisiana Purchase was seen as one of the greatest land deals in history. According to the Library of Congress, the Louisiana Territory was mainly ignored by the French government and remained unprofitable. The French and Indian war cost her Canada and all of her other possessions on the east bank of the Mississippi. In order to finance his dreams of conquest, Napoleon needed money to finance his military operation, which had been growing in an arms race with Britain. The Louisiana Purchase was an incredible deal for the United States, the final cost totaling less than five cents per acre at $15 million (about $283 million in today's dollars). ii. ", The Historic New Orleans Collection provides more nuance to the negotiations of the Louisiana Purchase. What Napoleon needed was a way to divest himself of the territory while at the same time preventing it from falling into British hands. As the Library of Congress describes, Saint-Domingue was incredibly valuable. Napoleon Bonaparte sold the land because he needed money for the Great French War. Napoleon may have sought to liberate Quebec from British rule, attacking the British in Upper Canada (modern Ontario). In 1800, Napoleon, the First Consul of the French Republic, regained ownership of Louisiana as part of a broader effort to re-establish a French colonial empire in North America. All Rights Reserved. [48], A dispute soon arose between Spain and the United States regarding the extent of Louisiana. On April 11, 1803, just days before Monroe's arrival, Barb-Marbois offered Livingston all of Louisiana for $15million,[13] which averages to less than three cents per acre (7/ha). On April 30, 1812, exactly nine years after the Louisiana Purchase agreement was made, the first state to be carved from the territory Louisiana was admitted into the Union as the 18th U.S. state. What was known at the time as the Louisiana Territory stretched from the Mississippi River in the east to the Rocky Mountains in the west and from the Gulf of Mexico in the south to the Canadian border in the north. Thomas Jefferson The eastern boundary below the 31st parallel was unclear. Selling the Louisiana territory gave Napoleon a significant windfall from a territory he was probably going to lose anyway. Monroe, along with the minister to France, Robert Livingston, made the inquiry. The Constitution specifically grants the president the power to negotiate treaties (Art. Napoleon's goal: an American empire. But almost before Laussat had learned to appreciate a good gumbo and the relaxed Creole pace of life, Napolon Bonaparte had abruptly decided to sell the territory to the United States. 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. Who was president of the U.S. at the time of the Louisiana purchase? [14][15] The total of $15million is equivalent to about $337million in 2021 dollars, or 64 cents per acre. He also realized that with Britain's superior naval power, it would be relatively easy for them to take Louisiana at will. There is on the globe one single spot, Jefferson wrote, the possessor of which is our natural and habitual enemy. [12], Although the foreign minister Talleyrand opposed the plan, on April 10, 1803, Napoleon told the Treasury Minister Franois Barb-Marbois that he was considering selling the entire Louisiana Territory to the United States. 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. Out of anger towards Spain and the unique opportunity to sell something that was useless and not truly his yet, Napoleon decided to sell the entire territory. Jefferson's philosophical consistency was in question because of his strict interpretation of the Constitution. On January 1, 1804, Haiti declared its independence. 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. We have tried to capture the suspense and fascination of a story whose outcome is known, yet was not foreordained, says Gail Feigenbaum, curator of the Jefferson-Napolon show on view in New Orleans April 12 to August 31, and to tell it through a rich variety of objects. The variety includes three important documents: a copy of the treaty, which bears Jeffersons signature; a document covering payment of claims by American citizens against France, signed by Napolon; and the official report of transfer of the Louisiana Territory signed by a bereaved prefect, Pierre de Laussat.