who sold the louisiana territory to the united states

'Sale of Louisiana') was the acquisition of the territory of Louisiana by the United States from the French First Republic in 1803. On March 11, 1803, Napoleon began preparing to invade Great Britain. 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. President Jefferson's Secretary of the Treasury. The Louisiana Purchase proved popular with white Americans, who were hungry for more western lands to settle. While Napoleon originally tried to sell the territory for $22 million, the two sides eventually agreed to a sale at $15 million. [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. As discussed in the Journal of Economic History, France had a historically bad reputation for credit and finance due to the upheavals of the French Revolution. This gave Jefferson and his cabinet until October, when the treaty had to be ratified, to discuss the constitutionality of the purchase. Livingston wrote to James Madison, "We shall do all we can to cheapen the purchase, but my present sentiment is that we shall buy.". Napoleon dreamed and yearned for a French colonial empire to rival the British. 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. The many court cases and tribal suits in the 1930s for historical damages flowing from the Louisiana Purchase led to the Indian Claims Commission Act (ICCA) in 1946. [4] The colony was the most substantial presence of France's overseas empire, with other possessions consisting of a few small settlements along the Mississippi and other main rivers. What's more, as described by Medium, the French ruler believed that a more powerful United States was better for France. As the lands were being gradually settled by American migrants, many Americans, including Jefferson, assumed that the territory would be acquired "piece by piece." The Lewis and Clark expedition followed shortly thereafter. (80) Napoleon sold the Louisiana territory to the United States in 1803 because he hoped to increase the U. S. status against what nation?A. 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. Because of this favored position, the U.S. asked Barings to handle the transaction. Aside from the obvious drive for conquest by Napoleon, he knew that when war started between the two countries, Britain would attempt to take Louisiana. The Federalists even tried to prove the land belonged to Spain, not France, but available records proved otherwise. The British had re-entered the war and France was losing the Haitian Revolution and could not defend Louisiana. All four started from the Mississippi River. The first westward surge of the settlement reached the: What did the South receive in the compromise over the war debts between Hamilton and Jefferson? The Significance and Purpose of the Treaty of Tordesillas. When Napoleon rose to power in 1799, the French governments finances were in disarray due to the effects of the French Revolution. 1, 1967, pp. According to the Library of Congress, the Louisiana Territory was mainly ignored by the French government and remained unprofitable. [53][54], The eastern boundary of the Louisiana purchase was the Mississippi River, from its source to the 31st parallel, though the source of the Mississippi was, at the time, unknown. Napoleon sold the territory to the United States for only three cents an acre. Knowing that war was imminent, Napoleon sensed two opportunities by selling the Louisiana territory. Napoleon needed peace with Britain to take possession of Louisiana. Interested in reaching out? While this was just a rumor, he had made up his mind to sell the territory. [43] Hopes brought to the transaction experience with issuing sovereign bonds and Barings brought its American connections.[42]. According to Slavery and Remembrance, the French imported nearly 800,000 enslaved Africans to the colony for brutal plantation work in what was one of the most violent slavery systems in the Americas. He bought the Louisiana territory from France, which was being led by Napoleon Bonaparte at the time, for 15,000,000 USD (about $320,000,000 in 2020 dollars). What is the eagle on the Great Seal holding in his right talon? dollar. [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. While the transfer of the territory by Spain back to France in 1800 went largely unnoticed, fear of an eventual French invasion spread across America when, in 1801, Napoleon sent a military force to secure New Orleans. (land, gold, and to start a new life). The Louisiana Purchase was the latter, a treaty. [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. The Louisiana Territory That Was Sold. 1) Sloane, William M. The World Aspects of the Louisiana Purchase. The American Historical Review, vol. [64], The purchase of the Louisiana Territory led to debates over the idea of indigenous land rights that persisted into the mid 20th century. Slaves were routinely terrorized in a race-based social order. [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. 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]. The U.S. adapted the former Spanish facility at Fort Bellefontaine as a fur trading post near St. Louis in 1804 for business with the Sauk and Fox. Pinckney's Treaty, signed with Spain on October 27, 1795, gave American merchants "right of deposit" in New Orleans, granting them use of the port to store goods for export. The former slaves fought the French forces to a standstill while yellow fever and malaria outbreaks decimated the French invaders. 2) White, Eugene Nelson. When Monroe and Livingston were offered the opportunity to buy the entire territory, they could not help but be excited. This created an unstable situation at the western border which could draw his young country into the Napoleonic Wars. Napoleon informed his brothers of the sale and asked for their opinion. He bought the Louisiana territory from France, which was being led by Napoleon Bonaparte at the time, for 15,000,000 USD. 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. He could not or did not see the value in sending troops to defend worthless Louisiana, not with Saint-Domingue out of the equation. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/25723883. France The Louisiana Purchase was a land purchase made by United States president, Thomas Jefferson, in 1803. [56] The maps and journals of the explorers helped to define the boundaries during the negotiations leading to the AdamsOns Treaty, which set the western boundary as follows: north up the Sabine River from the Gulf of Mexico to its intersection with the 32nd parallel, due north to the Red River, up the Red River to the 100th meridian, north to the Arkansas River, up the Arkansas River to its headwaters, due north to the 42nd parallel and due west to its previous boundary. Upon word of the Louisiana territory transfer from Spain to France, some hot-headed members of Congress proposed a preemptive strike against New Orleans. The Similarities And Differences Between The Lewis And Clark Expedition. Critics in Congress worried whether these "foreigners", unacquainted with democracy, could or should become citizens. Ambassador who was sent to France to negotiate the purchase of the Louisiana Territory. The additional land helped lead to the Indian Removal Act of 1830 and the various frontier wars and broken treaties with the Plains natives of the late 1800s. 730 Words3 Pages. The Sac and the Fox lived on the northern Mississippi River, the Osage on the Missouri River and on the Arkansas River in present eastern Oklahoma, and the Quapaw at the . In 1791, influenced by the ideals of the French Revolution, a slave revolt broke out on Saint-Domingue. The Northerners were not enthusiastic about Western farmers gaining another outlet for their crops that did not require the use of New England ports. The Louisiana Purchase (1803) was a land deal between the United States and France, in which the U.S. acquired approximately 827,000 square miles of land west of the Mississippi River for $15 million. [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. On April 30, 1803, representatives of the United States and Napoleonic France conclude negotiations for the Louisiana Purchase, a massive land sale that doubles the size of the young American republic. He also realized that with Britain's superior naval power, it would be relatively easy for them to take Louisiana at will. [42] In October 1803, the U.S. Treasury had some $5.86 million in specie on hand, $2 million of which would be used to pay a portion of the debts assumed from France as part of the purchase. Jefferson tasked James Monroe and Robert R. Livingston with purchasing New Orleans. Spain Originally governed New Orleans and the Louisiana Territory up until 1802, but then transferred ownership to France under a secret treaty. [citation needed]. The first Europeans to reach. Lucien said that the legislative chambers of the French government would not approve it, to which Napoleon replied that he would do it without their consent. The first plan of government used by the United States was under the: Who was the President at the time of the Alien and Sedition Act? As described by Louisiana State University, France even went so far as to send convicts from debtors' prisons to the colony in 1717 in order to increase its settlement. The United States was leery of Frances intentions with the territory, and the port city of New Orleans was critical to the US economy.2. The key to opening the western goal was securing the Mississippi River and the Louisiana Territory. By the 1720s, several settlements had developed, the chief of which was the territory's capital at New Orleans. 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. II, Sec. Timeline of the History of the United States. On March 10, 1804, France officially transferred its claim to the Louisiana Territory to the United States. The rest was history. The Lewis and Clark Expedition (1804) traveled up the Missouri River; the Red River Expedition (1806) explored the Red River basin; the Pike Expedition (1806) also started up the Missouri but turned south to explore the Arkansas River watershed. 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. This was emphasized when in the memoir of Franois Barb-Marbois, Napoleon gave up his claim to the territory saying, "Irresolution and deliberation are no longer in season. Louisiana had never been considered one of New Spain's internal provinces. The U.S. bought 828,000 sq. In a way, this almost came to pass in the War of 1812. Louisiana Territory Changes Hands In 1796, Spain allied itself with France, leading. Napoleon Bonaparte used the cash to finance his war efforts, but he was finally and permanently defeated at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. The Louisiana Purchase was the start of the United States' incredible expansion from a group of Eastern Seaboard states on the North American continent. The House called for a vote to deny the request for the purchase, but it failed by two votes, 5957. Advertisement lollol The Louisiana Territory was sold to the United States by France on December 20th, 1803, for the bargin of less than three cents per acre. Francis Scott Key. If Napoleon's designs had succeeded, perhaps his decision to abandon Louisiana would be looked at in history as a bit more shrewd than it seemed at first blush. [58] The institutionalization of slavery under U.S. law in the Louisiana Territory contributed to the American Civil War a half century later. At the time of the Louisiana Purchase Europe was held under a temporary peace as a result of the 1802 Treaty of Amiens. William Marbury. Answer and Explanation: 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.. In 1801, Spanish Governor Don Juan Manuel de Salcedo took over from the Marquess of Casa Calvo, and restored the American right to deposit goods. The Louisiana Purchase was a land purchase made by United States president, Thomas Jefferson, in 1803. While 3-4 cents an acre was not a massive deal, from Napoleons perspective he received a large sum of money for land he had just received and had virtually no control over. It cannot be understated just how important the Louisiana Purchase was to the United States. The purchase included land from fifteen present U.S. states and two Canadian provinces, including the entirety of Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Nebraska; large portions of North Dakota and South Dakota; the area of Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado east of the Continental Divide; the portion of Minnesota west of the Mississippi River; the northeastern section of New Mexico; northern portions of Texas; New Orleans and the portions of the present state of Louisiana west of the Mississippi River; and small portions of land within Alberta and Saskatchewan. That leads to the question as to why on Earth would France sell so much land, or at least the rights to it 828,000 acres for what amounted to 4 cents an acre? Who was President at the time of the Whiskey Rebellion? Furthermore, the Spanish prime minister had authorized the U.S. to negotiate with the French government "the acquisition of territories which may suit their interests." Napoleon. History and Geography 807: The Industrial Nat, Social Studies American History: Reconstruction to the Present Guided Reading Workbook, Deborah Gray White, Edward L. Ayers, Jess F. de la Teja, Robert D. Schulzinger, Alan Brinkley, Albert S. Broussard, Donald A. Ritchie, James M. McPherson, Joyce Appleby, Creating America: A History of the United States. Felix S. Cohen, Interior Department Lawyer who helped pass ICCA, is often quoted as saying, "practically all of the real estate acquired by the United States since 1776 was purchased not from Napoleon or any other emperor or czar but from its original Indian owners", roughly estimating that Indians had received twenty times as much as France had for the territory bought by the United States, "somewhat in excess of 800 million dollars". 22755. 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. The scene caused a servant to faint, and when Lucien lingered to try to argue the point, Napoleon said to his brother that if he opposed him he would break him like a snuffbox which he smashed into the floor. 9, no. First, an empowered United States could effectively act as a formidable rival to Britain. On April 12, 1803, Franois Barb-Marbois met with the Americans. True False, Hamilton's financial plans favored the northern states. First, as mentioned before, France needed more money for the impending war and to concentrate its resources on Europe. This made it difficult, when compared to Britain, to obtain the necessary money to wage large-scale wars. The Significance of the Zimmermann Telegram. Everybody who has taken grade-school history knows the story. Barings relayed to order to Hopes, which declined to comply, allowing the final payments to be made to France in April 1804. 3) Deutsch, Eberhard P. The Constitutional Controversy Over the Louisiana Purchase. American Bar Association Journal, vol. [5], In 1798, Spain revoked the treaty allowing American use of New Orleans, greatly upsetting Americans. Why is France sold the Louisiana Purchase to the US? A final reason for Napoleons fateful decision was that he foresaw the difficulty in maintaining a French colony in North America across the Atlantic and so close to the United States. "Napoleon, Jefferson, and the Louisiana Purchase. As it turns out, France, or more accurately its ruler Napoleon Bonaparte, had some good reasons for doing it. He bought the Louisiana territory from France, which was being led by Napoleon Bonaparte at the time, for 15,000,000 USD. 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. I renounce it with the greatest regret." [55], Because the western boundary was contested at the time of the purchase, President Jefferson immediately began to organize four missions to explore and map the new territory. Napoleon's brothers, Lucien and Joseph, objected, thinking it a black mark on France's reputation and glory. Saint-Domingue was a powder keg, ready to explode. This success stuck in Napoleon's craw. To Napoleon's line of thinking, if the United States took control of Louisiana, then it would deny Britain the opportunity of conquering it. Even more puzzling, the French had just reacquired the Louisiana territory and critical port city of New Orleans in the secret 1800 Treaty of San Ildefonso with Spain. He added later, "I require money to make war on the richest nation in the world.". is the embryo of a tornado which will burst on the countries on both shores . The territory also was only loosely under French control having just been transferred from Spain in 1800. 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. However, France only controlled a small fraction of this area, most of which was inhabited by Native Americans; effectively, for the majority of the area, the United States bought the "preemptive" right to obtain "Indian" lands by treaty or by conquest, to the exclusion of other colonial powers.[1][2]. Many members of the House of Representatives opposed the purchase. Who sold the massive Louisiana Territory to the United States? Already at the time, American frontier settlers slowly trickled into the territory. [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. American diplomats Robert Livingston and James Monroepurchased the Louisiana Territory from the French for $15 million dollars, or four cents an acre, in 1803. [57], The Louisiana Territory was broken into smaller portions for administration, and the territories passed slavery laws similar to those in the southern states but incorporating provisions from the preceding French and Spanish rule (for instance, Spain had prohibited slavery of Native Americans in 1769, but some slaves of mixed African-Native American descent were still being held in St. Louis in Upper Louisiana when the U.S. took over). Military expenditures accounted for nearly 60% of the overall budget, a staggering number to maintain.2. 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. While 3-4 cents an acre was not a massive deal, from Napoleon's perspective he received a large sum of money for land he had just received and had virtually no control over. Spain turned the territory over to France in a ceremony in New Orleans on November 30, a month before France turned it over to American officials. sold Louisiana Territory to the United States Marcus Whitman missionary family in Oregon Pennsylvania had a Whiskey Rebellion tariff tax on imported goods Cabinet President's team of workers Dolley Madison saved White House treasures Zebulon Pike explored the Louisiana Territory olive branch symbol of peace Francis Scott Key This was particularly true in the area of the present-day state of Louisiana, which also contained a large number of free people of color. Even in 1803, that was dirt cheap. [10], In 1803, Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours, a French nobleman, began to help negotiate with France at the request of Jefferson. In 1803, President Thomas Jefferson bought the Louisiana Territory from France for $15 million and nearly doubled the size of the U.S. While Napoleon originally tried to sell the territory for $22 million, the two sides eventually agreed to a sale at $15 million. How many amendments make up the Bill of Rights? However, Livingston was certain that the United States would accept the offer.[16]. 55, no. Spain procrastinated until late 1802 in executing the treaty to transfer Louisiana to France, which allowed American hostility to build. While Washington was president, the political parties that formed in the United States were the _______ Party, led by Hamilton and the _______ Party, led by Jefferson. As a result, Thomas Jefferson instructed James Monroe and Robert Livingston to purchase New Orleans in 1802. The purchase doubled the size of the United States, greatly strengthened the country materially and strategically, provided a powerful impetus to . The remaining 60 million francs ($11.25 million) were financed through U.S. government bonds carrying 6% interest, redeemable between 1819 and 1822. 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. 3, 1904, pp. Jefferson ultimately came to the conclusion before the ratification of the treaty that the purchase was to protect the citizens of the United States therefore making it constitutional. Manifest destiny was in full effect. Vente de la Louisiane Expansion of the United States 1803-1804 Modern map of the United States overlapped with territory bought in the Louisiana Purchase (in white) History History Established July 4, 1803 Disestablished October 1, 1804 Preceded by Succeeded by Louisiana (New France) District of Louisiana Territory of Orleans Today part of 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." In 1803, President Thomas Jefferson bought the Louisiana Territory from France for $15 million and nearly doubled the size of the U.S. The question of what to do with the territory brought out deep divisions along sectional lines and ultimately helped lead to the Civil War. The Louisiana territory would go on to play a central role in the westward expansion of the United States throughout the 19th century. The United States purchased the Louisiana Territory in 1803. Jefferson had authorized Livingston only to purchase New Orleans. 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. Of 176 electoral votes cast, all but 14 were in his favor. In 1799, he had seized power in a coup d'tat in France and wanted to restore French glory in the Americas. While the dreams of colonial domination evaporated, Napoleon turned his attention towards establishing an empire across the European continent instead. [1][2] More recently, the total cost to the U.S. government of all subsequent treaties and financial settlements over the land has been estimated to be around 2.6 billion dollars.[1][2]. Where Saint Domingue would be the crown jewel with its lucrative sugar plantations, Louisiana would be the bread basket supplying the empire with grains.

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