why did france sell louisiana

Why did France want to sell the Louisiana Territory See answers Advertisement Advertisement countsbrycem countsbrycem Answer: to fund its European wars. Napoleon Bonaparte sold the land because he needed money for the Great French War. When Thomas Jefferson purchased the Louisiana Territory from France, he altered the shape of a nation and the course of history Joseph A. Harriss April 2003 The Louisiana Purchase nearly. What if France did not sell Louisiana? 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. Selling the Louisiana territory gave Napoleon a significant windfall from a territory he was probably going to lose anyway. Why did France agree to sell the Louisiana Territory to the United States? He could not or did not see the value in sending troops to defend worthless Louisiana, not with Saint-Domingue out of the equation. In 1718, the French established New Orleans, and scant groups of colonists moved in. Why Did france sell the land Money for War France was currently engaged in a war with Britain. The British had re-entered the war and France was losing the Haitian Revolution and could not defend Louisiana. 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. 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. Winds W at 10 to 20 mph.. Napoleon saw in the sale of Louisiana something he needed more than anything else cold, hard cash. The Kingdom of France had controlled the Louisiana territory from 1699 until it was ceded to Spain in 1762. 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. [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. A Washington newspaper, the National Intelligencer, reflecting how most citizens felt, referred to the widespread joy of millions at an event which history will record among the most splendid in our annals. Though we have no historical evidence of how Jefferson felt about the purchase, notes Cerami, reports from those in his circle like Monroe refer to the presidents great pleasure, despite his fear that the deal had gone beyond his constitutional powers. A picturesque assemblage of French and Spanish colonial architecture and Creole cottages, New Orleans boasted a thriving economy based largely on agricultural exports. 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.. In the meeting, he said that Napoleon had read an account in the London press that 50,000 British troops might be sent to New Orleans. By the 1720s, several settlements had developed, the chief of which was the territory's capital at New Orleans. [39] New Orleans was the administrative capital of the Orleans Territory, and St. Louis was the capital of the Louisiana Territory. 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. Free shipping for many products! This was coupled with the importation of enslaved Africans. While this was just a rumor, he had made up his mind to sell the territory. What kind of world were Jefferson and Napolon living and working in? The vast territory was named after Louis XIV, the so-called Sun King. 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. Du Pont was living in the United States at the time and had close ties to Jefferson as well as the prominent politicians in France. The Louisiana Purchase is considered one America's most important and prosperous investments. It is the Hudson, the Delaware, the Potomac, and all the navigable rivers of the Atlantic States, formed into one stream.. In 1802 Bonaparte forced Spain to return Louisiana to France in the secret Treaty of San Ildefonso. [citation needed], Governing the Louisiana Territory was more difficult than acquiring it. Refinement, he declared, does not exist in the United States. 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. 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. But Napolons mind was already made up. As it turns out, France, or more accurately its ruler Napoleon Bonaparte, had some good reasons for doing it. 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! HISTORY reviews and updates its content regularly to ensure it is complete and accurate. He wanted Saint-Domingue and its incredibly profitable sugar and coffee plantations restored and under French control, with the old system reinstated. As a result, trappers pelts, agricultural produce and finished goods risked exposure and theft on open wharfs while awaiting shipment to the East Coast and beyond. This gave Jefferson and his cabinet until October, when the treaty had to be ratified, to discuss the constitutionality of the purchase. Jefferson's philosophical consistency was in question because of his strict interpretation of the Constitution. Napoleon wanted its revenues and productivity for France restored. France had surrendered its North American possessions at the end of the French and Indian War. Privacy Statement His strategy was to use Louisiana to supply the flour, salted meat, timber, and other resources necessary to support his troops on the island colony. [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 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. Napoleonic France Acquires Louisiana 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. The money would also be immediately useful to finance his wars. Plans were also set forth for several missions to explore and chart the territory, the most famous being the Lewis and Clark Expedition. But Livingston, although an inexperienced diplomat, tried to keep himself informed about the country to which he was ambassador. Napoleon's brothers, Lucien and Joseph, objected, thinking it a black mark on France's reputation and glory. The Louisiana Purchase, as it is known, is . None of these held a candle, though, to sugar, which dominated French colonial holdings. Just three weeks earlier, on November 30, 1803, Spanish officials had formally conveyed the colonial lands and their administration to France. Jefferson sent Livingston to Paris in 1801[9] with the authorization to purchase New Orleans. 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. A slaves life in Haiti was usually short and miserable. I require a great deal of money for this war [with Britain]., Thierry Lentz, a Napolon historian and director of the Fondation Napolon in Paris, contends that, for Napolon, It was basically just a big real estate deal. As slaves killed their masters and occupied and burned their plantations, white people defended themselves, then fled. In a letter to U.S. minister to France Robert Livingston, President Thomas Jefferson stated, The day that France takes possession of New Orleanswe must marry ourselves to the British fleet and nation.. 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 difficulties and risks . Regardless of its legality, Smithsonian Magazine details how in order to finance the transaction, several British banks actually bought the territory and turned it over to the United States in exchange for bonds at 6% interest. The most ambitious event opens this month at the New Orleans Museum of Art. As Napolons foreign minister, Talleyrand customarily demanded outrageous bribes for diplomatic results. From March 10 to September 30, 1804, Upper Louisiana was supervised as a military district, under its first civil commandant, Amos Stoddard, who was appointed by the War Department. The Louisiana Purchase was the latter, a treaty. If the deal was allowed to stand, he declared, it would be impossible that France and the United States can continue long as friends. Relations had been relaxed with Spain while it held New Orleans, but Jefferson suspected that Napolon wanted to close the Mississippi to American use. As for the ever-succinct Thomas Jefferson, he wasted little time on rhetoric. This would allow the Americans to retain clear access to the river. France worried about an alliance between America and England. [42] In the final agreement, the value of the U.S. currency was set at .mw-parser-output .sfrac{white-space:nowrap}.mw-parser-output .sfrac.tion,.mw-parser-output .sfrac .tion{display:inline-block;vertical-align:-0.5em;font-size:85%;text-align:center}.mw-parser-output .sfrac .num,.mw-parser-output .sfrac .den{display:block;line-height:1em;margin:0 0.1em}.mw-parser-output .sfrac .den{border-top:1px solid}.mw-parser-output .sr-only{border:0;clip:rect(0,0,0,0);height:1px;margin:-1px;overflow:hidden;padding:0;position:absolute;width:1px}5+3333/10000 francs per U.S. Livingston was ordered to negotiate with French Finance Minister Barb-Marbois for the purchase of New Orleans. Why did France leave Louisiana? Cantonment Belle Fontaine 8051826 The First U.S. Fort West of the Mississippi River. Napoleon Bonaparte sold the land because he needed money for the Great French War. dollar. Thomas Jeffersonand his cabinet, themselves terrified of a French presence so close to the United States, used this conundrum as an opening. 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. 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. 2023, A&E Television Networks, LLC. [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. Without that, the United States' international influence would be less, as would its influence over the development of democracies. The risk of another power taking it from a weakened Spain made a "profound reconsideration" of this policy necessary. In need of funds, Napoleon pressed the banks to complete their purchase of the bonds as quickly as possible, and by April 1804 the banks transferred an additional 40.35 million francs to fully discharge their obligations to France. Under the leadership of Toussaint Louverture, slaves took over the entire island of Hispaniola, including St. Domingue and its neighbor Santo Domingo. By the time of the Louisiana Purchase, its population of whites, slaves of African origin and free persons of color was about 8,000. He had always seen Saint Domingue, with a population of more than 500,000, producing enough sugar, coffee, indigo, cotton and cocoa to fill some 700 ships a year, as Frances most important holding in the Western Hemisphere. 2), which is just what Jefferson did. In the 1780s, it produced 60% of the world's coffee and supplied Britain and France with 40% of its sugar. The entire economy of Americas Western territories was in jeopardy. He added later, "I require money to make war on the richest nation in the world.". As the Library of Congress describes, Saint-Domingue was incredibly valuable. What's more, as described by Medium, the French ruler believed that a more powerful United States was better for France. [32] The Senate quickly ratified the treaty, and the House, with equal readiness, authorized the required funding, as the Constitution specifies. "The district of Louisiana changed to the territory of Louisiana". Meanwhile, Haitis free black people were organizing. And John Trumbulls huge painting The Signing of the Declaration of Independence documents the historic American event that so greatly impressed and influenced French revolutionary thinkers. Cookie Settings, Five Places Where You Can Still Find Gold in the United States, Scientists Taught Pet Parrots to Video Call Each Otherand the Birds Loved It, Balto's DNA Provides a New Look at the Intrepid Sled Dog, The Science of California's 'Super Bloom,' Visible From Space, What We're Still Learning About Rosalind Franklins Unheralded Brilliance. See chapter iii, "Treaty Ceding Louisiana to the United States" (1803 ff.). The French ruler was just about to embark on a series of devastating wars. 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.". By doubling the size of the U.S., the purchase added vast swaths of territory that, pro-slavery advocates argued, should be filled with slaves. ", This page was last edited on 16 April 2023, at 22:34. [64], The purchase of the Louisiana Territory led to debates over the idea of indigenous land rights that persisted into the mid 20th century. His soldiers died on the island and he knew he could not establish control there. The idea was taken up by lawmakers such as Senator James Ross of Pennsylvania, who drafted a resolution calling on Jefferson to form a 50,000-man army to take the city. 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]. But if Haiti was under the control of the slaves, his plan was for naught. When Monroe and Livingston were offered the opportunity to buy the entire territory, they could not help but be excited. The Louisiana Purchase was the start of the United States' incredible expansion from a group of Eastern Seaboard states on the North American continent. 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. [citation needed]. For one thing, they considered it foolish to voluntarily give up an important French holding on the American continent. After William C.C. The key to opening the western goal was securing the Mississippi River and the Louisiana Territory. Before the revolution, France had derived enormous wealth from St. Domingue at the cost of the lives and freedom of the slaves. The Kingdom of France had controlled the Louisiana territory from 1699 until it was ceded to Spain in 1762. 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. A manservant slumped to the floor in a faint. 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.". But the official view was summed up by Antoine de La Mothe Cadillac, whom Louis XIV named governor of the territory in 1710: The people are aheap of the dregs of Canada, he sniffed in a 42-page report to the king written soon after he arrived. 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. However, one has to question whether the French ruler considered the consequences of selling France's interest in Louisiana. [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. Even though Europeans had ostensibly laid claim to Louisiana for centuries, it remained largely undeveloped, with few wanting to move there. Yet each also is navigating a fine line on how to address election fraud conspiracies as they gear up campaigns for U.S. Senate or governor in 2024. The main issue for the Americans was free transit of the Mississippi out to sea. The Constitution specifically grants the president the power to negotiate treaties (Art. 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. 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. This left Laussat with little to do but officiate when, on a sunny December 20, 1803, the French tricolor was slowly lowered in New Orleans main square, the PlacedArmes, and the American flag was raised. I renounce Louisiana, Napolon told him. . Auctions at which human bodies were prodded, compared, and purchased. He took possession of the whole Mississippi River basin, he avowed, in the name of the most high, mighty, invincible and victorious Prince, Louis the Great, by Grace of God king of France and Navarre, 14th of that name. And it was in honor of Louis XIV that he named the land Louisiana. Napoleon Bonaparte sold the land because he needed money for the Great French War. According to the Library of Congress, Napoleon did not have enough troops to occupy Louisiana while simultaneously subduing Saint-Domingue. They burned cities, used guerrilla warfare and killed thousands. The purchase originally extended just beyond the 50th parallel. A wily political survivor who held high offices under the French Revolution, and later under Napolons empire and the restored Bourbon monarchy, Talleyrand had spent the years 1792 to 1794 in exile in America after being denounced by the revolutionary National Convention, and had conceived a virulent contempt for Americans. Behind the scenes, he plotted to take the island back over and reinstitute slavery. 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. He had contacts at Britains Baring & Co. Bank, which agreed, along with several other banks, to make the actual purchase and pay Napolon cash. The Northerners were not enthusiastic about Western farmers gaining another outlet for their crops that did not require the use of New England ports. Barings relayed to order to Hopes, which declined to comply, allowing the final payments to be made to France in April 1804. New Orleans and Louisiana west of the Mississippi were transferred to Spain in 1762, and French territories east of the Mississippi, including Canada, were ceded to Britain the next year. Everybody who has taken grade-school history knows the story. . In a way, this almost came to pass in the War of 1812. [citation needed], In Saint-Domingue, Leclerc's forces took Louverture prisoner, but their expedition soon faltered in the face of fierce resistance and disease. Manifest destiny was in full effect. 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. Her work has appeared in outlets like The Washington Post, National Geographic, The Atlantic, TIME, Smithsonian and more. Acquiring the territory doubled the size of the United States. On March 11, 1803, Napoleon began preparing to invade Great Britain. 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. Federalists tried to block the purchase by claiming the land belonged to Spain and not France. Louisiana under Spanish control fared little better. Negotiating with French Treasury Minister Franois Barb-Marbois, the American representatives quickly agreed to purchase the entire territory of Louisiana after it was offered. 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. [61], During the War of 1812, Great Britain hoped to annex all or at least portions of the Louisiana Purchase should they successfully defeat the U.S. Aided by their Indian allies, the British defeated U.S. forces in the Upper Mississippi; the U.S. abandoned Forts Osage and Madison, as well as several other U.S. forts built during the war, including Fort Johnson and Fort Shelby. Slavery was now legal in Missouri, and the new state added pro-slave members to Congress. The latter knew America well, having spent some years in Philadelphia in the late 1700s as French ambassador to the United States, where he got to know Washington, Jefferson, Livingston and Monroe. In 1803, President Thomas Jefferson bought the Louisiana Territory from France for $15 million and nearly doubled the size of the U.S. [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). [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. All articles are regularly reviewed and updated by the HISTORY.com team. 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. France turned over New Orleans, the historic colonial capital, on December 20, 1803, at the Cabildo, with a flag-raising ceremony in the Plaza de Armas, now Jackson Square. HISTORY reviews and updates its content regularly to ensure it is complete and accurate. But the purchase was also fueled by a slave revolt in Haitiand tragically, it ended up expanding slavery in the United States. Overcoming the opposition of the Federalist Party, Jefferson and Secretary of State James Madison persuaded Congress to ratify and fund the Louisiana Purchase. For another, Britain had unofficially offered Joseph a bribe of 100,000 to persuade Napolon not to let the Americans have Louisiana. France was in shock, and Napoleon began to realize that his dream of a French empire in the Americas might be doomed. [5], In 1798, Spain revoked the treaty allowing American use of New Orleans, greatly upsetting Americans. 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. 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. At roughly the same time, a slave revolt broke out in the French held island of . In 1799, he had seized power in a coup d'tat in France and wanted to restore French glory in the Americas. The asking price was $125 million. 2023, A&E Television Networks, LLC. [62] The U.S. later built or expanded forts along the Mississippi and Missouri rivers, including adding to Fort Bellefontaine, and constructing Fort Armstrong (1816) and Fort Edwards (1816) in Illinois, Fort Crawford (1816) in Wisconsin, Fort Snelling (1819) in Minnesota, and Fort Atkinson (1819) in Nebraska. 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? With Congress and a vociferous press calling for action, Jefferson faced the nations most serious crisis since the American Revolution. A.to fund its European wars B.to create a North American empire C.to fund its war against Haitian revolutionaries . 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). [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. He stood up and then splashed back down into the water so heavily that his brothers got soaked. Majority Leader John Randolph led the opposition. Intent on avoiding possible war with France, Jefferson sent James Monroe to Paris in 1803 to negotiate a settlement, with instructions to go to London to negotiate an alliance if the talks in Paris failed. In 1803, President Thomas Jefferson bought the Louisiana Territory from France for $15 million and nearly doubled the size of the U.S. 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]. 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. Why did France sell the Louisiana Territory? 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. Gentlemen, he announced, think what you please about it. 20 Why did France no longer need Louisiana quizlet? According to the Library of Congress, the Louisiana Territory was mainly ignored by the French government and remained unprofitable. The Lewis and Clark expedition followed shortly thereafter. 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. 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 exhibition points up how intertwined the two nations were at the time. 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. Napoleon Bonaparte sold the land because he needed money for the Great French War. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! The British had re-entered the war and France was losing the Haitian Revolution and could not defend Louisiana. 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.
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