who sold the louisiana territory to 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. As a result, while the territory of Louisiana was technically very large, it had hardly been touched by the Europeans, with the exception of the areas along the lower Mississippi River. In legislation enacted on October 31, Congress made temporary provisions for local civil government to continue as it had under French and Spanish rule and authorized the President to use military forces to maintain order. Ultimately, the French need for more money was a significant factor in Napoleons decision to sell Louisiana. He wanted Saint-Domingue and its incredibly profitable sugar and coffee plantations restored and under French control, with the old system reinstated. The House called for a vote to deny the request for the purchase, but it failed by two votes, 5957. 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 vast territory was named after Louis XIV, the so-called Sun King. [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. This exact scenario is what happened to Mexico with their province of Tejas during the Texan Revolution. 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. They wanted the U.S. government to establish laws allowing slavery in the newly acquired territory so they could be supported in taking their slaves there to undertake new agricultural enterprises, as well as to reduce the threat of future slave rebellions. The formidable British navy could easily blockade the territory and seize it for themselves. 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? Some French leaders predicted that eventually the Louisiana territory would revolt in a bid for independence following the principles of the American Revolution. 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? In 1803, President Thomas Jefferson bought the Louisiana Territory from France for $15 million and nearly doubled the size of the U.S. Would that make the United States too powerful? As part of the deal, the U.S. assumed responsibility for 20 million francs ($3.75 million) of French debts owed to U.S. citizens. Louisiana Purchase, western half of the Mississippi River basin purchased in 1803 from France by the United States; at less than three cents per acre for 828,000 square miles (2,144,520 square km), it was the greatest land bargain in U.S. history. The Federalists even tried to prove the land belonged to Spain, not France, but available records proved otherwise. The Similarities And Differences Between The Lewis And Clark Expedition. The first reason that Napoleon sold the Louisiana territory was that the French government was in need of money. [citation needed], Governing the Louisiana Territory was more difficult than acquiring it. Acquiring the territory doubled the size of the United States. With war in Europe likely, the French did not have the resources to defend and maintain the Louisiana territory. Even if the British did not seize the territory, the United States also posed a significant future threat. As the Library of Congress describes, Saint-Domingue was incredibly valuable. To Napoleon's line of thinking, if the United States took control of Louisiana, then it would deny Britain the opportunity of conquering it. First, as mentioned before, France needed more money for the impending war and to concentrate its resources on Europe. [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. Everybody who has taken grade-school history knows the story. Copyright 2023 History in Charts | Powered by Astra WordPress Theme. [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. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/1833473. French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte ultimately sold the Louisiana territory to the United States for four reasons: the French government needed money, an impending war with Great Britain, the fallout from the Haitian Revolution, and the difficulty in maintaining a North American colony. Livingston wrote to James Madison, "We shall do all we can to cheapen the purchase, but my present sentiment is that we shall buy.". He added later, "I require money to make war on the richest nation in the world.". [34] The United States Senate advised and consented to ratification of the treaty with a vote of twenty-four to seven on October 20. Who sold the massive Louisiana Territory to the United States? In 1803, the United States nearly doubled in size when it bought the Louisiana Territory in a deal that shaped history. The resources and land from theLouisiana territory considerably helped the United States become the global power it is today. A treaty, dated April 30 and signed May 2, was then worked out that gave Louisiana to the United States in exchange for $11.25 million, plus the forgiveness of $3.75 million in French debt. First, an empowered United States could effectively act as a formidable rival to Britain. [32] The Senate quickly ratified the treaty, and the House, with equal readiness, authorized the required funding, as the Constitution specifies. The Louisiana Purchase was a significant event of monumental proportions in the history of the United States. [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. All these soldiers needed to be fed, housed, and paid. 2), which is just what Jefferson did. [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]. 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. As quoted by Smithsonian Magazine, historian Charles A. Cerami said, "If we had not made this purchase, it would have pinched off the possibility of our becoming a continental power." 50721. By the 1720s, several settlements had developed, the chief of which was the territory's capital at New Orleans. In a way, this almost came to pass in the War of 1812. 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. The Constitution specifically grants the president the power to negotiate treaties (Art. a Federalist judge who wanted his commission granted. 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. Among Eurocentric circles, the Louisiana Purchase was seen as one of the greatest land deals in history. 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. Louisiana under Spanish control fared little better. "[19] On July 4, 1803, the treaty was announced,[20] but the documents did not arrive in Washington, D.C. until July 14. pp. Jefferson sent Livingston to Paris in 1801[9] with the authorization to purchase New Orleans. [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. 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". [14][15] The total of $15million is equivalent to about $337million in 2021 dollars, or 64 cents per acre. [4] New Orleans was already important for shipping agricultural goods to and from the areas of the United States west of the Appalachian Mountains. 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." 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. The main issue for the Americans was free transit of the Mississippi out to sea. He bought the Louisiana territory from France, which was being led by Napoleon Bonaparte at the time, for 15,000,000 USD. 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). ' Weegy: Napoleon sold the Louisiana Territory to the United States because he would have a hard time managing . ", This page was last edited on 5 February 2023, at 06:28. Why is France sold the Louisiana Purchase to the US? 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. The Louisiana Territory was a vast stretch of land of over 500 million acres from the Mississippi River Delta to the present-day border between Montana and Canada. Lucien later reported in a memoirthat the pair sought out their brother in the Tuileries, where they found the ruler indulging in a bath. Zebulon Pike What nickname were Americans given who wanted war with England? What is the eagle on the Great Seal holding in his right talon? The problem with Saint-Domingue was that its entire economy was supported by and depended entirely upon slavery. However, as Slate Magazine describes, the United States did not so much buy the land but rather the imperial rights to conquer it and take it from the Native Americans who'd lived there for millennia. Francis Scott Key. 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. 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. 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 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. Napoleon sold French Louisiana to the US in 1803 as the Louisiana Purchase. [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. 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.

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