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| The Louisiana Purchase From "Self-Culture" Magazine for Jan., 1896 by kind permission of the
publishers The Werner Co., Akron, O.
No surer or more lasting cause conduced to the political, financial, and
national development of this country, no unforeseen or long-sought measure
received more universal approbation and revealed to all its great
importance, than did the Louisiana purchase. Its acquisition marks a
political revolution,—a bloodless and tearless revolution. It gave
incomputable energy to the centralization of our Government. By removing
the danger of foreign interference and relieving the burden of arming
against hostile forces, it opened a field for the spread and growth of
American institutions. It enlarged the field of freedom's action to work
out the task of civilization on a basis of substantial and inspiring
magnitude. It extended the jurisdiction of the United States to take in the
mighty Mississippi. It gave an impetus to exploration and adventure, to
investment and enterprise, and fed the infantile nation with a security born
of greatness.
The expeditions of La Salle furnished the basis of the original French
claims to the vast region called by France in the New World Louisiana.
Settlement was begun in 1699. French explorers secured the St. Lawrence and
Mississippi rivers, the two main entrances to the heart of America. They
sought to connect Canada and Louisiana by a chain of armed towns and
fortified posts, which were sparsely though gradually erected. In 1722 New
Orleans was made the capital of the French possessions in the Southwest.
France hoped to build in this colony a kingdom rich and lucrative, and this
hope the early conditions, the stretch of fertile and easily traversable
country, stimulated. The French and Indian wars came on. The English
forces, aided by American colonists of English descent, captured the French
forts, destroyed their towns, and took dominion of their territory. The
Seven Years' War, ending in America in the capture of Quebec by the immortal
Wolfe, completed the downfall of French-America. The treaty of Paris ceded
to Spain the territory of Louisiana.
The Government at Madrid now assumed control of the region; settlers became
more numerous, the planting of sugar was begun, the province flourished.
While Spain in 1782-83 occupied both sides of the Mississippi from 31 north
latitude to its mouth, the United States and Great Britian declared in the
Treaty of Paris that the navigation of that river from its source to its
outlet should be free to both nations. Spain denied that such provisions
were binding on her. She sought to levy a duty on merchandise transported
on the river. She denied the right of our citizens to use the Mississippi
as a highway, and complications ensued. The Americans claimed the free
navigation of the river and the use of New Orleans for a place of deposit as
a matter of right. However, the unfriendly policy of Spain continued for
some years. In 1795 the Spanish Government became involved in a war with
France. Weakened by loss of forces and fearing hostilities from this
country, Spain consented to sign a treaty of friendship, boundaries and
navigation with our envoy, Thomas Pinckney. Its most important article was
to this effect, that "His Catholic Majesty likewise agrees that the
navigation of the said river (Mississippi), in its whole breadth, from its
source to the ocean, shall be free only to his subjects and to the subjects
of the United States."
On October 1,1800, by the secret treaty of San Ildefonso, Spain gave back to
France that province of Louisiana which in 1762 France had given her. The
consideration for its retrocession was an assurance by France that the Duke
of Palma, son-in-law of the King of Spain, should be raised to the dignity
of King and have his territory enlarged by the addition of Tuscany. Rumors
of this treaty reached America in the spring of 1801, though its exact terms
were not known until the latter part of that year. Immediately upon the
reception of this information, our Government and its citizens were aroused.
The United States found herself hemmed in between the two professional
belligerents of Europe—a perilous position for the young power. The
excitement increased when, in October, 1802, the Spanish Intendant declared
that New Orleans could no longer be used as a place of deposit. Nor was any
other place designated for such purpose, although in the reaty [sic] of 1795
it was stipulated that in the event of a withdrawal of the right to use New
Orleans, some other point would be named. It was now a subject of extreme
importance to the Republic into whose control the highway of traffic should
pass. President Jefferson called the attention of Congress to this
retrocession. He anticipated the French designs. He justly feared that
Napoleon Bonaparte would seek to renew the old colonial glories of France,
and the warlike genius and ambitious spirit of the "First Consul" augmented
this fear. Word came in November, 1802, of an expedition being fitted out
under French command to take possession of Louisiana, all protests of our
Minister to the transfer having proved futile. Our nation then realized
fully the peril of the situation. Congress directed the Governors of the
States to call out 80,000 militia, if necessary, and it appropriated
$2,000,000 for the purchase of the Island of New Orleans and the adjacent
lands.
Early in January, 1803, the President decided to hasten matters by sending
James Monroe to France, to be associated with Robert R. Livingston, our
minister to that country, as commissioners for the purchase of New Orleans
and the Floridas. Livingston had been previously working on the same line,
but without success. Instructions were given them that if France was
obstinate about selling the desired territory, to open negotiations with the
British Government, with a view to preventing France from taking possession
of Louisiana. European complications, however, worked in favor of this
country more than did our own efforts. Ere Monroe arrived at his
destination disputes arose between England and France concerning the Island
of Malta. The clouds of war began to gather. Napoleon discerned that
England's powerful navy would constantly menace and probably capture New
Orleans, if it were possessed by him, and fearing a frustration of his
designs of conquest by too remote accessions, Napoleon, at this juncture,
made overtures for a sale to the United States not only of the Island of New
Orleans but of the whole area of the province. The money demanded would be
helpful to France, and the wily Frenchman probably saw in such a transfer an
opportunity of embroiling the Government at Washington in boundary disputes
with the British and Spanish soverigns. These considerations served to
precipitate French action.
Marbois, who had the confidence of Napoleon, and who had been in the
diplomatic service in America, was now at the head of the French Treasury.
He was put forward to negotiate with our representatives with respect to the
proposed sale. On April 1O, 1803, news came from London that the peace of
Amiens was at an end; war impended. Bonaparte at once sent for Marbois and
ordered him to push the negotiations with Livingston, without awaiting the
arrival of Monroe, of whose appointment the "First Consul" was aware.
Monroe reached Paris on the 12th of April, and the negotiations, already
well under way, progressed rapidly. A treaty and two conventions were
signed by Barbe-Marbois for the French, and by Livingston and Monroe for the
United States, on April 30th, less than three weeks after the commission had
begun its work. The price agreed upon for the cession of Louisiana was
75,000,000 francs, and for the satisfying of French spoliation claims due to
Americans was estimated at $3,750,000. The treaty was ratified by Bonaparte
in May, 1803, and by the United States Senate in the following October. The
cession of the territory was contained in one paper, another fixed the
amount to be paid and the mode of payment, a third arranged the method of
settling the claims due to Americans.
The treaty did not attempt a precise description or boundary of the
territory ceded. In the treaty of San Ildefonso general terms only are
used. It speaks of Louisiana as of "the same extent that it now has in the
hands of Spain, and that it had when France possessed it, and such as it
should be after the treaties subsequently entered into between Spain and the
other States." The treaty with the United States describes the land as "the
said territory, with all its rights and appurtenances, as fully and in the
same manner as have been acquired by the French Republic, in virtue of the
above-mentioned treaty concluded with his Catholic Majesty."
The Court at Madrid was astounded when it heard of the cession to the United
States. Florida was left hemmed in and an easy prey in the first
hostilities. Spain filed a protest against the transfer, claiming that by
express provision of the articles of cession to her, France was prohibited
from alienating it without Spanish consent. The protest being ignored,
Spain began a course of unfriendly proceedings against the United States.
Hostile acts on her part were continued to such an extent that a declaration
of war on the part of this country would have been justified. We relied
upon the French to protect our title. At length, without any measures of
force, the cavilling of Spain ceased and she acquiesced in the transfer.
Upon being confronted with the proposition of sale by Marbois, our Ministers
were dazzled. They recognized the vast importance of an acceptance, yet
felt their want of authority. With a political prescience and broad
patriotism they overstepped all authority and concluded the treaty for the
purchase of this magnificent domain. Authorized to purchase a small island
and a coaling-place, they contracted for an empire. The treaty of
settlement was looked upon by our representatives as a stroke of state.
When the negotiations were consummated and the treaties signed and
delivered, Mr. Livingston said: "We have lived long, and this is the
fairest work of our lives. The treaty we have just signed will transform a
vast wilderness into a flourishing country. From this day the United States
becomes a first-class power. The articles we have signed will produce no
tears, but ages of happiness for countless human beings." Time has verified
these expressions. At the same period, the motives and sentiment of
Bonaparte were bodied forth in the sentence: "I have given to England a
maritime rival that will sooner or later humble her pride."
The acquisition was received with merited and general applause. Few
objections were made. The only strenuous opposition arose from some
Federalists, who could see no good in any act of the Jeffersonian
administration, however meritorious it might be. Out of the territory thus
acquired have been carved Louisiana, Missouri, Kansas, Arkansas, Nebraska,
Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, and the largest portion of
Minnesota, Wyoming, and Colorado. They now form the central section of the
United States, and are the homes of millions and the sources of countless
wealth.
It is possible here to notice but briefly the vast and permanent political
and economical consequences to the United States of this purchase. The
party which performed this service came into power as the maintainer of
voluntary union. The soul of the strict construction party was Thomas
Jefferson. Inclined to French ideas, he had been for several years previous
to the founding of our Constitution imbibing their extreme doctrines. No
sooner did he return than he discerned, with the keen glance of genius, what
passed Hamilton and Adams unobserved, the key to the popular fancy. He knew
precisely where the strength of the Federalists lay, and by what means alone
that strength could be overpowered.
Coming into office as the champion of "State-rights and strict
construction," it was beyond his power to give theoretical affirmance to
this transcendent act of his agents. His own words reveal his anomalous
situation: "The Constitution has made no provision for our holding foreign
territory, still less for incorporating foreign nations into our Union. The
executive, in seizing the fugitive occurrence which so much advances the
good of their country, have done an act beyond the Constitution. The
Legislature, in casting behind metaphysical subleties and risking themselves
like faithful servants, must ratify and pay for it, and throw themselves on
their country for doing for them unauthorized what we know they would have
done for themselves had they been in a position to do it." "Doing for them
unauthorized what we know they would have done for themselves" was the
policy of the Federalists, and the very ground upon which Mr. Jefferson had
denounced their policy and defeated them. The purchase was, in fact, quite
within those implied powers of the Constitution which had always been
contended for by the Federalists, and such leaders as Hamilton and Morris
acknowledged this. Under the strict construction theory, not only could
there be no authority for such an acquisition of territory without the
consent of the several States denominated "part of the original compact,"
but the manifest and necessary consequences of this accession, in its
effects upon the Union and upon the balance of power within the Government,
were overwhelming to such an extent as to amount almost to a revolution.
This event may be looked upon as a revolution in the direction of
unification and the impairment of the powers of the several States, brought
about by the very party which had undertaken to oppose such tendencies. The
territory gained stretches over a million square miles equal in area to the
territory previously comprised in the Union, and twice as large as that
actually occupied by the original thirteen States. Compared with this
innovation, the plans of the Federalists for strengthening the Central
Government were inconsiderable. A new nation was engrafted on the old, and
neither the people of the several States nor their immediate representatives
were questioned; but by a treaty the President and the Senate changed the
whole structure of the territory and modified the relations of the States.
Thenceforth, the Louisiana purchase stood as a repudiation by their own
champions of the strict construction fallacies. Thenceforth, the welfare of
the country stands above party allegiance. The right to make purchases was
thereafter, by general acquiescence of all political parties, within the
powers of the Federal Government. Indeed, it became manifest that implied
as well as expressed powers accrued to the National Government.
The territory of Louisiana proved a fruitful soil for the spread of slavery,
nor was it less productive of struggles and strife over the admission of
States carved therefrom. The Civil War has pacified the jarring elements
and left to be realized now the beneficent results of the empire gained.
With Louisiana the United States gained control of the entire country
watered by the Mississippi and its effluents. With the settlement of the
western country, the Mississippi river assumed its normal function in the
national development, forming out of that region the backbone of the Union.
The Atlantic and Pacific States can never destroy the Union while the
Central States remain loyal. Thus do we see the basis of our governmental
existence removed from the narrow strip along the Atlantic to the far larger
central basin; binding by natural ligaments a union far less secure on mere
constitutional or artificial connections. Thus have the intentions of its
projectors been fulfilled, the peace of our nation secured, a spirit of
confidence in our institutions diffused, and enterprise and prosperity
advanced. The purchase was an exercise of patriotism unrestrained and
unbiased by considerations unconnected with the public good. It curbed the
impulse of State jealousies, secured to the Union unwonted prestige, and
discovered the latent force and broad possibilities of our national system.Contributed by Zacharias, Isidore A.
0 January 1896 |
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