In 1803, France sold over 900,000 square miles west of the
Mississippi River to the United States for $15 million, which
is an average of 4 cents an acre. This new addition made the
US one of the largest geographic nations in the world and
showed the growing power of the nation. The Louisiana Territory
had been given to Spain by France in 1762 after forty years
of Spanish rule, the Spanish were willing to give the territory
back to pay off some of its debts. Thomas Jefferson and James
Madison soon heard of the pending deal and sent Robert Livingston
to negotiate for a small piece of land along the Mississippi
so America could build its own seaport. Becoming impatient
with the lack of news, Jefferson and Madison sent James Monroe
to attempt to acquire New Orleans and West Florida. France
realized that war with Great Britain was coming and knew that
it could not defend Louisiana against the naval might of Great
Britain. It offered to sell the entire territory to the US.
The deal was completed through a series of three documents
between the United States and France. A treaty of cession
had to be agreed upon first, then two agreements on the exchange
of monies were made. Both parties gained what they had sought
from the deal. The United States acquired the land they desired,
while France needed the money from the deal to help pay the
cost of the Napoleonic Wars and pay off the debt it already
owed to the US. This was a remarkable feat for the time, most
large empires had been obtained with the use of force, but
the transfer of land from France to the United States occurred
without any bloodshed.
By purchasing the Louisiana Territory, President Jefferson
and Secretary of State Madison insured that the French could
no longer dominate trade and restrict American ships from
using the Mississippi River. This had a major impact on American
trade, as now the Mississippi was open from New Orleans and
St. Louis. Traders from around the world now dealt directly
with the United States for goods that could easily be shipped
down the river. Along with protecting American trade interests,
the purchase provided a sense of protection from French aggression
and territorial disputes. The threat of Napoleon's new world
empire was real to the United States and Jefferson knew it
was important to defend the nation's boarders. The deal also
helped the transformation of the United States from a country
that was centered around the Eastern Seabord to a nation that
would stretch from Atlantic to Pacific.
Following the purchase, Jefferson hired two explorers, Meriwether
Lewis and William Clark to travel the land and document their
findings. This expedition provided maps of the area, established
peaceful contact with Native American tribes, and the described
the vast possibilities for expanding the largely unsettled
land. Their journey into the American wilderness crossed over
8,000 miles and took two years to complete.
It had been a long-time goal of James Madison
to obtain free passage of the Mississippi for Americans. Eighteen
years earlier he had written "Nature has given the use
of the Mississippi to those who may settle on its waters, as
she gave to the United States their independence." The
control of Louisiana would not be decided by its simple purchase
in 1803 since New Orleans was far removed from the population
centers of the United States. In the even of war, it would be
hard for the U.S. to defend it against outside attack: Britain's
navy might yet allow her to seize the prize. Louisiana had been
acquired peacefully, but blood would be shed to defend it. The
fate of the territory would not be decided until Madison's Presidency:
Andrew Jackson's crushing defeat of the British at the Battle
of New Orleans would signal the world that Louisiana was safe
from foreign ambitions.
