In 1803, Napoleon and the French were in trouble with money and needed a quick fix. Jefferson was looking to buy New Orleans for 10 million but when given the offer for the entirety of the Louisiana Territory, he made an at the moment decision and bought it for 15 million dollars. This was by far the most land gained by Americans at one time. Stretching from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains, the purchase doubled the size of the United States. It is one of the most important and groundbreaking transactions in United States history. It created a fast and easy way for expansion into the newly acquired land. It solidified the United States as an extreme powerhouse in the world.
In the 1600’s, France established settlements scattered throughout the Mississippi valley and by the middle of the eighteenth century, France owned more of present-day United States than any other country in Europe. This region of land spanned from present day Louisiana to Montana and the Great Lakes. Yet, in 1762, France lost territory west of the Mississippi to Spain in the French and Indian War. In 1763, they gave away nearly all of their remaining area to Great Britain. American citizens had been moving westward into the Ohio River and Tennessee River valleys. These settlers were highly dependent on free access to the Mississippi River and the ports. France and Spain became allies at the very end of the 1700’s and returned the large sum of land back to the French. They were slow returning to Louisiana to take control again. Unfortunately, around this time, Americans would lose the privilege to store goods in New Orleans. This treaty between Spain and the United States was revoked by Spanish authorities, however, many assumed they were acting under French orders. In response, Jefferson would send James Monroe to join Robert Livingston to discuss future plans on purchasing New Orleans. In 1801, Spain and France created a treaty that was kept secret, issuing that Spain would return the territory back to France. This caused anguish and anxiety for the United States citizens. Americans had been settling west in Tennessee and Ohio for around ten years. The settlers coming from the east, heavily depended on the Mississippi River and the New Orleans port. Americans feared Napoleon Bonaparte and his occasional decisions based on hatred, and not on strategy or maintaining peace with other nations. They believed he would look to control the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico. Jefferson states, “The day that France takes possession of New Orleans…we must marry ourselves to the British fleet and nation.” Jefferson seemed to be speaking for everyone when he spoke that phrase.
In a time period where the United States was growing at a rate unheard of by other nations, Thomas Jefferson had been fighting for presidency. In 1801, Jefferson, who was known to be one of the primary writers of the Declaration of Independence, was elected as the 3rd president of the United States. His belief was that the U.S. should have an abundance of independent farmers and they should clearly makeup a large majority of our country. He was in search of new land to raise livestock and plant crops. His presidency began to move forward and Jefferson was looking to expand a buy New Orleans for ten million dollars. As the original colonies became crowded, Jefferson knew that moving west was the next goal. The United States had already began to expand westward. The access to ports, especially in New Orleans, navigation of the Mississippi River had become critical for American commerce. Therefore, Jefferson desperately wanted that territory of land. In April 1802, Jefferson wrote a letter to Pierre Samuel du Pont containing,
“[T]his little event, of France possessing herself of Louisiana, … is the embryo of a tornado which will burst on the countries on both shores of the Atlantic and involve in it’s effects their highest destinies.”
This was a prediction made by Jefferson during the same time Spain was known to be coming close to getting a majority of the Louisiana Territory from France. A week or so later Jefferson composed another letter to Robert Livingston, the U.S. Minister to France containing,
"every eye in the US. is now fixed on this affair of Louisiana. perhaps nothing since the revolutionary war has produced more uneasy sensations through the body of the nation."
Aware of the need for action more visible than diplomatic maneuvering and concerned with the threat of disunion, Jefferson in January 1803 recommended that James Monroe join Livingston in Paris as minister. Monroe was close to Jefferson politically and personally. He also owned land in Kentucky and had spoken openly for the rights of the western territories which was the current idea Jefferson was currently fighting for. The same month as Jefferson’s decision to bring in Monroe, he also asked congress for funding of the expedition that ranged from the border of the Louisiana Territory to the Pacific. This would later be known as the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Jefferson urged Monroe to join stating that many people have confidence and trust in you. The land east of the Mississippi was Monroe’s goal to obtain. He then sought after a ten million dollar deal concerning the purchase of New Orleans and some or all of Athens Floridas. His main goal was to at least obtain New Orleans or even the access to the Mississippi and the ports. Yet, that wasn’t the plan for Livingston.
Napoleon’s plans to create a “New France” in the “New World” were beginning to fall apart. War with Britain seemed certain that this point. The French army sent to suppress a rebellion by slaves and free blacks in Saint Domingue which is present-day Haiti. They were blown out by yellow fever. Their problem was that their was way to much land in the Mississippi valley and they didn’t have enough forces to maintain the area. Therefore, the Minister of France, François de Barbé-Marbois, recommended the selling of the territory to the United States hoping for some quick cash. This is because he had always doubted the worth of Louisiana. He believed, without Saint Domingue, it would be much less valuable. Along with the two reasons above, France, who would probably go to war with Britain soon, he realized the land would probably be taken by the British from present-day Canada. Their lack of troops to fill the Mississippi valley was another reason to sell. Many believe that the failure of France to stop a slave revolution in Haiti and the British naval blockade of France along with the combination of French economic difficulties could have possibly persuaded Napoleon to offer the Louisiana territory purchasable to the United States.
Napoleon agreed and Monroe and Livingston quickly got to work on negotiating a deal. An agreement that exceeded their authority was reached.
“Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the President of the United States be, and he is hereby authorized to take possession of, and occupy the territory ceded by France to the United States, by the treaty concluded at Paris, on the thirtieth day of April last, between the two nations; and that he may for that purpose, and in order to maintain in the said territories the authority of the United States, employ any part of the army and navy of the United States, and of the force authorized by an act passed the third day of March last, intituled "An act directing a detachment from the militia of the United States, and for erecting certain arsenals," which he may deem necessary: and so much of the sum appropriated by the said act as may be necessary, is hereby appropriated for the purpose of carrying this act into effect; to be applied under the direction of the President of the United States.”
The quote is the document that gives authority to President Jefferson to take possession of the Territory of Louisiana. The purchase of the Louisiana Territory, including New Orleans, totaled fifteen million dollars, 11,250,000 dollars for the territory itself and 3,750,000 dollars for claims of American citizens against France. The acquisition of approximately 827,000 square miles would double the size of the United States and change the course of history from then on. The Louisiana Territory contained at the time, areas stretching from the Mississippi River in the east to the Rocky Mountains in the west and from the Gulf of Mexico in the south to the Canadian border in the north. The purchase treaty had to be ratified by the end of October, which gave Jefferson and his Cabinet enough time to figure out the issues of boundaries and constitutionality. Exact boundaries would have to be negotiated with Spain and Great Britain and therefore would not be set for several years, and Jefferson's Cabinet members argued that the constitutional amendment he proposed was not necessary. As time for ratification of the purchase treaty grew short. Jefferson worked with his Cabinet right away to ratify it. The quickness was mainly because many people found that he didn’t actually have the power to make that decision. Jefferson accepted his Cabinet's counsel and rationalized:
"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."
The Senate ratified the treaty on October 20 by a vote of 24 to 7. 7. Spain, upset by the sale but without the military power to block it, formally returned Louisiana to France on November 30. France officially transferred the territory to the Americans on December 20, and the United States took formal possession ten days later on December 30. Livingston famously quotes, "We have lived long, but this is the noblest work of our whole lives… From this day the United States take their place among the powers of the first rank." In a quote referenced earlier, Jefferson’s prediction was true and ended in favor of the United States. This agreement included a total of 15 states either partial or whole. The territory purchase was one of the largest land transactions in world history and had an area larger than today’s France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Germany, Holland, Switzerland and the British Isles combined. This would be considered one of Jefferson’s most important achievements in his presidency and life’s work.
April 30, 1803, a day which will live in infamy for some in Europe but a victory for Americans. The day where all negotiations of the Louisiana Purchase were settled by representatives from each side. This was a miraculous deal and granted us land at less than three cents per acre. Expansion by the Americans to the west began immediately. To finalize the settlement, in 1804, a territorial government was established. The Lewis and Clark Expedition would soon be funded by President Jefferson to explore the newly acquired territory.