Louisiana Purchase

Trevor Porcoro

3/17/11

P. 7

Essay

Louisiana Purchase

The Louisiana Purchase greatly affected and changed the landscape of the United States. It was one of the greatest deals made in history because of what the United States got out of it.

Before the purchase there were a few things that happened. First off, Jefferson disliked the idea of purchasing Louisiana from France from the beginning. It was also believed that a U.S. President did not have the authority to make such a deal. Even though Jefferson did not want to buy Louisiana Jefferson was aware of the fact that the French could be a potential threat in that region (Gatewayno.com) and was prepared to go to war if there was a strong French presence there.

Jefferson did not want to make the purchase but decided it was necessary for the country. So Jefferson initiated the negotiation by sending Robert Livingston to Paris in 1801, after discovering the transfer of Louisiana from Spain to France under the Third Treaty of San Ildefonso.(surfnetkids.com)

In 1803, Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours, a French nobleman, began to help negotiate with France at the request of Jefferson. Then on April 10, 1803 negotiations changed in the United States favor when Napoleon told Treasury Minister François de Barbé-Marbois that he was considering selling the whole Louisiana Territory to the U.S. on April 11, 1803. (nps.gov)

In the beginning of the negotiations Napoleon wanted New Orleans because of its prime location for the sugar trade between the Caribbean. He wanted to start an empire using sugar as his moneymaker and spread throughout the territories in North America. But, Napoleons plans were ruined when things in the Caribbean were being disturbed. Toussaint L'Ouverture, his army of former slaves, and yellow fever started to fight back against the French in Santo Domingo (modern day Hati) which led to over 40,000 deaths of French soldiers. Without Santo Domingo Napoleon's colonial ambitions for a French...