The Mississippi River was always a vital asset to the United States, especially to settlers in the Ohio River Valley. Many of the agricultural goods produced in the frontier states was exported through the city of New Orleans. Founded and controlled by France until 1762, Louisiana was handed over to Spain in the Treaty of Fontainebleau. The United States negotiated with Spain over the use of the Mississippi River and the port of New Orleans in 1795. The dependency of the United States on a foreign nation for such an important waterway and port left the United States vulnerable. After the Spanish banned American use of the port of New Orleans for a few years and the exchange of control of Louisiana, from the Spanish back to the French, further complicated the United States’ ability to use the river. In 1803, the United States, under the leadership of President Thomas Jefferson, sought to purchase the city of New Orleans and from France to ensure American use of the Mississippi River. The United States would purchase the entire Louisiana territory from France, doubling the size of the United States overnight. The purchase not only opened up the West to American expansion, but it also brought into question the strict interpretation of the Constitution of the United States held by President Thomas Jefferson.

In 1682, the French explorer René-Robert Cavelier de La Salle claimed all the land which drained into the Mississippi river. He named this indeterminate area Louisiana, in honor of King Louis XIV. John Law, a Scottish man well established in France, and Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, governor of Louisiana, established the city of New Orleans on the crescent of the Mississippi River, which rapidly grew as a port city connecting the inner North American continent with the sea. The Louisiana territory exchanged hands several times, first switching back and forth from a proprietary colony to a royal colony and then switching from France to Spain. By 1795, the city of New Orleans and the Mississippi River were so important to American traders that the United States had no choice but to negotiate a treaty with Spain over the use of the Mississippi River. Thomas Pinckney negotiated the use of the Mississippi River and the “right to deposit” in New Orleans for three years and sealed the deal with Pinckney’s Treaty on October 27, 1795. By 1800, France had signed the Treaty of San Ildefonso with Spain, which returned Louisiana back to the French. However, this treaty remained a secret and the Spanish government remained in Louisiana. Pinckney’s Treaty lasted until 1802, when Manuel de Salcedo, Spanish governor of Louisiana, and Morales, the Spanish intendent, suspended the “right of deposit” because the treaty was out of date. This forced the United States to negotiate the purchase of New Orleans with France in 1803. [1]

Robert R. Livingston, the American ambassador to France, opened negotiations with France over the purchase of the city of New Orleans and the Floridas in 1801; however, the French rejected his offer on August 30, 1802. Livingston informed Secretary of State, James Madison, that the French foreign minister, Charles Maurice de Talleyrand, wanted to secure France’s possession of Louisiana before any land purchase negotiations would take place. Talleyrand opposed the sale of Louisiana to the United States because he favored France’s endeavor to have an empire in North America. [2]

On October 28, 1802, Joseph Bonapart offered the sale of territory in Louisiana to the United States to Livingston. On January 7, 1803, a resolution was passed by the United States House of Representatives to pursue an agreement with France to regain access to the Mississippi River, virtually giving President Jefferson the authority to open negotiations with France over the purchase of New Orleans. President Jefferson sent James Monroe on March 9, 1803 to meet with Livingston so that they could negotiate together with France. Before Monroe arrived, Napoleon met with his advisors on April 10 and decided to part with the entire Louisiana territory. Marquess de Barbé-Marbois, Napoleon’s finance minister contacted Livingston and told him that Napoleon was willing to sell the entire Louisiana territory. Napoleon’s forces were overwhelmed in Europe and in the French colonies. Faced with the Haitian rebellion and with increasing hostilities with the British, Napoleon did not have the manpower to take full control over Louisiana; thus, he would rather the United States, an ally to France, take control of Louisiana than Britain. [3]

When Monroe arrived in France on April 12, he was informed of Napoleon’s decision to sell all the Louisiana territory. On April 13, Monroe and Livingston decided to purchase the Louisiana territory. President Jefferson did not authorize the purchase of the entire Louisiana territory, just the city of New Orleans and the Floridas. Monroe and Livingston negotiated the price of the real estate with the French ministers and finally came to a compromise on April 30. President Jefferson had authorized $10 million for the city of New Orleans alone; however, Napoleon was willing to part with the entire area for $15 million. The deal did not include the purchase of the Flordias, which Barbé-Marbois refused to even speak about. Monroe and Livingston knew that this was a very good deal, less than three cents per acre. On May 2, the Louisiana purchase was signed, and France ceded the entire Louisiana territory, an area which boundaries were not clearly defined by the treaty, to the United States for $15 million. [4]

By June 30, news of the purchase reached the United States. President Jefferson was embarrassed and did not know what to do about the purchase. He was confused as to whether the United States could buy land legally, and he also questioned what to do with the large land area. He called Congress into special session to discuss the matter. Keeping with his strict interpretation policy, President Jefferson believed that the states would have to ratify an amendment before the purchase could be finalized. [5]

The Federalists posed a problem with the treaty itself. The treaty gave France and Spain the right to trade in the port of New Orleans and all the ports in the Louisiana territory for twelve years. The Federalists complained that a section of the treaty gave preference to the port of New Orleans for France and Spain. [6]

For several weeks Congress debated the Louisiana Purchase. On October 20, in a Senate vote of 24 to 7, the Louisiana Purchase was ratified. However, the House of Representatives was not so easily won. Gaylord Griswold, a Federalist from New York, petitioned that France did not have the right to sell Louisiana, supposedly because it was promised to Spain. The House vote was 90 to 25, ratifying the Louisiana Purchase. The 25 votes against the Louisiana Purchase were all Federalists. [7]

On October 21, President Jefferson was given the power to take over the territory by Congress. A military government was to be set up to keep order. On October 31, Congress decided to allow the local civil government, which was established under the French and Spanish, to continue to rule. Finally, on December 20, 1803, France officially turned the city of New Orleans over to Louisiana territorial governor William Charles Coles Claiborne and General James Wilkinson. [8]

Even though the purchase was done and the United States took control of the Louisiana territory, the United States was still unsure as to what it had purchased. The territorial boundaries were not clearly defined by the treaty. Several treaties made by the United states, such as the Adams-Onis Treaty in 1819 and the Treaty of 1828, will set the boundaries for the Louisiana territory and the future state of Louisiana. The southern part of the Louisiana territory, called the New Orleans territory, would become the state of Louisiana, which was admitted to the Union in 1812. [9]

The Louisiana Purchase had a profound impact on the United States. The future states of Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Oklahoma, part of Montana, southern Minnesota, northeastern New Mexico, and northern Texas would be carved out of the Louisiana Purchase. The expansion of the United States allowed for the expansion of agriculture, allowing for the United States to remain agricultural longer. The Louisiana Purchase also ended President Jefferson’s strict interpretation of the Constitution, allowing for the United States to annex territories in the future and to pave the way for the manifest destiny of the United States. The Louisiana Purchase also gave the United States permanent control of the Mississippi River and the port city of New Orleans. It also ended the possibility of future French colonization in North America.

1. Bennett H. Wall, ed., Louisiana: A History, fourth edition (Wheeling, Illinois: Harlan Davidson, 2002), 20-21, 40-41, 85-86; Donald Barr Chidsey, Louisiana Purchase (New York: Crown Publishers, 1972), 97-101; Thomas M. Marshall, A History of the Western Boundary of the Louisiana Purchase, 1819-1841 (New York: Da Capo Press, 1970), 1-6; and James K. Hosmer, The History of the Louisiana Purchase (New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1901), 35-40, 61.

2. Chidsey, Louisiana Purchase, 128-32; and Hosmer, The History of the Louisiana Purchase, 61-64.

3. Chidsey, Louisiana Purchase, 132-34; and Hosmer, The History of the Louisiana Purchase, 64.

4. Chidsey, Louisiana Purchase, 135-40; Wall, Louisiana: A History, 87; Marshall, A History of the Western Boundary, 9-11; and Hosmer, The History of the Louisiana Purchase, 65, 130-47. One source claims Jefferson only authorized $2 million for the purchase of New Orleans, not $10 million.

5. Chidsey, Louisiana Purchase, 144-45; and Hosmer, The History of the Louisiana Purchase, 148-50.

6. Chidsey, Louisiana Purchase, 146-48; and Hosmer, The History of the Louisiana Purchase, 61-64.

7. Hosmer, The History of the Louisiana Purchase, 154-57.

8. Chidsey, Louisiana Purchase, 148-50; and Wall, Louisiana: A History, 87-89. The date of December 20, 1803 is contested by Wall’s source, citing November 30, 1803. I chose the date of December 20, 1803 because it appears in more than one source.

9. Marshall, A History of the Western Boundary, 10-14; and Wall, Louisiana: A History, 100-101, 108-110.

Chidsey, Donald Barr. Louisiana Purchase. New York: Crown Publishers, 1972.

Hosmer, James K. The History of the Louisiana Purchase. New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1901.

Marshall, Thomas M. A History of the Western Boundary of the Louisiana Purchase, 1819-1841. New York: Da Capo Press, 1970.

Wall, Bennett H. ed., Louisiana: A History, fourth edition. Wheeling, Illinois: Harlan Davidson, 2002.