Evening star., 1953-10-04


To put it mildly, this second
port city is going all out cele-
brating its sesquicentennial as an
American city. ~
Americas best buy-909,1 ,130
square miles for a little over $23
million-waS made by two men,
Robert Livingston and James
Monroe, far exceeding their
authority from President Thomas
Jefferson. who doubted it was
constitutional. No one was even
quite sure how much land was
getting sold.
In asking Congress to approve
the purchase, Jefferson admitted
"the executive has done an
act beyond the Constitution"
The United States gained the
wheat Of the DakotaS. the rich
oil lands of Louisiana, Okla
homa and, Arkansas: lush farm
lands IN Kansas, Iowa, Missouri
and Nebraska; Minnesota's for
est and mineral wealth: gold
copper, lead, tin and cattle lands
in Montana. Wyoming and Colo
RADIO.
The purchase made possible
Americas swift westward growth.
Less than SO years later, the Ma
ton had extended it's dominion
across the continent.
VoIve on Pipeline
Livingston, Monroe and JEFF
ferSon had no idea of buying an
empire. Jefferson was only re-
acting to Western clamor to
keep New Orleans open for
American trade.
The Mississippi River was the
commercial pipeline for the
growing settlements west of the
Alleghanies. New Orleans was
the valve at the mouth of the
river.
Until 1795, the Spanish al
ternately turned the valve of
New Orleans off and on, some
times charging exorbitant duties,
now conflscating cargoeS, next
letting those who bribed officials
go through duty free.
In 1900, Napoleon forced Spain
to cede Louisiana back to France.
The American Ambassador to
England, Rufus King, learned of
the secret treaty in February,
1902.
Troubled at the thought of
powerful France replacing Spain
in New Orleans, Jefferson wrote
Livingston in Paris on April 18.
1902:
There is on the globe one
single spot. the posseSsor OF
which is our natural and habit
ual enemy. It is New Orleans,
through which the produce of
three -eights of our territory must
pass to market"
Offered on Empire
Livingston began negotiations
to obtain the island of New Or
leans. On February %, 1903, JET
ferson named Monroe as special
envoy to work with Livingston.
He sailed to France on March 8.
For Monroe in Paris, Livings-
tons patient preparation bore
surprising fruit. They sought
an island; they were offered
what now comprises more than
one-third of the United States.
On April 10, the Emperor
stunned his cabinet by an
nouncing he planned to sell all
Louisiana to America. Napoleon
reasoned that since he could not
defend it in a war with England,
it was better to sell it before
his bitter enemy took it. Be-
sides, he could use the money
for the war.
$l0-Million Limit
Livingston and Monroe were
authorized to go as high as
$40 million for New Orleans.
Nothing had been said about
Louisiana. However, they feared
Napoleon might change his
mind, and it would be weeks
before they could consult with
Jefferson. So they agreed to
pay France SIS million. The
United States was to reimburse
its merchants for earlier losses
to France. The total cost for
the vast area was $23,213,557.73.
When the purchase treaty was
signed on May 2, they asked
Talleyrand, French Foreign Min
lister, where are the bound
arieS?"
He said he didn't know.
A current map OF the Louisi-
ana Purchase, issued by the
General Land Office, shows it
contained the entire State of
Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri.
Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska and
South Dakota, plus portions of
Montana, Texas, Wyoming, Col
orado, New Mexico, North Da-
kota, Minnesota, Louisiana,
Mississippi and Alabama.
Napoleon's unexpected extra
was a key to American progress.