Ohio History Journal

THE LOUISIANA PURCHASE.   E. 0. RANDALL. In that striking and stirring century known as the sixteenth, began the voyages of discovery and the expeditions for occupancy,

by the Anglo Saxon and the Gaul, of the North American continent. The French were led by Jacques Cartier, who in 1534 entered the Gulf of St. Lawrence.   Other chivalrous and adventurous Frenchmen followed with various experiences, until 1608, when Sam- uel Champlain encamped upon the Heights of Quebec, and estab- lished a colony on that famous Canadian site. With equal energy and dar- ing the Englishman, the inveter- ate rival of the Frenchman, was slowly but surely getting a firm

foothold on the American shore. In the year 1498, more than a third of a century before Cartier's little vessel plowed her way up the St. Lawrence, and before Columbus had made his last voy- age, the Cabots, John and Sebastian, father and son, coasted along the continent of North America and claimed it by dis- covery. In 1607 the Jamestown (Virginia) colony became the first permanent English settlement in America. In 1666 Rob- ert Cavalier Sieur de La Salle sailed up the St. Lawrence, trav- ersed the Great Lakes, and in 1682 descended the Mississippi to its mouth and gave the name Louisiana, in honor of his sav- creign Louis XIV., to the vast region comprising the basin of the great "Father of Waters," and took possession of a great undefined territory in the name of France.  Meanwhile the 248

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The Louisiana Purchase.              249

 

British settlers were establishing New England colonies along

the Atlantic coast. The charters and patents of these English

colonies granted by the English sovereigns gave the colonists not

only the land bordering on the Atlantic coast, but also its ex-

tension west as far as the land might reach. Both France and

England therefore claimed much of the same territory, the great

triangle formed by the Mississippi river on the west, the Atlantic

coast on the east, the Great Lakes on the north, and the Gulf

of Mexico on the south. The contest between the two racial

rivals culminated in the dramatic battle on the Heights of Abra-

ham in 1759, when the invincible English forces under Wolfe

overcame the intrepid French army under Montcalm, both lead-

ers bravely sacrificing their lives in the bloody encounter.

As a result of the English victory, by the treaty of Paris

(1763), France yielded all her possessions on the American con-

tinent. She ceded to England, Canada and all her claimed do-

monion east of the Mississippi and south of the Great Lakes, but at

the same time transferred to Spain, for her friendly alliance and

other considerations, the country west of the Mississippi, includ-

ing the portion at its mouth known as New Orleans. The French

settlement of New Orleans was founded in 1718 by Bienville

(Jean Baptiste La Moyne). It became the French metropolis of

the south as Quebec was of the north. The Spaniards were slow

in taking possession of their new American acquisition, leaving

the French administration undisturbed for more than five years.

Not until 1768, while the French colonists were still objecting to

their transfer from France to Spain, did the Spanish governor

appear. This gentleman was Antonio D'Ulloa, who was suc-

ceeded by Count Alexander O'Reilly, Don Louis Unzaga, Ber-

nado de Galvez, Estevan de Miro, Baron de Carondelet, Manuel

Gayoso de Lemos, Marquis de Casa Calvo, and Don Juan de

Salcedo. These governors were a picturesque, gay, rollicking,

and more or less efficient and sometimes oppressive set of rulers,

who failed however to reconcile the French inhabitants to Span-

ish allegiance. Under their administrations a numerous con-

tingent of Spanish emigrants settled in the territory of Louisiana,

more particularly in the city of New Orleans.

France never ceased to regret that she had parted with her

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250      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

 

Louisiana possessions, and several times her government contem

plated plans peaceable or otherwise for its recovery. Thus matters

stood until "the sublime rogue," Napoleon, emerged from the

upheaval of the French Revolution. The victory at Marengo

(June, 1800) of the invincible Corsican, then posing as First

Consul, aroused his ambition for illimitable territory. He cov-

eted not only power in the Orient, but looked longingly to the

Spanish possessions in America. In his rapid European con-

quests Spain became hopelessly dependent upon France, the

Spanish king falling into impotent subserviency to Napoleon.

Within six weeks after his Marengo victory, Bonaparte set his

agents at Madrid busy with the idea of bringing about the retro-

cession of Louisiana to France. A glorious New France was to

be built up beyond the sea, and for three years the First Consul

pursued the scheme with ardor. Berthier, the instrument of

Bonaparte, became Minister at Madrid, and under his direction

the form of a treaty (August, 1800) grew definite. France was

to have Louisiana and also the two Floridas, while the considera-

tion to Spain was to be a kingdom of at least a million people

made up of French conquests in the north of Italy, over which

was to be set the Duke of Parma, husband of the Infanta, daugh-

ter of Charles IV., nominal king of Spain. This treaty, nego-

tiated by Berthier, dated October 1, 1800, Mr. John Adams pro-

nounced one of the most interesting documents in the history of

the United States, for it is the source of our subsequent title to

Louisiana; indeed all sequential arrangements were but modifica-

tions of that treaty. Charles IV. refused the surrender of the

two Floridas, but was persuaded to yield Louisiana because Na-

poleon demanded it, and he (Carlos) would receive in return a

royal province (Tuscany) for his daughter and son-in-law. It

was a good real estate trade. Early in 1800 Lucien Bonaparte,

brother of Napoleon, succeeded Berthier as the French manager

of affairs at Madrid. Lucien Banaparte proceeded (March 21,

1801) without delay to negotiate at San Ildefonso, the then res-

idence of the Spanish court, a new treaty which did little more

than define and confirm that of the preceding October. In re-

turn for the elevation of the Duke of Parma to the sovereignty

of Tuscany the retrocession of Louisiana to France was to be

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The Louisiana Purchase.              251

 

at once consummated. The king of Spain, however, at the last

moment balked and refused to sign the treaty, and it could not

be fully effective without his signature. In the fall of 1801 came

peace between France and England, and the First Consul was

free, as he had not been before, to pursue his great schemes for

internal improvements, and colonial accessions. Napoleon, with

characteristic impatience and exercise of powers of appropria-

tion, wrote (July, 1802) to his Minister of Marine, Decres, "My

intention is to take possession of Louisiana in the shortest time

possible." He then summarily proceeded to organize an expe-

dition for the forcible occupation of Louisiana. There was as-

sembled at Dunkirk a sufficient army of infantry and artillery

which was to be sent in transports to the mouth of the Missis-

sippi and take things. To the command of this expedition Bona-

parte at first named Bernadotte, but the storm of a European war

suddenly threatened and gave Napoleon pause.    Bernadotte

would be needed at home, and General Claude Perrin Victor was

placed in command of the American squadron. But before the

fleet could get under way, King Carlos yielded, and signed the

treaty of retrocession upon the conditions: first, that the new

kingdom of Etruria, as the Italian appanage of the Infanta and

her husband was to be called, must be distinctly recognized by

Austria, England, and the dethroned Duke (Ferdinand) of Tus-

cany, whose lost territory was incorporated in the new domain;

second, France must pledge herself not to alienate Louisiana, and

to restore it to Spain in case his son-in-law, the king of Etruria

to be, should lose his power. Carlos proposed to have the bar-

gain fixed to stick.

At this point the United States began to take a hand in the

transaction. John Adams, who as the head of the Federalists,

leaned strongly toward England, and nearly involved the United

States in a war with the French Directory, was succeeded in the

presidency March 4, 1801, by Thomas Jefferson, the Anti-feder-

alist. The new president entertained a favorable disposition not

only toward France but also toward her ally Spain. As the situ-

ation in Europe over the proposed retrocession of Louisiana be-

came known to the Americans, it became a question of great

national interest and importance. It assumed a political issue.

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New Orleans was the commercial gate and outlet of the Missis-

sippi, which was the natural highway of traffic for hundreds of

miles into the interior of the great West. The right to traverse

unimpeded that water-course, unload and deposit goods at New

Orleans, and there sell and re-ship to the other ports, was a mat-

ter of vital importance to the people of the young American Re-

public. Under Spanish rule this right had been granted only

under severe restrictions of custom duties.  Efforts had been

made to secure by treaty with Spain greater privileges of naviga-

tion of the river and re-shipment at New Orleans. The duties

had been excessive till 1795, when a treaty was secured "to make

use of the port of New Orleans as a place of deposit for their

(American) produce and merchandise and to export the same

free from all duty or charge except for storage and incidental

expenses."  The transfer of Louisiana and New Orleans to

France imperilled this prized and priceless privilege. American

western commerce would be at the mercy of France, the stability

of whose government was uncertain, and with which nation the

relations of the United States would be problematical. Pending

the negotiations between Spain and France, the Spanish civil

officer at New Orleans (1802) abrogated the "right of deposit,"

closing absolutely the Mississippi to the United States.  The

people of the West and South were hostile to the Spanish occu-

pation of Louisiana. It ought to be American territory. Its sale

now to France by Spain heightened this anti-foreign feeling. It

would only confirm its alienation to non-American possessors.

France could, and probably would, control the situation with a

despotic hand. The people of the West and South, being those

most closely and materially interested, opposed the transfer to

France, and excitement ran so high that it was suggested an

armed organization of western Americans proceed to New Or-

leans and attempt its seizure at the first sign of the French ad-

vance. The people of the East and North, being farther removed

from the section affected, and having the Atlantic seaboard as a

maritime outlet, were less agitated over the situation. But a

war with France was not improbable.   Jefferson was in hot

water. He decided to solve the difficulty by buying New Orleans

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The Louisiana Purchase.                 253

 

and Florida.* Jefferson appointed James Monroe an envoy extraor-

dinary to France to negotiate jointly with Livingston, for the ces-

sion of New Orleans and Florida to the United States. He was

authorized to expend, if need be, a sum of $2,000,000 for the pur-

pose. If no purchase could be effected, then Monroe was at least

to secure the old "right of deposit" at New Orleans. Monroe

sailed March 8, 1803. Pierre Clement Laussat, the colonial pre-

fect, had meantime been placed by Napoleon in charge of the

French fleet to be sent to America to take possession of New

Orleans as the practical capital of Louisiana. Napoleon feared,

with good cause, that England, knowing the situation, would

despatch vessels to New Orleans and secure possession before the

French fleet could arrive. When Monroe reached Paris he found

Napoleon in hot water. His dream of a colossal and colonial em-

pire was growing dim. His Egyptian campaign had failed. His

San Domingo campaign was a frightful nightmare. The Eu-

ropean powers were gathering for a combine against him. Eng-

land was preparing for the great struggle. Napoleon needed

money and needed it bad. He caught at the idea of selling

Louisiana. It would replenish his coffers and strengthen the

United States as against England his most dreaded foe. Rob-

ert Livingston was the American Minister to France. He had

seen the advantage of this purchase and advocated it to Jefferson

and to Bonaparte.

* Florida discovered in 1512 by Ponce de Leon and claimed for

Spain. The domain of Florida under Spanish occupancy extended in

definitely westward and included the southern extremity of Louisiana.

Early in the 18th century the English in the Carolinas and Georgia

made war on the Floridans. By the treaty of Paris (1763) Florida

was ceded by Spain to England in exchange for Cuba which had been

conquered by England in 1762. The English divided Florida into East

and West Florida, the Appalachicola River being the boundary line. By

the treaty resulting from the American Revolution (1783), Florida was

retroceded to Spain, and the western boundary fixed at the Perdido

River. When in 1803 Louisiana was ceded to the United States by

France, its domain was regarded as that which it had been in the hands

of Spain when ceded by that country to France. The United States

therefore claimed the country west of the Perdido River and in 1811

took possession of the same. Finally Florida (east of the Perdido) was

purchased from Spain in 1819 and American possession was taken in 1821.

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254    Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.   Napoleon, rather than trust the wily Talleyrand in the mat- ter, made the Marquis de Barbe-Marbois, minister of the Treas- ury, his agent in the negotia-

tions. Barbe-Marbois had been consul general to the United States and his wife was an American. Napoleon grew more and more anxious to sell as war between France and England became more immi- nent. He proposed to destroy England's chance of further ac- quisition in America. He said to his ministers that, "to free the world from the commercial tyranny of England it is neces- sary to oppose to her a maritime power which will one day be-

come her rival. It must be the United States. The English as- pire to dispose of all the riches of the world. I shall be useful to the entire universe if I can prevent them from dominating Amer- ica as they dominate Asia. * * * * The English shall not have the Mississippi, which they covet. Louisiana is nothing in comparison with their aggrandizement in all parts of the globe; but the jealousy they feel because of its return under the domin- ion of France warns me that they intend to seize it, and it is thus they will begin the war. They have already twenty vessels in the Gulf of Mexico. The conquest of Louisiana will be easy if they will only take the trouble to descend upon it. I have not a moment to lose in putting it out of their power. I do not know but what they are already there. That is their usual way of doing things: and as for me, if I were in their place, I certainly would not have waited. I wish to take away from them even the idea that they will ever be able to own this colony. I contem- plate turning it over to the United States. I should hardly be able to say I had ceded it to them, for we are not yet in possession of it. But even a short delay may leave me nothing but a vain title to transmit to these Republicans, whose friendship I seek.

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The Louisiana Purchase.              255

 

They are asking me for but a single city of Louisiana (New Or-

leans) but I already regard the whole colony as lost, and it seems

to me that in the hands of this rising power it will be more use-

ful to the politics and even to the commerce of France than if I

attempt to keep it."

On April 12, (1803) Monroe reached Paris and joined Liv-

ingston. Conferences between the American envoys and the

French authorities were fraught with difficulties.  Jefferson's

representatives were uncertain of their powers. The negotiators

for Napoleon were hampered by his vacillating dictation and his

frequent change in the price demanded, first asking 50,000,000

francs and then rising to one hundred million. The compact of

sale was finally signed April 30, 1803, by the agents of the two

nations: Robert R. Livingston and James Monroe for the United

States and Barbe-Marbois for France. Said Marbois:    "As

soon as they had signed they rose, shook hands, and Livingston,

expressing the satisfaction of all, said: 'The treaty we have

signed has not been brought about by finesse nor dictated by

force. Equally advantageous to both the contracting parties, it

will change vast solitudes into a flourishing country. To-day the

United States take their place among the powers of the first rank.

Moreover, if wars are inevitable, France will have in the new

world a friend increasing year by year in power, which can not

fail to become puissant and respected on all the seas of the earth.

These treaties will become a guarantee of peace and good-will

between commercial states. The instrument we have signed will

cause no tears to flow. It will prepare centuries of happiness for

innumerable generations of the human race. The Mississippi

and the Missouri will see them prosper and increase in the midst

of equality, under just laws, freed from the errors of supersti-

tion, from the scourges of bad government, and truly worthy

of the regard and the care of Providence.'"

Napoleon, when he signed the treaties declared that this ac-

cession of territory which he had bestowed "assures forever the

power of the United States, and I have given England a rival

who, sooner or later, will humble her pride." It was an anoma-

lous proceeding by both parties. In this transaction Napoleon

conducted himself with his characteristic high-handed, lawless

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256       Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

 

and autocratic manner. He acted independent of his advisors,

of his Parliament, the wishes of his people, with whom the sale

was unpopular, and in defiance of the conditions under which he

had bought it from Spain, viz., that it be not parted with by

France without consent of Spain. On the other hand Livingston

and Monroe were only authorized to buy the island of New Or-

leans, and expend therefor two million dollars. So that the peo-

ple of the United States had obtained to their surprise a territo-

rial acquisition which they had not asked and indeed which they

were in doubt about desiring. When the extent of the purchase

was known Jefferson was greatly embarrassed and the citizens

of the country were not a little amazed. Both president Jefferson

and secretary of state Madison "were dazed at the audacity of

their agents, the immensity of the sum paid and the enormous

magnitude of the whole transaction." Mr. Jefferson at first de-

clared he would not approve the treaty, because, if he did, he

would make "waste paper of the constitution." He had long

been teaching that "the strict construction of the constitution per-

mitted nothing to be done under it except what was expressly au-

thorized. There was hence no authority in express terms for the

nation to grow in size, to enlarge its boundaries, to add new terri-

tories. Ohio had been admitted into the Union that very year (1803)

with his approval, but this was carved out of an acquisition gained

by another peaceful or peace treaty-with England-made before

the constitution became operative. The supreme organic law, ac-

cording to this literal expounder, hindered growth, development,

progress, expansion." But while the president was halting over

constitutional questions, Napoleon was catching his breath,

through a lull in the war business, and beginning to repent of his

disposal of Louisiana. He began searching for technical loop-

holes in the contract of sale whereby he might rescind his agree-

ment. He even instructed Marbois to find a pretext for re-

pudiating what he concluded was a bad bargain for France.

Livingston becoming alarmed at the situation urged Jefferson to

clinch the matter before too late. The president was persuaded

that constitutional quibbles must be ignored, and on October 17

(1803) called a special session of congress, and two days later the

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The Louisiana Purchase.                 257

 

Senate ratified the treaty of purchase. The bargain was closed.

Louisiana was ours. The price paid was eighty million francs,

or something over fifteen million dollars. But of this amount,

the United States in its payment to France was to deduct twenty

million francs and in lieu thereof pay that sum to the American

citizens in settlement of the spoliation claims which they had

against France.* Congress proceeded to provide for a provisional

government for the newly acquired territory, and also for ways

and means to raise the money to pay the purchase price.

In all this while in these various sales and barters, as Mr.

Hosmer notes, no human being possessed any definite idea of the

extent or the boundaries of the territory called Louisiana. In the

last transfer between Jefferson and Napoleon, the indefiniteness

was as great as ever. In the language of the treaty the cession

was to be of the "province of Louisiana with the same extent it

now has in the hands of Spain, and that it had when France

possessed it." On the north Louisiana was understood to go to

the sources of the Mississippi, but those were not then ascer-

tained; on the northwest to the mountains, which no explorer

had yet been known to traverse. The southern boundary was cer-

tainly the Gulf-that was, perhaps, the only thing fixed in all

the province save the Mississippi, which in its upper course fixed

the limit on the east; but on the southeast the uncertainty also

prevailed for this pertained to the territory known as the Floridas.

"The territory, however, when made definite was discovered to

be in extent more than seven times that of Great Britain and

Ireland; more than four times that of the German empire, or

of the Austrian empire, or of France; more than three times that

of Spain and Portugal; more than seven times that of Italy;

nearly ten times that of Turkey and Greece. It is also larger than

* By amount of claim on Government of France, admitted by said

Government as due to citizens of the United States, and which, pursuant

to the provisions of the Louisiana Convention of April 30th, 1803, were

payable by bills drawn by said minister (John Armstrong) on the treas-

ury of the United States, including sundry embargo cases, as per list

certified by the minister of the French treasury, etc., 19,609,839.63 francs,

at rate of five and one-third francs to the dollar, or $3,692,055.69.

American State Papers vol. 8, Finance vol. II, page 561.

17 Vol. XIII

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258       Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

Great Britain, Germany, France, Spain, Portugal, and Italy com-

bined."*

The close of the year 1803 witnessed the dramatic scenes that

sealed the series of events in the negotiations. The stage of this

final act was the cosmopolitan city of New Orleans, the Spanish,

French, and American officials vieing with each other to render

brilliant and impressive the parts played by their respective na-

tions. The news of the proceedings at Paris, in those days, was slow

in reaching the people of the United States, and especially those

most interested at the distant port of New Orleans. Pierre Cle-

ment Laussat had arrived (September, 1803) in the capital city

of the Louisiana district to make the announcement to its people

of the re-purchase by France from Spain of the Louisiana coun-

try, and upon him devolved the delicate mission of announcing to

the Spaniards living in that colony that they had now become the

subjects of the French republic, at whose head was the daring

first consul. But as General Victor was alone authorized by

Napoleon to receive the colony from the Spanish government, the

colonial prefect, Laussat, found his office informal and chiefly

ornamental. The news of the re-annexation of New Orleans and

its province to France was welcomed by the French of the city

with the wildest excitement and rejoicing. Five weeks after

Laussat's arrival Marquis De Cassa Calvo landed in the city,

sent by the Captain General of Cuba to act with the Spanish

Governor Salcedo in transferring the province from Spain to

France. A season of great festivity ensued in which the courtly

Spanish grandees and the chivalric French officers competed for

the splendor of ceremony and the extravagant expression of

*Jefferson, in order to learn what really had come into possession

of the United States through his treaty, arranged for an exploration,

choosing for the leaders Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, the latter

the younger brother of the famous George Rogers Clark. These two

daring explorers proved to be ideal pathfinders. They had been army

officers of military experience under General Anthony Wayne. Lewis, a

kinsman of the President, had been for a time his private secretary. They

set out from St. Louis in May, 1804, with a company of some fifty men,

made their way by the Missouri and its tributaries to the RockyMount-

ains, and thence followed the Columbia from its head springs to the

Pacific, reaching the latter point November 15, 1805.

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The Louisiana Purchase.              259

 

mutual good will. General Victor was expected any day, when

the transfer of the gay city from the allegiance of Spain to France

was to be consummated. Suddenly, and to the consternation of

both parties, there came by the arrival of a vessel from Bordeau

the news that the province had been sold by France to the United

States.

It was a strange and unexpected shifting of the scene. In-

stead of the arrival of Victor came the instruction from Napo-

leon to Laussat for the latter to act as the commissioner to re-

ceive the colony from Spain and then pass it over to the United

States authorities. On November 30th came the ceremony of the

cession by Spain to France. Eye witnesses recorded that it was

an elaborate, but rather heavy, ceremony. The day was gloomy

and wet, the Spaniards were depressed and the French dismayed.

The formality took place in the square of the Place D'Armes and

the council chamber and balcony of the Cabildo-an imposing

building erected some years before and at that time the most

stately, if not the most spacious, in the United States, the meet-

ing place of the municipal council of New Orleans. On that

day the Spanish Alcalde and his suite yielded the colonial and

municipal authority to the French Mayor and his council. The

yellow flag of Spain was lowered from the flag staff in the Place

D'Armes and the Tricolor-the red, white and blue-of the

French republic hoisted in its stead. The Spanish officials with-

drew with all the stately circumstance that they could assume.

Seventeen days later the American commissioners, with their es-

cort of troops arrived and encamped two miles outside the city

walls. Three days afterwards, on December 20, the second great

ceremony took place, in which was consummated the transfer of

the city and the territory it represented, from France to the

United States. It is recorded that it was a day radiant with

natural beauty and sunshine, in strange contrast to the rain and

gloom of weather which prevailed when the previous transfer

from Spain to France had occurred. At nine o'clock the Amer-

ican militia marched with flying banners and beating drums into

the Place D'Armes, General James Wilkinson, commander-in-

chief of the army of the United States, and Governor C. C. Clai-

borne, Governor of Mississippi, the American commissioners,

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260      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.   mounted upon prancing chargers headed the column of Ameri- can soldiers comprising a detachment of dragoons in red uniform with contingents of artillery, infantry and carabineer.  The Americans drew up in parade form opposite the French troops, who had likewise assembled in the open square. The authorized officials with the city dignitaries, ecclesiastics and distinguished civilians then ascended the broad stairway of the Cabildo to the council chamber. Laussat placed himself in the elevated chair of honor, Governor Claiborne and General Wilkinson seating them-

selves respectively on his right and left. The legal formalities of the previous three weeks were then repeated; Laussat delivered the keys of the city to Claiborne who was to be the first territorial Governor of Louisiana, and Laussat publicly absolved the French inhabitants from their oath so recently taken of allegiance to France and announced their transfer from citizenship in the French republic to citizen- ship in the American republic. Secretaries read the treaty of cession in both English and French; Laussat read his creden- tials from the first consul; Claiborne then read Jefferson's com- mand to him to receive the province; the commissioners then

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The Louisiana Purchase.              261

 

arose and passed out upon the elevated balcony of the Cabildo,

which overlooked the open square, upon which was now formed

the international tableau of the French, Spanish and American

soldiers, and the crowds of citizens of the three nations. A bi-

zarre setting to the brilliant scene was created by the interming-

ling crowds of black slaves and the groups of native American In-

dians, the latter arrayed in all the plumage of their ceremonial at-

tire. At a given signal the French Tricolor, which had so re-

cently been raised, was slowly lowered from the flag staff, and in

its place was raised the Red, White and Blue, this time in the

form of the Stars and Stripes-the symbol of the American re-

public. This imposing and important incident was emphasized

by the instant firing of every gun in the city, in the fort, the bat-

tery and from the ships afloat in the port; the bands played the

American airs, the multitudes shouted and from the balconies and

windows of the great square hall and handkerchiefs were waved

in applause. This scene however had its pathetic coloring, as

writes one witness: "A French officer received the Tricolor in

his arms as it came to the ground, and wrapping it about his

body strode away with it to the barracks; the crowd fell in be-

hind as at a funeral; the American soldiers presented arms as they

passed, and the men in the street uncovered and with great so-

lemnity it was carried to the government house and left in the

hands of Laussat." Governor Claiborne then delivered his in-

augural, in which he promised the people of Louisiana that they

should never be transferred again. Such a pledge, if believed,

must have been, indeed, a balm to their wearied feelings, for their

country, if such it may have been called, had, in its history, been

transferred, counting its bestowal by Louis XIV. on private own-

ers and the swapping back and forth between Spain and France

and now America, no less than six times.

The momentous event was at an end. The stupendous terri-

tory called Louisiana, embracing an area of 1,200,000 square

miles or nearly two-fifths of the total area of the United States

passed forever into the possession of the American people. It

included all, or nearly all, of Louisiana, Arkansas, Indian and

Oklahoma Territories, Missouri, Kansas, Iowa, Nebraska, Min-

nesota, North and South Dakota, Montana, part of Colorado, and

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262       Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

 

all of Wyoming, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington, in all sev-

enteen states and territories.

"If the Louisiana purchase," says Mr. Sloane, the historian,

"revolutionized our national outlook, our constitutional attitude,

and our sectional control, it has quite as radically changed our

national texture. From that hour to this we have called to the

masses of Europe for help to develop the wilderness, and they

have come by millions, until now the men and women of Revolu-

tionary stock probably number less than 15,000,000 in the entire

country. These later Americans have, like the migrations of the

Norsemen in central and southern Europe, proved so conservative

in their Americanism that they outrun their predecessors in loyalty

to its essentials. They made the Union as it now is, in a very

high sense, and there is no question that in the throes of civil war

it was their blood which flowed at least as freely as ours in de-

fense of it. It is they who have kept us from developing on

colonial lines and have made us a nation separate and apart.

This it is which has prevented the powerful influence of Great

Britain from inundating us, while simultaneously two English-

speaking peoples have reacted one upon the other in their radical

differences to keep aflame the zeal for exploration, beneficent

occupation, and general exploitation of the globe in the interests

of a high civilization. The localities of the Union have been

stimulated into such activities that manufactures and agriculture

have run a mighty race: commerce alone lags, and no wonder,

for Louisiana gave us a land world of our own, a home market

more valuable than both the Indies or the continental mass of the

East."

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