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 |
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
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
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.
252 Ohio
Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
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
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.
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. |
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
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
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
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.
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,
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 |
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
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."
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, |
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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 |