Editing Louisiana (section)

===Purchase by the United States===
{{Main|Louisiana Purchase|Territory of Orleans|Republic of West Florida|Neutral Ground (Louisiana)}}
When the United States won its independence from Great Britain in 1783, one of its major concerns was having a European power on its western boundary, and the need for unrestricted access to the Mississippi River. As American settlers pushed west, they found that the [[Appalachian Mountains]] provided a barrier to shipping goods eastward. The easiest way to ship produce was to use a [[flatboat]] to float it down the [[Ohio River|Ohio]] and Mississippi rivers to the port of New Orleans, where goods could be put on ocean-going vessels. The problem with this route was that the Spanish owned both sides of the Mississippi below [[Natchez, Mississippi|Natchez]].

Napoleon's ambitions in Louisiana involved the creation of a new empire centered on the [[Caribbean]] [[sugar trade]]. By the terms of the [[Treaty of Amiens]] of 1802, Great Britain returned control of the islands of [[Martinique]] and [[Guadeloupe]] to the French. Napoleon looked upon Louisiana as a depot for these sugar islands, and as a buffer to U.S. settlement. In October 1801 he sent a large military force to take back Saint-Domingue, then under control of Toussaint Louverture after the [[Haitian Revolution]]. When the army led by Napoleon's brother-in-law Leclerc was defeated, Napoleon decided to sell Louisiana.<ref>{{cite web|last=Blakemore|first=Erin|title=Why France Sold the Louisiana Purchase to the US|url=https://www.history.com/news/louisiana-purchase-price-french-colonial-slave-rebellion|access-date=2021-06-07|website=HISTORY|date=August 23, 2018 |language=en|archive-date=May 12, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210512093700/https://www.history.com/news/louisiana-purchase-price-french-colonial-slave-rebellion|url-status=live}}</ref>
[[File:Louisiane 1800.png|thumb|Map of Louisiana in 1800]]

[[Thomas Jefferson]], third president of the United States, was disturbed by Napoleon's plans to re-establish French colonies in North America. With the possession of New Orleans, Napoleon could close the Mississippi to U.S. commerce at any time. Jefferson authorized [[Robert Livingston (1746–1813)|Robert R. Livingston]], U.S. minister to France, to negotiate for the purchase of the city of New Orleans, portions of the east bank of the Mississippi,<ref>{{cite web|title=Founders Online: From Thomas Jefferson to Robert R. Livingston, 18 April 1802|url=http://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/01-37-02-0220|url-status=live|access-date=2021-06-07|website=National Archives and Records Administration|language=en|archive-date=May 6, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210506133626/https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/01-37-02-0220}}</ref> and free navigation of the river for U.S. commerce. Livingston was authorized to pay up to $2{{spaces}}million.

An official transfer of Louisiana to French ownership had not yet taken place, and Napoleon's deal with the Spanish was a poorly kept secret on the frontier. On October 18, 1802, however, Juan Ventura Morales, acting intendant of Louisiana, made public the intention of Spain to revoke the right of deposit at New Orleans for all cargo from the United States. The closure of this vital port to the United States caused anger and consternation. Commerce in the west was virtually blockaded. Historians believe the revocation of the right of deposit was prompted by abuses by the Americans, particularly smuggling, and not by French intrigues as was believed at the time. President Jefferson ignored public pressure for war with France, and appointed [[James Monroe]] a special envoy to Napoleon, to assist in obtaining New Orleans for the United States. Jefferson also raised the authorized expenditure to $10{{spaces}}million.<ref name=":5">{{cite web|title=The Louisiana Purchase|url=https://www.monticello.org/thomas-jefferson/louisiana-lewis-clark/the-louisiana-purchase/|access-date=2021-06-07|website=Monticello|language=en|archive-date=March 21, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190321075505/https://www.monticello.org/site/jefferson/louisiana-purchase|url-status=live}}</ref>

However, on April 11, 1803, French foreign minister [[Talleyrand]] surprised Livingston by asking how much the United States was prepared to pay for the entirety of Louisiana, not just New Orleans and the surrounding area (as Livingston's instructions covered). Monroe agreed with Livingston that Napoleon might withdraw this offer at any time (leaving them with no ability to obtain the desired New Orleans area), and that approval from President Jefferson might take months, so Livingston and Monroe decided to open negotiations immediately. By April 30, they closed a deal for the purchase of the entire Louisiana territory of {{convert|828000|sqmi|km2|sigfig=2}} for sixty million [[French franc|Francs]] (approximately $15{{spaces}}million).<ref name=":5" />

Part of this sum, $3.5{{spaces}}million, was used to forgive debts owed by France to the United States.<ref>Peter Kastor, ''The Nation's Crucible: The Louisiana Purchase and the Creation of America'', (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2004) 40</ref> The payment was made in United States [[Government bond|bonds]], which Napoleon sold at face value to the Dutch firm of [[Hope & Co.|Hope and Company]], and the [[Barings Bank|British banking house of Baring]], at a discount of {{frac|87|1|2}} per each $100 unit.<!--recte "percent"?--> As a result, France received only $8,831,250 in cash for Louisiana. English banker [[Alexander Baring, 1st Baron Ashburton|Alexander Baring]] conferred with Marbois in Paris, shuttled to the United States to pick up the bonds, took them to Britain, and returned to France with the money—which Napoleon used to wage war against Baring's own country.
[[File:Flickr - USCapitol - Louisiana Purchase, 1803.jpg|thumb|Louisiana Purchase, 1803]]

When news of the purchase reached the United States, Jefferson was surprised. He had authorized the expenditure of $10{{spaces}}million for a port city, and instead received treaties committing the government to spend $15{{spaces}}million on a land package which would double the size of the country. Jefferson's political opponents in the [[Federalist Party (United States)|Federalist Party]] argued the Louisiana purchase was a worthless desert,<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AsY9Vh9X8ZYC&q=worthless+desert |title=The American pageant: a history of the republic—Thomas A. Bailey, David M. Kennedy—Google Books |access-date=April 23, 2014 |isbn=9780669339055 |last1=Bailey |first1=Thomas A |last2=Kennedy |first2=David M |year=1994 |publisher=D.C. Heath |archive-date=February 20, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210220153248/https://books.google.com/books?id=AsY9Vh9X8ZYC&q=worthless+desert |url-status=live }}</ref> and that the U.S. constitution did not provide for the acquisition of new land or negotiating treaties without the consent of the federal legislature. What really worried the opposition was the new states which would inevitably be carved from the Louisiana territory, strengthening western and southern interests in [[United States Congress|U.S. Congress]], and further reducing the influence of New England Federalists in national affairs. President Jefferson was an enthusiastic supporter of westward expansion, and held firm in his support for the treaty. Despite Federalist objections, the [[United States Senate|U.S. Senate]] ratified the Louisiana treaty on October 20, 1803.

By statute enacted on October 31, 1803, President Thomas Jefferson was authorized to take possession of the territories ceded by France and provide for initial governance.<ref>{{cite web|title=A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation: U.S. Congressional Documents and Debates, 1774–1875|url=http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=llsl&fileName=002/llsl002.db&recNum=282|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220085715/http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=llsl&fileName=002%2Fllsl002.db&recNum=282|archive-date=December 20, 2016|access-date=December 2, 2019|website=Library of Congress}}</ref> A transfer ceremony was held in New Orleans on November 29, 1803. Since the Louisiana territory had never officially been turned over to the French, the Spanish took down their flag, and the French raised theirs. The following day, [[General James Wilkinson]] accepted possession of New Orleans for the United States. The Louisiana Territory, purchased for less than three cents an acre, doubled the size of the United States overnight, without a war or the loss of a single American life, and set a precedent for the purchase of territory. It opened the way for the eventual expansion of the United States across the continent to the Pacific Ocean.

Shortly after the United States took possession, the area was divided into two territories along the [[33rd parallel north]] on March 26, 1804, thereby organizing the [[Territory of Orleans]] to the south and the [[District of Louisiana]] (subsequently formed as the [[Louisiana Territory]]) to the north.<ref>{{cite web|title=A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation: U.S. Congressional Documents and Debates, 1774–1875|url=http://rs6.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=llsl&fileName=002/llsl002.db&recNum=320|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220091706/http://rs6.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=llsl&fileName=002%2Fllsl002.db&recNum=320|archive-date=December 20, 2016|access-date=December 2, 2019|website=Library of Congress}}</ref>