Thomas Jefferson, the 3rd president of the United States of America, announced on July the 4th, 1803 to the American public, that their country had just about doubled in size due to the Louisiana Purchase. Of course the residents, living in that vast swath of land west of the entire Mississippi river did not even know that they were now a part of the United Sates until several months later.
De la Salle, the explorer claimed this immense territory in 1682 for France and named it after King Louis XIV. We are talking about a major chunk of land encompassing the entire Mississippi river, from the Gulf of Mexico to the border of Canada and west to the rocky mountains.
It was later ceded to Spain in 1762, after the French defeat in the French and Indian wars. In 1800, Spain, in accordance with the Treaty of San Ildefonso, gave it back to France, though there were disputes as to when exactly this was finalized, forcing Napoleon to try to half way keep this transfer secret.
Thomas Jefferson, in 1801, upon learning about France reacquiring the Louisiana Territory, sent Robert Livingston to France to start negotiations with the French to purchase New Orleans. In March of 1803 he sent James Monroe to Paris to assist in the bargaining and hopefully close the deal. New Orleans, because of its strategical position practically at the mouth of the Mississippi was judged to be extremely valuable in allowing the transport of goods that were brought up and down the Mississippi by farmers and commercents.
A third player in this scheme, was a Frenchman, Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours, who had fled France to escape the French revolutionaries and settled in New Orleans. He not only had connections with Napoleon, but also with president Jefferson. He was known for informal diplomacy between the two countries. He reportedly came up with the idea that Napoleon, could profit much more by selling the entire territory, rather than just New Orleans.
Although Napoleon Bonaparte, once had grand plans of establishing his presence in North America, he was weakened by the ongoing revolts and yellow fever bouts in the Caribbean, especially in what is now Haiti. Napoleon was also becoming increasingly more concerned about how he was going to finance his impending war with Britain.
By this time the Louisiana territory held little interest to Napoleon. When du Pont presented the idea of selling the entire Louisiana territory, Napoleon thought is was a marvelous idea.
I can only imagine the shock of Livingston , a day before James Monroe arrived in Paris, to be offered so much more land that they ever dreamed of. Jefferson had only given both of them authorization to buy New Orleans and part of Florida for close to 10 million dollars.
When Napoleon offered the whole Louisiana Territory for only 5 more million dollars, it was a deal too good to be passed up. Knowing that it would take two months to obtain approval from Jefferson and fearing that Napoleon might withdraw the offer, Livingston and Monroe signed on April 30, 1803.
When Jefferson finally received news of the treaty, he was worried about going through with the purchase because it might be construed as unconstitutional, as there was nothing written in the constitution about acquiring new lands. He was also worried that his decision to buy might be seen as him taking too much executive power, rather than throwing it to the states to decide.
The newly founded congress was also reluctant, as were the Federalists, who wanted to side with England. Thomas Jefferson nevertheless relentlessly pursued and received the formal treaty on July the 3rd, 1803. On July the 4, 1803 he officially proclaimed that the United States had acquired the Louisiana purchase.
An initial down payment of 3 million dollars worth of gold was given with plans to finance the remaining sums at 6 % interest. All in all, it turned out to be a fantastic deal, with 828 thousand square miles bought, this came out to be around 3 cents an acre!
I admire the courage of Livingston and Monroe to seize this immense opportunity, acting upon their own wisdom and hopes that president Jefferson would approve. Had they waited for his official approval, Napoleon could have very well decided to not go through with the sale, as his diplomat Talleyrand and his brothers opposed him letting go of France’s stake in America.
Jefferson too, is to be applauded for having the foresight to see the potential gains involved for his fledgling country, rather than stick absolutely and concretely to every word of the constitution, which today is fodder of much political discord and controversy. Perhaps Thomas Jefferson, who had been a part of writing the constitution, knew that it was not infallible.
I, as a native Louisianan and proud American am glad that all three of these men changed the course of American history forever. I think that Napoleon was indeed foolish from a French perspective to have given up establishing France’s presence in the Americas. He was to have used part of the money obtained by the sale to build more canals in France, but reportedly used the whole sum to finance his war against Britain.
I often go by the building seen in the photo, where Robert Livingston and James Monroe signed the Louisiana Purchase. It is just north of the Palais Royale, on the Rue du Petits Champs, and now is a part of the Bibliotheque National, where there is a plaque commemorating La Vente de La Louisiane. I never fail to stop for a moment in awe and admiration for this monumental step forward for America.
Though separated by the huge blue Atlantic, there remains a connection between the two countries that has survived despite some recent and not so recent political disputes. Anyone who has traveled to Louisiana knows that our state tries to keep her French heritage, culturally and linguistically, especially in south Louisiana, alive and well.
I have seen French citizens warmly greeted like long-lost cousins in Cajun country. Likewise, I am greeted by the French as coming from a former old colony, as if I am really French in origin. France and Louisiana remain connected on both sides of the pond through efforts of various organisations.
Here in Paris is the Franco Louisiane Organization and then there is an annual Louisiana Cajun Music festival in Burgundy,that I hope to attend this year. Today in Paris, there will be many 4th of July celebrations going on for all the numerous expat Americans.
My fourth of July menu will at least include grilled pork ribs, but with my own tamarin barbecue sauce rather than those sickly sweet bottled ones. The rest will be rather French, rounded out by a tarte aux abricots, perhaps in memory of my Louisiana grandmother’s southern fried apricot pies.
So, Happy Birthday America and Happy Louisiana Purchase Day Celebrations, wherever you are my kind friends. Having just returned from a wonderful time spent on both sides of the Adriatic sea, I am doing good to just getting this post out in time. Long live America and Vive La France!
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Would you share the tamarin BBQ sauce recipe? I’ll trade you a Southern Comfort Coconut Bread Pudding for it.
Thank you Louis for your interest in my recipe. I can not give you a precise recipe, as I never use recipes per see for such things as BBQ sauce, which depends entirely on individual tastes, and this is my own concoction.
The components are soy sauce, shallots, garlic,a small chopped piment, Worcestershire sauce, puree of tamarin and a smidgen of tomato paste and pomegranate molasses. For two persons, I used approximately a quarter cup or so of soy sauce, 2 bulbs chopped garlic, 1 chopped shallot, one small hot pepper chopped, approximately 1 teaspoon to a tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce, third to a half a cup of tamarin puree, a teaspoon of tomato paste, and teaspoon or so of pomegranate molasses.
I buy the tamarin in a pressed like cake with the seeds in any asian store. It is the sour tamarin, not the sweet kind. Pinching off a good half of the cake, I put it in a small saucepan with hot water and cook over low heat in order to thin it out and of course remove the shiny brown seeds. You can then press the tamarin through a sieve or not. To bring some sort of sweetening, but now to overpower, I find the pomegranate molasses marvelous, as it is in itself has a sweet sour taste to begin with. The pomegranate molasses, you can buy in Turkish or Lebanese stores, and I find it useful for all sort of sauces. A little freshly ground black pepper to it too.
The end result depends on your tastes, so this is just a guideline. I am sure everyone can tweak it with other ingredients.
Would love to hear about your Southern Comfort pudding. Is Southern Comfort easy to find in London? Frankly have never looked in Paris.