US History Course

Internal Assessment

Topic:

Louisiana Purchase – the effects of the greatest purchase in US history on its economy.

Research question:

In what ways did the Louisiana Purchase affect the American economy?

Piotr Janas

Figure Present-day United States of America with the Louisiana Purchase overlay (in green)

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

SECTION A: PLAN OF THE INVESTIGATION 4

SECTION B: SUMMARY OF EVIDENCE 4-5

SECTION C: EVALUATION OF SOURCES 5-7

SECTION D: ANALYSIS 7-9

SECTION E: CONCLUSION 9

SECTION F: SOURCES 10

SECTION A: PLAN OF THE INVESTIGATION

This investigation will inspect the way in which the Louisiana Purchase of 1803 affected the United States of America economically and why exactly did France sell the vast territory to the Americans for such a meager sum of money. It will examine the political as well as economical background of the Louisiana Purchase in order to be able to understand fully why it did happen.

Section B will outline the events leading up to the purchase itself, focusing on international relations of the USA with other countries and the political situation in Europe. Section C will analyze the accuracy and relevance of two sources, an excerpt from an article on Louisiana Purchase from Smithsonian Magazine, issued on April, 2003 and a fragment of a video documentary on Louisiana Purchase by Jonathan Grupper for History Channel in 2003. Section D will analyze the aforementioned sources as well as other sources in order to answer the research question. In Section E, based on the previous sections I will justify the significance of the Louisiana Purchase to the economy of the United States.

Word count 185

SECTION B: SUMMARY OF EVIDENCE

France’s control over the Louisiana territory

• In 1699, French colony of Louisiana established

• 1718, the capitol of the colony moved to the city of New Orleans

• 1754, French and Indian War begins, the North American theatre of the Seven Years’ War

• 1762, a secret agreement known as the Treaty of Fontainebleau is signed. France cedes the territory of Louisiana to its Spanish ally, avoiding giving up the territory to the English

Spanish control over the territory

• Little control over the territory, administered mainly from Havana

• Cultural and religious influence on New Orleans

• 1795, Pinckney’s Treaty settles the border disputes between USA and Spain. It allows the American settlers to navigate the Mississippi River as well as giving access to the port of New Orleans

• 1800, through the secret Third Treaty of San Ildefonso, Napoleon acquires Louisiana

French-American relations

• 1794, Jay Treaty between the US and Great Britain seen as an affront by the French

• 1797-98, the XYZ Affair leads to an outrage from US political circles

• 1798-99, the Quasi-War between the United States and France

The crisis

• 1802, the US banned from using the port of New Orleans. Calls for war from the Federalist Party and factions in the West of the US territory. Threat of secession of the western territories from the United States

• January, 1803. James Monroe is sent to Paris to join Robert Livingston in negotiations. Monroe is given 10 million dollars for the purchase of New Orleans. President Jefferson dispatches Louis and Clark to the Louisiana Territory with the mission to map it, regardless of who is controlling the area

• April, 1803. Monroe arrives in Paris and quickly learns that Napoleon is interested in selling the whole territory. Due to the unavoidable outbreak of a conflict between Britain and France (the beginning of the Napoleonic Wars), it is decided that the latter cannot afford to maintain such a vast territory. Monroe buys Louisiana Territory for 15 million dollars

• November, 1803. Spain formally transfers Louisiana to France

• December, 1803. France formally transfers Louisiana to the United States

Word count: 340

SECTION C: EVALUATION OF SOURCES

Source 1: “(…)on April 12 (…), Barbé-Marbois discreetly asked Livingston to meet him later that night at the treasury office. There he confirmed Napoléon’s desire to sell the territory for $22,500,000. Livingston replied that he “would be ready to purchase provided the sum was reduced to reasonable limits.” Then he rushed home and worked until 3 a.m. writing a memorandum to Secretary of State Madison, concluding: “We shall do all we can to cheapen the purchase; but my present sentiment is that we shall buy. “On April 15, Monroe and Livingston proposed $8 million. At this, Barbé-Marbois pretended Napoléon had lost interest. But by April 27, he was saying that $15 million was as low as Napoléon would go. Though the Americans then countered with $12.7 million, the deal was struck for $15 million on April 29. The treaty was signed by Barbé-Marbois, Livingston and Monroe on May 2 and backdated to April 30. Although the purchase was undeniably a bargain, the price was still more than the young U.S. treasury could afford. But the resourceful Barbé-Marbois had an answer for that too. (…) Neither Livingston nor Monroe had been authorized to buy all of the territory, or to spend $15 million(…). But an elated Livingston was aware that nearly doubling the size of America would make it a major player on the world scene one day.”

In this fragment from the article on Louisiana Purchase, the author describes the deal itself. The fragment is rather informative and provides insight into the nature of the deal as well as the characters of those who have signed it. The quotations used legitimize the author’s claims. Judging from the article, the French negotiator appears to have been a good and persistent one. The same, however, can be said of Madison and Livingston. We can deduce from the excerpt that both parties were determined to sell the territory. It can then be confirmed by looking at the historical background of the purchase.

Source 2: (narrator):“But for nearly a hundred years it’s considered worthless (…). After the French and Indian War in 1762, France pawns Louisiana off on its ally, Spain, as a token of gratitude. Louis XV of France even offers his apologies for it being such a measly gift. (…) It’s a token, a game piece in European diplomacy. ”

This fragment comes from a documentary on Louisiana Purchase. The problem with the fragment is that it is right in one of the aspects while being wrong in the other. What the documentary is right about Louisiana being a pawn in European diplomatic games and accurately points out that the territory was ceded to Spain a year before the end of the Seven Years’ War, it portrays the gift as a token of gratitude, without mentioning that the French king actually ceded Louisiana so that it would not fall into British hands. Various sources confirm that the British were after the territory and it can be deduced even from this short excerpt. If, as the author rightly claims, the Louisiana territory was “game piece in European diplomacy”, it is only logical that Britain had an interest in it. In my opinion, the topic was not researched thoroughly enough and what is stated here might be misleading for the audience.

Word count: 547

SECTION D: ANALYSIS

The Louisiana Purchase was undoubtedly one of the most important deals in the history of the United States. Doubling the territory of the US and opening the continent for future colonization, the Louisiana Purchase was the beginning of the American expansion and inspired the notion of Manifest Destiny, which was the main driving force behind the struggle to colonize the central part of North America.

The territory of the Louisiana Purchase was about 828,000 square miles, which doubled the size of the nation. The settlers were finally able to freely explore the lands beyond the Appalachians. “The acquisition of Louisiana set the stage for the further growth of a maturing republic.” The dawn of the super power that America is today took place in 1803. The United States’ economic status improved greatly because of the control over the Mississippi river, which was a major trade route, and the port of New Orleans, finally theirs. What is even more important, they have not fought any battles over the control of this vast territory. There was a large influx of immigrants to New Orleans and the city thrived, becoming one of the most important centers of commerce and trade. The enormous land offered an opportunity for farmers to settle on it and use it to the fullest. It was in tune with Thomas Jefferson’s agrarian ideals and his belief that the “cultivators of the earth are the most virtuous and independent citizens.” While not underestimating the industrial part of the economy, agriculture played and still plays a major role in the development of any given country. With the Louisiana Purchase, the amount of the land was unprecedented. Even to this day, the impact the deal had on agriculture of the United States is visible, as seen on figure 1.1.

Figure 1.1 Percent of farmlands in the United States in 1992

Many immediately realized the importance of this deal and the richness of the land that the US has bought. Among them was Allan B. Magruder, to whom we accredit one of the first and most minute accounts of the territory. “He outlines the blueprint for production, not missing the existing natural system of navigable waterways for increasing trade. (…) The fertile soil (…) is ideal for growing sugar, cotton, rice, indigo, coffee, cocoa, and aloes. (…) a natural habitat for (…) producing horses, cattle, (…) lumber, tar and pitch, and lead.” Yet another of the advantages was the monopolizing of the trade with Indians. The current boundaries prevented any other nation from either trying to compete with the States on that terrain or further west on the Pacific Coast. Politically and geographically secured, the US expansion to the Pacific was just a matter of time thanks to this very deal.

Word count: 458

SECTION E: CONCLUSION

The Louisiana Purchase was undoubtedly one of the most important deals in the history of the United States. Doubling the territory of the US and opening the continent for future colonization, the Louisiana Purchase was the beginning of the American expansion and inspired the notion of Manifest Destiny, which was the main driving force behind the struggle to colonize the central part of North America. Rich in terms of natural resources, essential to the growth of commerce and trade as well as being important for strategic reasons, the territory of Louisiana was worth far more than what Americans paid for it.

Word count: 101

SECTION F: SOURCES

Works Cited

1. Foner, E., Garraty, J.A. The Reader’s Companion to American History. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, 1991.

2. Grupper, Jonathan. Documentary on Louisiana Purchase. History Channel, 2003. Accessed on 31^st of May, 2014
   < https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azyanxVg1-c>

3. Harris, Joseph. How the Louisiana Purchase Changed The World. Smithsonian Magazine, April, 2003. Accessed on 31^st of May, 2014
   <http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-the-louisiana-purchase-changed-the-world-79715124/?page=1>

4. Herring, G.C. From Colony to Superpower: U.S. Foreign Relations since 1776. Oxford University Press, 2008.

5. Joy, M.S. American Expansionism 1783-1860. Pearson Education Ltd. 2003.

6. Peterson, M. Thomas Jefferson Writings. New York: Literary Classics of the U.S., 1984.

7. Rodriguez, J.P. The Louisiana Purchase. A Historical and Geographical Encyclopedia. Library of Congress, 2002

8. The Reader’s Digest Association, Inc. Family Encyclopedia of American History. Pleasantville, New York, 1975.