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conversation with Joseph Bonaparte, who had asked whether the United States would not prefer Louisiana to the Floridas. Livingston replied that there was no comparison in value, that his government had no desire to extend its boundary across the Mississippi, but sought only security. The fact that Joseph Bonaparte, rather than Talleyrand, addressed Livingston is deeply significant. It is not reasonable to suppose that Joseph would have introduced the subject without authority. It would appear, then, that Napoleon had made up his mind to sell Louisiana and that Joseph had been designated to ascertain the attitude of the United States."

Napoleon's plan to part with Louisiana was thus frustrated for the time being by the flat refusal of the American minister. The First Consul had only one alternative, namely, to continue to reinforce the army of San Domingo and prepare for Victor's occupation of Louisiana. Instructions for that general were prepared; in regard to boundaries they read:

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The extent of Louisiana . . is well determined at the south by the Gulf of Mexico. But bounded on the west by the river called Rio Bravo, from its mouth to the thirtieth degree, its line of demarcation has not been traced beyond the latter point and it appears that no convention has ever been held concerning this part of the frontier.

7 Livingston to Jefferson, October 28, 1802, State Papers, Foreign Relations, II, 525-526. Further proof of the date may be gathered from Lucien Bonaparte et ses mémoires, (Th. Iung, ed.) II, 121-192, the authority on which Henry Adams based his narrative. The date is not given in the body of the memoir, but Iung, who was a very careful editor, dated the interview in 1802. The order of events before and after the interview corresponds with Bourrienne, Memoirs of Napoleon. There is also internal evidence. In the interview Napoleon referred to his brother-in-law, Leclerc, as a "bon diable." Leclerc died in the autumn of 1802, and Napoleon would hardly have referred to his relative in that manner after his demise. The return of Pauline is also given much later in the narrative. Hosmer (The History of the Louisiana Purchase, 74) has made much of the fact that the actor, Talma, who was mentioned in the memoir, played Hamlet at the Theatre Français in April, 1803. This argument has no weight, as the name of the play is not given in the text; Talma was a regular actor at the theatre, and a reference to the files of the Moniteur shows that the plays were frequently changed. For further proof, see Barbé-Marbois, The History of Louisiana, 261–264.

Victor's Instructions

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The contents of these instructions were also made known to Laussat, the French prefect of Louisiana.

It has been argued that Victor's instructions settled the question of the true boundary of Louisiana," but such does not seem to be the case. The instructions show that Napoleon did not take the trouble to fortify himself by consulting the principal French geographers. The De Lisle map of 1707 traced the western boundary to 38° 30'. Le Page du Pratz printed a map in 1758 on which the western boundary was defined, according to French claims, to 41°. Moreover, the fact that an arbitrary order was given could not be considered of weight in determining the ownership of territory which had belonged to Spain by right of settlement for nearly a century.10

In spite of the instructions, the Louisiana expedition did not sail. The death of Leclerc, the incompetency of his successor, and the increasing danger of war with England, appear to have been the main factors in preventing the departure of the troops.1

11

At this time Robert R. Livingston was the American minister at Paris. He was instructed by Madison in September, 1801, to obtain definite information concerning the cession of Louisiana to France, and to try to obtain the Floridas, if they were included in the cession. Livingston, however, was unable to obtain definite information. His letters were frequently contradictory and show that his diplomacy in no wise affected the policy of France. On September 1, 1802, Livingston informed Madison that on the previous day he had made several propositions to Talleyrand with a view of obtaining the Floridas and New Orleans. Talley

8 Decrés to Victor, November 26, 1802, Robertson, Louisiana under Spain, France and the United States, I, 361–362; Decrés to Laussat, December 7, 1802, ibid., I, 375–376.

9 Henry Adams, History of the United States, II, 4-7.

10 For De Lisle's map see French, Historical Collections of Louisiana, II, frontis. The Du Pratz map is printed in his Histoire de la Louisiane, I, op. p. 138.

11 Livingston to Madison, December 20, 1802, State Papers, Foreign Relations, II, 528; Le Moniteur, 17 nivôse, an. 11, no. 107, p. 429; Henry Adams, History of the United States, II, 15-19; Fournier, Napoleon I, I, 313-319; Rose, The Life of Napoleon I, I, 335–337.

rand told him frankly that every offer was premature, as the French government was determined to take possession of the ceded territory before anything else was done. Nothing definite occurred again until October 28, when Joseph Bonaparte sounded Livingston on the subject of the United States acquiring Louisiana instead of the Floridas.12

Events were occurring in America at this time which caused Jefferson to send James Monroe on a special mission to France. In 1795 Spain and the United States had entered into a treaty which defined the boundaries between their territories, guaranteed the free navigation of the Mississippi to American citizens, and gave them the right to deposit merchandise at New Orleans for a period of three years, with the privilege of exporting the goods without paying duty, a privilege which was to continue unless the King of Spain found it prejudicial to his interests. For seven years Americans enjoyed the right of entrepôt without interruption, but in October, 1802, Morales, the Spanish intendant, arbitrarily closed the port. The news of the closing of the Mississippi created a great sensation in the United States. In Kentucky and Tennessee there was talk of war, and the New England Federalists, ascribing the action of the Spanish intendant to the French, clamored for war with France. On January 7, 1803, the House of Representatives passed a resolution expressing its determination to maintain the former rights of navigation on the Mississippi. The uncertainty of affairs in France, the closing of the port of New Orleans, and the desire to silence the war party determined Jefferson to send a special envoy. Monroe sailed on March 9, 1803, arriving in Paris on April 12.13

12 The correspondence covering the first year of Livingston's mission is printed in State Papers, Foreign Relations, II, 510-526.

13 Treaties, Conventions (Malloy, ed.), II, 1640-1649; Lyman, The Diplomacy of the United States, 328-329; Chadwick, The Relations of the United States and Spain, Diplomacy, 51; Henry Adams, History of the United States, I, 421-422; Annals of Cong., 7 Cong., 1 Sess., 339-343; Monroe, Writings, VII, 298-300; ibid., IV, 8; ibid., VII, 303.

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Before Monroe's arrival, Napoleon had definitely settled upon disposing of Louisiana. Barbé-Marbois, to whom the final negotiation was intrusted, says:

Bonaparte . . . well knew that colonies could not be defended without naval forces; but so great a revolution in the plan of his foreign policy was not suddenly made. It may even be perceived, from the correspondence of the Minister of foreign affairs at this period, how gradually and in what manner the change was effected. M. Talleyrand renewed, after a long silence, his communications with Mr. Livingston. Bonaparte had only a very reduced navy to oppose to the most formidable power that has ever had the dominion of the ocean. Louisiana was at the mercy of the English, who had a naval armament in the neighboring seas, and good garrisons in Jamaica and the Windward Islands. It might be supposed that they would open the campaign by this easy conquest... He concluded. . . that it was requisite to change without delay his policy in relation of St. Domingo, Louisiana, and the United States. He could not tolerate indecision; and before the rupture was decided on, he adopted the same course of measures, as if it had been certain.

On April 10, 1803, Napoleon called Marbois and another councillor to him, and informed them that he was thinking of ceding Louisiana to the United States to keep it from falling into the possession of England. The conference ended without a final decision, but at dawn on the following day the arrival of dispatches from England, stating that naval and military preparations were progressing rapidly, determined him. He immediately directed Marbois to interview Livingston without awaiting the arrival of Monroe. He closed by remarking, “I require a great deal of money for this war, and I would not like to commence it with new contributions.''14

On April 13 Livingston was definitely informed that Napoleon had decided to sell the whole of Louisiana. Monroe, who had arrived upon the scene on the previous day, and Livingston, soon decided to accept the offer. After a few days spent in haggling over the price, an agreement was reached; on May 2 the treaty of cession and a convention regarding price, and on the eighth 14 Barbé-Marbois, The History of Louisiana, 261–264, 274-275.

or ninth a claims convention were signed, all being antedated to April 30,1s

In respect to boundaries, the words of the treaty of March 21, 1801, between France and Spain were incorporated-"Louisiana with the same extent it now has in the hands of Spain, and that it had when France possessed it; and such as it should be after [according to] the Treaties subsequently entered into between Spain and other states. The American ministers attempted to have the boundaries more definitely stated, but when it was brought to the attention of Napoleon, he replied, "If an obscurity did not already exist, it would perhaps be good policy to put one there. ''17

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While the negotiations were in progress at Paris, Jefferson was considering the project of exploring the Missouri and Columbia rivers. He had long been interested in the region beyond the Mississippi. As early as 1783 he had suggested to George Rogers Clark the exploration of an overland route to the Pacific. While minister to France he had induced John Ledyard to attempt to cross Siberia and open communication from the Pacific by way of the Missouri, an effort which was frustrated by Catherine II. Early in Washington's administration he had determined to obtain French aid to induce Spain to cede the island of New Orleans and the Floridas to the United States, a project which came to naught through the Anglo-Spanish alliance of 1790. Later the French botanist, André Michaux, interested him in a scheme to visit the Missouri and Columbia, but this was dissolved by the intrigues of Genet. In 1798 Jefferson wrote to Philip Nolan inquiring about the wild horses on the plains east of New Mexico, and in the following years communicated with Daniel Clark, James Wilkinson, and William

15 Livingston to Monroe, April 13, 1803, State Papers, Foreign Relations, II, 552–554; Monroe, Writings, IV, 12–19, 34–36; ibid., VII, 250; Henry Adams, History of the United States, II, 42.

16 Treaties, Conventions (Malloy, ed.), I, 508-509.

17 Barbé-Marbois, The History of Louisiana, 283–286.

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