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N Nr Nd Y H Hft ft . ? r d , + 1 1 1 d dyn.pn yn.pn ynpn h n w * nX wyd wydw w r J Jw w Hapoleon 'l'hoJ71a lhoJ71a Thoynas ' ' : ; Jcffer , Jefferson : on onJ The5zgningoftneLoutszanaPurchaseTreaty The5zgningoftneLoutszanaPurchaseTreatyDr J 1 Dr XAl .crf crf . , , SCvIVTOR , t tt t 1 . 1r 1By t r tBy By ELMO SCOTT WATSON WATSONP WATSONV WATSONh'E NE I\TJJ I TJJ h'E hE \ ' hundred and nnd thirty tlitrty thlrt years ago the"biggest the , "biggest biggest " real estate e"tnte etnte " deal In history history"j historyj " " was "ns ns closed In the city of New Or- Or Orleans Orleans Or-J Or J - leans On December 20 , 1803 1801 1S03 , acro acrowd a ' cro crowd crott " d gathered In the historic Place Placed P d Amies Armes ( now . known t.nown tnown as Jackson Jacksonsqunre Jacksonsquare Jacksonsquare squnre square ) In the center was a taU tall taUW tallt ? ' , flagpole at the top ot of o ( which flutY tinttei flut tint W Y ' V ' # w V VtCI tcicd tCI tei ed the Tricolor of Prince Fr1.nce Fr1nce France . Drawn Drawnup Drawnup Drawnup up along one side of ot the square was wasn wasa _ a n detachment o ot of ( United Statesarmi States Statesnrm Statesarms nrm arms troops Facing racing them on tbe the tbeother theother theother other side of or the ligpole fl'lgpole fllgpole fligpole ( ' "ere ere were " ft ere Spinlsh Sp1.nlsb Sp1nlsb Spinlsb . troops troopsand troopsand troopsand and a few French rrench oflicers ofbcers otbcers oflicersA ofbcersA otbcersA A few felt fe " hours before Pierrc PIerre Clement Laussat LaussatFrench , French prefect of Lnulsiina Loulsl'lDn LoulsllDn Lnulslina ' Gen James Wllh.ln- Wllh.ln 1Vilktn- 1Vilktn Wllh.lnson 1Vilktnson Wllkln-Bon Wllkln Bon . - son of the United Umted Stiles St1.tes St1tes Stites . ' nrmy 'lrmy lrmy army , and William WJlUam 0 0C 0C 00 C Clilborne Chlborne , , former governor go\"ernor go "ernor ernor \ " of llssls [ Mississippi lppl Ter Terrltory Territory Territory rltory ritory , had bad met in 111 ip the famous old Ciblldo C'lbl1do Clbl1do Cibildo ' , whichfaces "hich hich whlch "hichfaces whlchfaces " faces on the square cquare : ; There the credentials of thetwo the thetwo thetwo two Americans were " ere reid re'ld reld reed ' , as was "as as " the authorityof authority of the Frenchman rrenchman to hand over oyer to them ofliclalpossession othclal official othclalpossessIon officialpossession possessIon of a certain tract of land , the keys heys ot of otthe ofthe ofthe the Clt cib tits ot of New Orlcins OrlC1.ns OrlC1ns Orleans . v ' vcre 'ere ere ' ere given gl\"en gl "en en \ " to Chlborne Clglborno ChlborneRnd Clglbornoand Clilborneand Rnd and he , dissohing dlsso1Ing dissolving dlsso1\ dlsso1 \ Ing tlie the ' lUeglance 'lllegiance lllegiance illeglance of the tbe Inhabi Inhabi- Inhabitants Inhabitants Inhabitants - - tants of Ne Ne\\ Ne New NeOrlcins " \ \ Orlcins Orle1.ns Orle1ns Orleins . to France , welcomed themas them themas themas as citizens cih7ens cltl7ens of the United StatesThen StatesThen States StatesThen Then the three Ulree men stepped out Into the thePlace thePlace Place d ' Armes At a signal the tbe Tricolor of ofFrance ofFrance ofFrance \ France began to descend and the Stars andStripes and andStrIpes andStripes StrIpes of the United States to ascend Midwayon MIdway on the flagstaff the two banners met and weresaluted were weresaluted weresaluted saluted And when "hen hen alien " the American flag flng hadreached had hadi i reached the top of the stiff st1.ff st1ff . and the French rrencl1 rrencli ban banner . I Iner ner the bottom , it meant thit th\t th t ' \ the Louisiana Ter Terrltory Territory Territory rltory ritory had changed hands for the sixth and last lasttime ' time and was henceforth hencefortb American soilThus soil soilThus ; Thus the fitting cllmis cUm'lx cUmlx climes ' to thi this 'biggest biggest ' real realestate realestate e estate tate deal In history ' In which whleh Napoleon Bona Bona- Bonaparte Bonaparte Bonaparte - - parte , the First Consul of Prince rMnce rr'tnce rrtnce ' , had sold to tot toThomas toThomas toThomas Thomas Jefferson JeTE'rson JeTErson ! ' President of the United Statesfor States , t for $15000000 15000000 $ a aerltable \erltable erltable veritable \ empire of ot 1,171,931squire 1171931squire 1,171,931 1171931 1,171,931e 1,171,931h 1,171,931squ1.re 1,171,931squire , , e h squ1.re squ1re squire . miles It doubled oonbled the original area of thenew the thear ar arnew r ne\\ ne new neRepublIc \ Republic and gave gaye to thit th'1t th1t ' Republic the land landwhich landt which In th thp the " future was to be the following followingstates followingstates t states oulslana louisiana ouisiana I , Arkinsas Ark1.nsas Ark1nsas Ark'insas . ' , Missouri hssourI . , Iowa , tbe the thepart thepart ) pllrt part of Minnesota Imnesota ( " west "est est test of the ' Mississippi 'I1sslcslppl I1sslcslppl ; , North Northt NorthDakota NorthDakota t ' Dakota , South Soutb Dakota Dahota , Nebraska , and most of ofOkl1.homa ofOkl'homa ofOklihoma Okl1.homa Okl1homa Okl'homa Oklhoma . ' Kansis Kan'ls Kanls hansis " ' Montana 'Iontann Iontann ' , W Wyoming 1VSomtng om1ng and a alarge alarge ' large part of Colorado It extended our boun boon boundllrJes boonA boundanes A dllrJes daries from the Canadian border to the Gulf of ofMelco ofMeueo ofMexico Me\lco Me lco Meueo ' \ : and from the Rocky Ro .ky ky < . mountains to theMississippi the theMI'5clssIIIPI theMlssissippl MI'5clssIIIPI MI5clssIIIPI Mlssissippl ' , river ricer rh er , v\hlch v hlch "hlch which " \ henceforth was "as as " to beours be beourq beours ourq ours , freed frced forever fore , er from the menace of a foreignpower foreign foreignpoer foreignpower po\er po er power ' \ holding hoidlng one of our most Importint import'1nt import1nt import ' ' nt gatewa\s gatewa s gate gatewas gatewas was \ , to tlie the sea-Nev sea Nev sea-New New sea - New , OrleansLike Orleans Orlenns OrleansLike Like Llke Likeo Llke0 -0 0 co " - < -o o - miny m1.ny m1ny mgny . Important events eyents In Amerlcall American Amerlcallbistory Americanhistory Americanhistory bistory history , the Iouli I oul&iana ouliana ouisiana & > Jann Purchase hid h'l.d hl.d hld ' . its origins originsIn in Lurollt Europein European > 1n politics pollt1cs and Intrigue . . The Louisi Louisiana Louisiana Louisana ! ana Territor Territory hid h'ld hld ' first been claimed for rrancp rrancN rrancpby rrancNby Franceby by the e explorer " < plorcr , , La Sillc S'llle Sllle Salle ' " who "bo bo In 1G8 1G82 1082 had taken takenpossession takenpossession takenpossession p-ossession p ossession possession - of It In tlie the mme n'lmc nlmc ngme ' of Louis XIV SIV In In1712 1712 the Grind Gr'lnd Grlnd ' Mon irch trch arch had ' farmed ' Louisianato Louisiana to Antolne Antoine Crozat Croznt Crozet , the greatest merchant monopollst monop monopoUst monopoust oUst of tils his diy d'1Y d1Y d'iy ' . , but Crozit CroZ'lt CroZlt ' , unable to make us usof usl uslof < ( of it , . had turned It over five flte th e yeirs ye'lrs yelrs years ' liter hter to JohnLaw John JohnLaw Johnt JohnLaw t Law , the Scotch adventurer adenturer adtenturer , , whose burstcd bursted 'Miselsslppi Miselsslppi ' MI Ills Illssissippi . slsslppl sissippi Rubble Bubble u ble ' hid h'ld hld ' almosc almo"t almot almost " overnight trnn trans transformed transformed < ; formed him from a hero In 1n France rrance to tlie the most mosthated mosthated mosthated hated mm m'ln mln min ' in tint th1t thgt country So In 1731 the Lou LouIslann Loulstana Louislana Islann lstana Territor Terrltor Territory ) \ went cnt back bach . to tlie the French rrench trench crO\vp crO vp crown crOvpngain crownt crowragain \ t ngain again ' ind 'lnd lnd end in 17G2 1762 Louis ) . . XV .lV lV V liad had ceded It to Sp'11n&pwl Spainu Spilii Sp'11n Sp11n Spain SpiliiSpanish ' u &pwl pwl & Spanish Spinlch < : h territor territory terrltory ) It ha had remained all the tlm tIrn timt tlmthe < ! ' the English r.ngllsh rngllsh Enghsli . colonies on the Atlantic seaboard seaboardwere seaboardwere $ eaboar/1 eaboar 1 eaboar1v.ere / v.ere vere were v.ereinnin . winning \\innin innin \ . ; their thllr freedom from Great Grcat Britaltand BrItn11 Brltalt BrItn11and Brltaltand and taking tnlclng their first faltering steps &teps teps & as a ne\\nation ne nation ne\ ne new nenatIOn newr \ , \ r natIOn In the meantime . stirring E.tlrrwg Etlrrwg events had beetJ beettaking becitaking bCl'l bCll beet bCl'ltaling ' J taling taking place In 1 r nnce IDce Ince Tlie The Bourbons hid h'1d h1d ' beel beet beeldethroned beetdethroned beeldethroned dethroned , the horrors of tlie the French rrench Revolutio Re\"olutio Re "olutio olutio Revolutlo Revolutiohad \ " ' had run their course and nnd a new world { } figure gure h'u hu het Inr'risen Inrrisen ' ' risen above nlJove tlie the borl70n-Napoleon borl70n Napoleon horizon-Napoleon horizon hori/on hori on / - Napoleon Bonapart Bonaparte Bonaparter Bonapartthe < ( r tile the ' First I'lrst Ilrst rlrst Cont Consul > ul of rranceVlthln tranceWithin France rrance trance FranceWithin \ Within \Vlthln Vlthln a year after , be he had become Irtualh ylrtually ylrtuallyi . virtuallythe Irtualhthe i the mister m'1ster m1ster ' of Luropc Lnrol'c Lnrolc Lurope ' He had crushed Austri Austrf Austriand Austrfand Austrland and the stales states of the Itiliin It11hn Italhn peninsula Peac Peace Peacwith Pea Peacewith ( ' < ( with wltb England Ingland Inglandas ; was \\as as gas \ In sight si ht and an six weeks aftoihis artci after artcihis afterhis his victory at Marengo Napoleon N'1poleon N1poleon ' sent a demandto demanlto demanl demanr ( ' to Spain to cede celie oulslina oulcl1nn Iouisiana I ; back bach to France rrance Tbl Tblmain Th Tbfmain , main rcison re'lson relson re'tsoa retsoa ' back bach . of tint th'lt thlt thgt ' dennnd dem'1nd dem1nd demand ' was his de desire deEire sire ! Ire , alon along with "lIh lIh " his hie : ; oilier other plins phns plans to dominate tlH the theworld theworld ' worlll world , to rebuild rebul1l1 Hie the ' French I'rench Irench trench commercial POWE't POWEt power POWE'tin powerIn pow ' < ' in Amerh Amorici Americi 1 . and begin upon a policy of colonhl colonial colonialv colonhlexpanr.lon coloniilexpansion coloniilexpansionThe v expanr.lon expanrlon expansion : . expanr.lonThe expansionThe The treaty trcaty by which whleh Spain ceded celled Loulshn Louisiin Loulshntack Louisiinback Loulslinback tack back to Fnnce l'r1.nce lr1.nce lr1nce Prince ' . in 1802 " was "as as kept htpt secret hut but SOOJ Boor SOOJafter sooiafter ' after Thomas Jefferson became President in 1801he 1801 1801he 1801he he suspected SUSI ) ( cted what "hat hat " wis W'1S W1S ' going on across noross the tbe AIlantlc Atlantic At AI Atantlc antlc lantlc ) French rnnch rrcnclt control COlltrol of New I\ew I ew hew \ Orleans Orlcnns an/I an I and andI'renh andFrench anII'rent'h / I'rent'h Irenth I'renh Irenh ' ' ' domlnitlon domln\tlon domln tlon domination ' \ of the Mississippi 1cslsslppl ' [ ; " would "ould ould haa ha\ ha hall haa halla \ \ < ( a serious sedou , > rue nicining wing thing for the United States , ep espe especiill ' ! ' ' CI'1IJ CI1IJ dill ' ) to the ( lie ' ' settlers 'otttlcrs otttlcrs 'cttlers cttlers of Ohio . , Kentucky and Ten Tennecs.c Tennesscc 1 1iiessce necs.c necsc iiessce ; ( . Ah Ab AS carl carii earls as 1709 17GO they the tbe " were "ere ere sending dowil dO'JI dO'J dOJ dotty dottythe ' ' I the lie he river 120000 10000 pounds of tobacco tohacco , 10000 bar barI bariels bartils I iels \ Is of Hour flour , : 22000 :2000 2000 pounds poumls of hemp , 500 noo X00 barI bara baris bar barli a I is li : . > of elder cider and .and . nd as mans man ) more of whisky whlslty tOT foT tOT'pment foTt foT'pment for'pment forpment t 'pment pment ' abroadSo abroadSo abroad abroadSo So long as the Spanish Cpanlsh ; verc sere s \ , ere in control , thiinmercc thlf this thismmerce ? ' mmerce wuld would " .uIl uIl . } not be seriously affected for forLQ , \LQ LQ ten \ \ tD though tboul.h tboulh thouih : , . , there had bad been betD betn matters of annoyiinco annoy annoyanco annoyance anco ance between beheen , American commercial Interests andthe and andtho andtho tho Spanish autliorltlcs authorities . , in ceneral general the Aineri Amerl Amery T - - ' lc 111 l ! t tRtt " Rtt ' " " f - d Y Y'mrofl 'mrofl mrofl 'mroflN ' ' " 1 " " ' , i if iYsT YsT YsTr11 r1-1- r1 1 r11d . - N , ON r ' , t Vi1T , I IHCw1.r HCw1.r HCw1r , 1 N NON 6Y ' , . ' 4- 4 41 ' - - - = r rr r 'r3tfu r3tfu ' etR tP tPr r " b"yf byf " T TC C + 'ra ra 'ratur ' r : tur ar.L arL . ' il ilt ilN ily ild t N y d d y yThe The Place d'Armes dArmes ' ( wJacksonSquare ) fnArewOrlcan R Y ' 1 1T - O - T E'1 E1 E'1Rl ' R RO Rl g i 'I-S4 'I I S4 ' - o y yAatorr , - 1G/j 1G j 1Gjrr ! / - rr a rriG iG iGo aD D Aatorr AatorrOE OE G , N ! i ibllssou'rtk0l1i bllssou'rtk0l/1i bllssou'rtk0l bllssourtk0l 1i ' / ! / .1fnl " v fnl , - ' " CotumbtW CotumbtWr r .1-- .1 . . - - - t COUNTR-r COUNTR r COUNTRri /i i / - \ - ? ; W / + r ' c D Du u _ ' ' _ p 0 ' - , ) U \ V VtP , tP tPF tPr3 r3 4 . ' , J 1 , a ar aA ai , r F A i 'P P ' + u uPqh Pqh - ee Orka ! 0 \ o . . o n nf ' : w wo z cx ico f G 0 0o , o t v Gulf Gulfof of 9 9J 91e J 1e ; 1 1SC SC1-l.t SC1l.t SC1 l.t lt SC - LC . .of of . Cif Cif1LE5 t ' 1LE5 1LE5TheZoutszana The TheZoutszana LOUlZana $ . Purchase 0 cans had not found the restrictions of the Spanlard Span Spanlard Spanlard lard oppre oppressive opprecslve < : sive But with wltb the arrogant Napoleon Napoleonholding Napoleonholding Napoleonholding holding New I\ew I ew heiv \ Orleans , matters might be"ery be \ " very \"ery "ery ery dlf dif dlfrerent different differcnt rerent ferent IndeedThen indeedThen indeed indeedThen Then Don Juan Junn Venturalorales Ventura \ Morales \lorales lorales Siorales , , Spanish SplOlsh , gOY gov gOYernor governor governor ernor of New Orleans Orlenns , , preparatory to turning the theLouls1'1na theLoulslana theLoulslina Louls1'1na Louls11na Loulslana ' Territory of o\er o er 0 \ ' er to France , closed the theport theport theport port to the Americans and the " western "estern estern setUers settlers setUersloohed settlerslooked settlerslooked loohed looked upon this tbls as prophetic of whit wh'lt whlt what ' Napoleon'spolicy Napoleonspolicy Napoleon's Napoleons Napoleon'spolicy Napoleon'spolicy ' policy of strangling strangllng American tnde tr'1de tr1de trade ' and checking check checkIng checkfag Ing fag farther American AmerJcan expansion was " as to be Whatleflerson What WhatTefferson WhatJefferson Tefferson Jefferson thought of it is reflected in the following follow followIng followfag Ing fag letter to Robert Lh Lhlngston Livingston Ingston , , American AmerlclD , mln min mlnIster miniiser minister Ister iiser to France rrance . ' The cession of ot Louisiana and the Florldis rIorld'ls rIorldls rloridis ' by by"p'1ln bv'ipiin bvipiin "p'1ln p1ln " ' , ' pain ' to Fnnce Fr1.nce Fr1nce France . works worhs most sorely In the tbe UnIted UnIted"tates Unitedstates ' "tates tates " tates . , Tlicre There Is on the globe one single singlespot ' ) , pot , the possessor of w " which "hleh hleh filch is our natural and andhabltu1.1 andhabitual andliabituil habltu1.1 habltu11 habitual . enemy It is New Orieins Orle'1ns Orle1ns Orleans ' , through through\\ through throughv throughhich \v v \ \ \ hich hlch the produce of three eightlis eighths of our terntory terrl terra terrltory terratory tory must piss |