Home » The Louisiana Purchase: Luck or Necessity

The Louisiana Purchase took place 30 April, 1803 in Paris with the long negotiation of James Monroe and Robert R. Livingston, the deal was finally sealed on 2 May, 1803, not under Napoleon as most people think but under Bonaparte, First Consul. It was only a year later on 18th of May, 1804 that the Senate in the new French republic decided to crown Bonaparte as Napoleon 1st, Emperor of France. Napoleon was then his first name, known as Napoleon Bonaparte. The name Napoleon comes from Germanic origin meaning Niebelungen, from the Germanic mythology, dwarves living underground, the ground of the fog. They live on the mineral wealth, very symbolic of the true Napoleon; for, wherever Napoleon conquered a new land, he returned to France with treasures from his booty, whence, amongst other art collections, the impressive collection of Egyptian art in Paris .

In 1803, Bonaparte who needed money to avoid the onerous expenses of his temporary struggle of war fisrt with England , agreed to sell to the USA , Louisiana , one third of the United States , for fifteen million dollars, thanks in large part to Monroe and Livingston for their diplomatic achievements. It was, however, Monroe who will be remembered for the deal, called the Monroe Doctrine, reaping the acknowledgement of the deal under Thomas Jefferson, president then of this new country.

Florida was still a Spanish territory and the USA had to negotiate that part of land with Spain . It was sold to the USA only in 1819. Florida was never part of the Louisiana territory. Louisiana became part of the Union only in 1812 as the 18th state of the United States .

It was, subsequently, initially by necessity that Louisiana was then sold to the United States for a modest sum. If Bonaparte had not been in the political arena at the time, Louisiana would have never taken the twist it took in 1803; but Napoleon Bonaparte was more interested about his prestige than about a piece of land that was in another part of the world that never inspired him to conquer. England , then was his Achilles' heel and Napoleon knew how difficult it was to subdue England ; and for that reason Bonaparte needed money to conquer the impossible dream. The sale of Louisiana could not have come at a better and more appropriate time; but also to begin to finance his Russian campaigns, which by that time was starting to cost an onerous financial burden for Napoleon's undaunted endeavours.

By Raphael Obermann, author of "Tribulations of a French Professor" with Inkwater Press
E-mail: raphaobermann@aol.com