why did napoleon sell the louisiana territory

At the turn of the 19 th century, the slaves of French colony Saint-Domingue and resourceful leader Toussaint L’Ouverture rose up demanding their freedom. ( Currents in the River of History) Finding these connections makes history inherently interesting. I have written previously about how the same events impact different nations in different ways with disparate results.

Sometimes these events remain confined but they can also spin off in unforeseen directions. Nevertheless, Claiborne was able to unite the French and English-speaking people of the area under a new democratic form of government.Historical events often follow a course where one event influences another and reaches a conclusion of sorts. The French-speaking Creole population of Louisiana and the English-speaking Anglo-Americans were often at odds culturally and politically in the early years of the transfer. He inherited a largely “foreign” population that some felt needed to be Americanized. Claiborne continued as the first Governor of the Territory of Orleans. In 1804, the Louisiana territory was subdivided into two territories the southern portion, called the Territory of Orleans, included most of the land that eventually became the state of Louisiana. William Charles Cole Claiborne was appointed interim Governor of the Louisiana Purchase Territory. The Americans purchased the entire Louisiana territory, including New Orleans, for approximately 15 million dollars, doubling the size of the young United States. When they learned that Napoleon was willing to sell all of Louisiana in order to focus France’s resources in the Caribbean, they entered into negotiations to make the purchase even though it exceeded their realm of authority. Ministers to France, were asked to secure American interests in the Mississippi River and surrounding territory. Meanwhile, James Monroe and Robert Livingston, U.S. French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte was struggling to keep his New World empire together.īy 1803, Napoleon was consumed with the potential loss of the rich French Caribbean colony of Saint-Domingue (Haiti) and imminent war with Great Britain. In October of 1802, Charles IV, King of Spain, transferred the territory of Louisiana to France, but the territory remained in Spanish possession until March of 1803.

Why did napoleon sell the louisiana territory