Page:History of Southeast Missouri 1912 Volume 1.djvu/201

 HISTORY OP SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 141 method of procedure was slow ; all these things greatly irritated the Americans who traded through New Orleans. They were pushing and energetic, impatient of delay, placing a small value on forms and not inclined to sub- mit to the exactions of the Spanish. It was not possible to carry on this trade without de- positing goods which came down the river at New Orleans and awaiting the arrival of trad- ing ships, but the jealousy of the Spanish led them to forbid the deposit of goods. Thus for a long time trade down the river was virtually denied to the Americans. Such a situation could have but one result. Through the later part of the eighteenth cen- tury there arose a strong demand on the part of the people of the west that the United States should acquire from Spain the free navigation of the Mississippi river and the control of the port of New Orleans. These things were to be secured either by purchase or by war. In 1800 Napoleon, then at the head of the government of Prance, began negotiations with the Spanish government for the trans- fer of the Spanish possessions in America to France, and on October 25th, of that year, there was signed a secret agreement between Prance and Spain by which Spain agreed to transfer Louisiana to Prance in exchange for certain territory in Italy. This agreement was kept secret, because Napoleon did not wish it to become known until he was ready to land a large army in New Orleans and thus take possession of the country. Some hint of this agreement, however, escaped and came to England. England, at that time engaged in a contest with Napoleon, objected seriously to the transfer and made such representations to the Spanish government as to prevent the consummation of the transfer for nearly two years. It was not until in 1802 that the for- mal treaty which transferred Louisiana to Prance was signed. Even at this date Na- poleon was not ready to take possession of his new territory. He had decided that the island of San Domingo offered the best base for the operation of his fleet and army, and had, therefore, attempted to take possession of this island. His effort to do so was resisted by Toussaint L'Ouverture. He had found great difficulty in subduing this uprising in San Domingo, and was not prepared to enter New Orleans in force at the time of the signing of the treaty. By this time the demand on the part of the West that the United States government should get possession of New Orleans had grown so greatly that it could not any longer be resisted. On January 11, 1803, Jeffei-son, then President, appointed James Monroe as minister extraordinary to Prance. Monroe was instructed bj' Jefferson to purchase New Orleans and the Ploridas. He was expected to pay for this territoi-y the sum of two mil- lion dollars. In fact, negotiations had been carried on for some time by Livingston, the minister to Prance. After Monroe's arrival negotiations proQceded, but on April 11, 1803, Talleyrand, the French minister of for- eign affairs, said that he was ordered by Na- poleon to offer to the American officials, not New Orleans alone, but the whole of Louisi- ana. This offer came as a very great surprise. It had not been the intention of the Ameri- cans to purchase all of Louisiana. The im- portance, however, of securing this territory for the United States was so felt by Living- ston and Monroe that they agreed to the pur- chase of the entire territory for the sum of fifteen million dollars. The motives which induced Napoleon to make this offer to the United States were vari-