In 1803, the size of our United States instantly doubled. For $15 million (today $600 billion), the United States bought the Louisiana Territory from France. This territory would go on to make up parts of Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, New Mexico, Texas, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Louisiana, and two Canadian provinces. This land was well over 500 million acres. So, as you can see, what started out as the United States attempt to just purchase the port of New Orleans turned into a much much bigger endeavor. Our 5th President, James Madison, was the chief negotiator in securing this land for the U.S.
When we think of foreign policy, we often think about that being a relatively new topic. Events like World War II propelled the U.S. into numerous countries and solidified us as a global super power. But in fact, the ground work for many foreign policy decisions was laid under the Presidency of James Madison. He will always be known as one of the strongest President’s when it comes to international politics.
The early 1800’s were troubled and tumultuous times for France. They were suffering a terrible French Revolution, with revolts happening within France and in their abroad territories such as the Caribbean. In 1800 Napoleon Bonaparte secretly purchased the Louisiana Territory from Spain. He had plans to greatly expand into North America, and even sent several thousand troops to secure the port of New Orleans.
In 1801 Thomas Jefferson was President. He learned of the secret sale of Louisiana to France, and quickly sent the U.S. ambassador to France, Robert Livingston, to Paris to try and purchase New Orleans. If you remember at this point in our history there was no air or really even any land transport. Waterways was were your roads, and the Mississippi River was your interstate. A large portion of our U.S. goods flowed through foreign controlled New Orleans. If the United States could obtain that port, U.S. shipping would take off.
Negotiations dragged on for a couple years during France’s wars and revolts. In 1803 Jefferson, in need of negotiation assistance, requested the aid of a prominent French nobleman who had escaped the French Revolution and immigrated to the United States. This nobleman was Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours (His son E.I. du Pont de Nemours would go on to found a small gun powder mill which would become a company you may have heard of, the largest chemical company in the world, DuPont).
James Monroe, who had just finished being Governor of Virginia, was a close advisor to Thomas Jefferson. He was sent to Paris with Robert Livingston to negotiate the purchase of New Orleans in January 1803. On a previous diplomatic mission to France, things had soured to the point where Monroe was formally expelled from France. So Jefferson sending Monroe back to France showed how serious he was on this matter.
To make matters even hairier, at this point in time Napoleon was preparing to invade the United Kingdom, and was running significantly low on war funds. Jefferson had authorized that Monroe and Livingston could purchase New Orleans for any amount up to $10 million. Both Monroe and Livingston were caught extremely off guard when the French Treasury Minister offered the entire Louisiana territory, including all the land of the 15 states mentioned in the first paragraph, for $15 million. So, for $5 million more, around 3 cents an acre, they could purchase all the land from the Gulf of Mexico, to southern Canada, and west to the Rocky Mountains.
However, the problem lied in the fact that they only had permission from Jefferson to purchase the port of New Orleans and some of its surrounding territory. James Monroe feared that Napoleon could withdraw this offer at any minute. And many had fears that what they were doing was unconstitutional because the Constitution didn’t explain how the United States was to acquire territory, if they even had that right at all. With no means of quick communication at the time, Monroe and Livingston agreed to the deal and signed the Louisiana Purchase on April 30th, 1803 without President Jefferson’s knowledge or approval. The signed documents didn’t even arrive back in the United States until July 14th.
Monroe’s international successes vaulting him to political fame. He would serve as ambassador to Great Britain, and then as Secretary of State and Secretary of War simultaneously during the War of 1812. In 1816 Monroe’s war time successes and foreign politics led him to becoming our 5th President, defeating Rufus King (still slightly irked we didn’t get to have a President Rufus, but it is what it is now).
Monroe would oversee the Missouri Compromise, where Missouri entered the United States. He would use his international skills to sign major treaties with Great Britain and Russia, acquire the state of Florida from Spain, and implement the “Monroe Doctrine”.
The Monroe Doctrine stated the United States would not allow foreign powers to intervene in Latin America. They would help to uphold republican institutions in these countries and allow them to remain independent. This same philosophy has been revisited centuries later in America’s interventions, democracy building, and defense of numerous countries around the world.
In the 1820 election he ran for President unopposed, the only President other than George Washington ever to do so. This is quite the honor for Monroe, as he had admired Washington for years, and was the future President who crossed the Delaware with George Washington at the age of 18 that I teased previously. Succeeding Monroe, our 6th President would be our first son of a former President to assume the office. A feat that wouldn’t be repeated for 175 years until George W. Bush was elected. Stay tuned for that article next week.