The Louisiana Purchase

Synopsis

"The intricacies of the interplay of seemingly random developments are clearly illustrated in this video--quite an accomplishment, really, for a 50 minute program. Spain acquired Louisiana from France in the wake of France's loss to England in the French and Indian wars. The United States, after independence, finally obtained from Spain the right to navigate the Mississippi River and deposit goods for trade on New Orkeans docks--the 1795 Pinckney Treaty. That agreement was rendered meaningless when Napoleon regained the territory from Spain in the secret Treaty of San Ildefonso. Napoleon planned to re-conquer Haiti--San Domingue, as they called it--which had successfully revolted from France led by the brilliant leader Toussaint L'Overture, the "Haitian George Washington"; the "Black Napoleon." Napoleon, irked at this effrontery by a black ex-slave and desirous of re-acquiring the former gem of the French Empire sent an army headed by his brother-in-law General Chearles LeClerc to re-conquer Haiti and from there move on to occupy Louisiana, which would serve as a bread-basket for France and Haiti both. But LeClerc and thousands of his men died of Yellow Fever and the Haitians were never subdued, Louisiana was never occupied. Moreover, renewed war with England loomed, and Napoleon decided to turn the vast Louisiana Territory into fast cash. President Jefferson, un-nerved that the expansive French and not the somnolent Spanish controlled the Mississippi, sent envoys to regain the right of navigation and deposit or to acquire some small strip of land for American use. The envoys were flabbergasted when the French minister Talleyrand instead offered the entire vast territory. With no directive from Jefferson and no explicit constitutional power to do so, they agreed to pay $15 million for the territory--more than the minimum Napoleon would have been willing to accept, the dvd points out." [Amazon.com]

Genre

Documentary

Released

2003

Location

North America

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