"fgoodwin" <fgoodwin@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
news:1146492379.833002.279650@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> April 30, 1803: U.S. makes land grab (Louisiana
Purchase)
>
>
http://www.historychannel.com/tdih/tdih.jsp?catego
ry=wallstreet&month=10272956&day=10272995
> http://tinyurl.com/sxw68
>
> During the early moments of the nineteenth
century, the United States
> government wheeled and dealed its way into what
is generally regarded
> as the "greatest land bargain" in the nation's
history, the Louisiana
> Purchase.
>
> The deal, which was dated April 30, 1803, though
it was in fact signed
> on May 2, had been in the works since the spring
of 1802. It was then
> that President Thomas Jefferson had learned of
Spain's decision to
> quietly transfer Spanish Louisiana to the
French; fearful of the
> strategic and commercial implications of the
Spanish swap, Jefferson
> ordered Robert Livingston, the U.S. minister in
Paris, to broker a deal
> with the French either for a slice of land on
the lower Mississippi or
> a "guarantee" of unmolested trans****t for U.S.
****ps.
>
> Negotiations dragged on for months, but took a
crucial turn when
> Spanish and U.S. trade relations collapsed in
the fall of 1802. With
> Spain now barring American merchant ****ps from
transferring goods at
> the ****t in New Orleans, Jefferson set his
sights on purchasing a far
> larger chunk of land.
>
Did he really?
My understanding was that the American diplomats
were sent to make an offer for New Orleans and
West Florida, a quite _small_ area, though
potentially im****tant to the commerce of the West.
I thought it was the _French_ (specifically
Talleyrand) who suggested selling all Louisiana,
and that the Americans just _accepted_ the offer.
Of course, there was some doubt as to whether
France was strictly entitled to do this. When
acquiring it she had promised not to give it up
except back to Spain. But the American
representatives probably did not know this, and
anyway it would ahve applied equally to the smller
area thay had come for. In short "land grab"
seems a rather loaded term.
--
Mike Stone - Peterborough, England
It is so stupid of modern civilisation to have
given up believing in the
Devil, when he is its only explanation.
Ronald Knox.
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