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4/11/1803 In one of the greatest surprises in diplomatic history, French Foreign Minister Charles Maurice de Tallyrand makes an offer to sell all of the Louisiana Territory to the United States. As the foreign minister to Napoleon Bonaparte, Tallyrand was one of the world's most powerful men. Napoleon, convinced by Tallyrand, believed he could create a new French empire in North America. The French had long had a tenuous claim to the vast area west of the Mississippi River, which had been occupied by Native Americans for centuries, known as the Louisiana Territory. In 1800, Napoleon secretly signed a treaty with Spain that officially gave France full control of the territory. He then began to prepare France's mighty army to occupy New Orleans. When President Thomas Jefferson heard of Napoleon's plan in 1802, he was understandably alarmed as he wanted to expand the US westward. Having no way for the young Republic to challenge France militarily, Jefferson had his minister in France, Robert Livingston, negotiate to at least allow the US to control New Orleans, the gateway to the Mississippi River. At first the situation looked bleak, and Jefferson sent his young friend from Virginia, James Monroe to help Livingston. Fortunately for the US, the situation changed in 1803, when war between France and Great Britain was imminent, and Napoleon could no longer spare the military resources to control the Louisiana Territory. Realizing the powerful British navy would probably take the territory by force, Napoleon reasoned it was better to sell it to the Americans than let it fall into enemy hands. Livingston again meets with Tallyrand on this day in 1803, and to his astounding surprise, Tallyrand asks "What will you give me for the whole?" Meaning not just New Orleans, but the whole Louisiana Territory. Several weeks later, on April 30, 1803, the US signed a treaty with France to purchase the whole territory for $11,250,000. A little more than 2 weeks later, Great Britain declared war on France. Napoleon would write, "The sale [of Louisiana] assures forever the power of the United States, and I have given England a rival who, sooner or later, will humble her pride." That he certainly did, and we did!🇺🇲
history.com/this-day-in-hi…

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