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Les diagrammes sulvants lllustrent la mAthode. v ^- ■ 3 '■f • ■— ' ^^-^ • , ■ 1 ' V « ^ 2 32X ^ 1 — ; [J:.Jk:M i^: :-i '-' :::m- — --—^'-^-"— ;, -k'^ ' '.". '-"-! -I''' ■ ' ,. i • • ., - . t I* I o^ s. I ■■)_ A <»►:-■ ^^^^^ . t' .■-»* -.r -- o. I;^DiANA Historical Society Pamphlets. \ isro. 3. THE acquisition" OF LOUISJANA. Bv JUDGE THOMAS M, COOLfiY. A INDIANAPOLIS: THK BOWKN-MERRILL CO., Pl'BLiSHKRS, 1887. \ f ■■ ' m\-'^'' i^^-¥%". \^ " ?^^^^^S I ' V-.. 1.^ n The Acquisition of Louisiana, ,_i^t,_- An AddrcBs delivered before the 'Indiana Hiatorioal Society, • February 16, 1887. No theatre of human activity has been more prolific of great and strikjing events and changes than has the United States of America since independence of the mother country was secured. And of these events three stand out speciaHy prominent, 'l)ecause of theft- having afl'ected most profoundly the subsequent history. These are the establishment of ter- ritorial government under the Ordinance of 1787, the adop- tion of the Federal Constition, and the purchase of Louisi- ana from France. The first was the beginning of the end of slavery on the American continent ; the second saved the Ame/ican States from anarchy and laid enduring foundation for the greatest "republic known to history ; and the thjl^ in its consequences, increased beyond expectation or pr^Wecy the importance of both the others, and gave such direcEon' to the subsequent thoughtf of the people, and led to such marshaUing of. political forces, thit nearly aU the leading events of later American history were either traceable -to oi* in some measure shaped or determined by it.. We shall 'spend no time on this occasion in a consideration of the Ordinance of 1787, so peculiarly interesting to us who were bred under its protection and who are immediate inher- itors of its blessings. Neither shall we now discuss the great event which made us a nation, except as to its bear- ings upon the acquisition of Louisiana, to which alone at this time attention will be directed. t The discovery of the Western (Continent had exposed a new M< , -y f * -4 THE ACQUISITION OF LOUISIANA. world of wonderful possibilities to the grasp of thtf first people who should embrace the opportunity to s^ze upon It. Its sav- age inhabitants were neither sufficiently numerous fitly topos- eess and utlJIize it, nor sufficiently skilled to be able to defend their occupancy; and the nations of Europe, which appro- priated to themselves the designation of civilized, treated the country as derelict, and therefore as falling by rigKt to the first finder. And then began the great race in coloniza- tion and settlement, which continued until the tremendous Impact of nation with nation in Europe loosened the hold of some while it seemed to tighten the grasp of others, but was all, the wjjile preparing the way for that reaction of America upon Europe which before long gave birth to the French Revolution, and for a generation put the peace and industry of the world at the mercy of a gifted but unscrupulous ad- venturer. French and Spanish colonization of America wpre not more remarkable for rapidity and extent than for the com- plete subjection to the despotic authority .which then con- trolled the two countries respectively. The Spaniards, fol- lowing the course of the first discoverer, lost no time in pos- sessing themselves of vast but indefinite regions in South as wejl as North America, while the French, directing their course farther to the North, entered the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and pushing on up the great river of the same name, were soon exploring the vast interior beyond its head-waters, planting here and there, in the most commanding positions, their missions and their trading posts, until at length, the Mississippi was reached, upon which also they erected the cross and established trading stations. Every mission^ and trading post was a military station also, and thie whole chaiir of posts from the mouth of the St. Lawrence to and around the great lakes and down the Mississippi was subject to the principle of absolute obedience to the King and his vice- gerents, and the whole structure was so imposing in its em- bodied force, and so completely and immediately available for either aggressive or defensive warfare, that it gave to France in the eyes of the world and of its own King and peo- ple a grandeur and apparent strength quite out of proportion to the meagre settlement that had been made under the French fiag, and for a long time enabled the French colonial power to carry on a doubtful struggle with the far stronger but less perfectly united and controlled colonies planted by t^"^ --" THE ACQUISITION OF LOUISIANA. & theEnglish. Bift the fall o.f Quebec struck' a death blow to French power in America, and by the treaty of Fontainelileau an the vast region claimed by the French e^st of the l^issis- * sippi, the island of Orleans excepted, was surrendered Anally p England. When a little later the struggle came between England and her colonies, the latter were enabled -feo make good their claim to all th^ceded, territory south and west of the great lakes, and by the treaty of peace the British claim was relinquished and the few military posts still replaining in British hands were agreed to be surrendered. A vexa- tious delay afterwards occurred, and the surt-ender was not completed until after the ratification of Jay's treaty, but the whole North West Territory then came under the beneficent provisions of the anti^slavery ordinance which had previously been put in force. When the Constitution was adopted there wad abundant reason for believing that the institution of slavery would never in tlie United States rise to any great political importance. The public conscience was not then very sensitive /to its wrongs, but enlightened men in all sections opposed it, and the opposition was nowhere more pronounced than in Virgin- ia,, whose leading statesmen clearly perceived its political and social evils. The pecuniary interest in it was the^ small as compared to what it became a few years later ; and had not the condition of things greatly changed, it must in time have peaceably passed away, without shock to the Constitu-- tional structure. But when the new cotton machinery had made that crop the most valuable of American staples, new and unanticipated strength was given to the institution, which was wonderfully augmented by the purchase of that vast territory then vaguely J^wn- as Louisiana. Of the. transcendent importance oiOTt event, aside from the ex- pansion of territory, we get mtae idea, when we reflect that .th€ Mieisouri Compromise, the Annexation of Texas, the Compromise of 1850, the Kansas Nebraska bill, the Dred Scott case, and at length the civil war, were events in regu- lar- sequence, directly traceable to it, not one of which would have occurred without it. Th^ United States of to-day stands as it does in the first rank of nations, strong and self center- ed, and without threatening diversit^^of interest among the states, because Mr. Jefferson, in 1803, without constitutional justification as he then believed, assumed on behalf of the Union to make a purchase *)f foreign territory. The pur- I !P TBE AOQUISKTION O^. I^UISIANA. chase, therefore, standf^ out on the pages of history as otie of those significant and mighty events that distinguish the epoch of occurrence ; , not the less significant because of, be- ing accomplished peacefully, and wit>hout disturbing the social and industriaL^tate. JRvents of such trai^sc^ndent importance 'seldom occur except as a resujt of- bloodshed and disaslAer ; and the purchase of LouisitCna therefore chal- lenges our special attention, not merely from its ^influence upon subsequent events, but from its unique character. We may well give a brief hour to an inquiry in|;o the circum- stances which led up to it, and into the motfves umder the influence of which it was accoraTplishpd.. Possibly as wc do ■«o we may be conscious of a doubt whether those who were concerned in it were aware at the time of the great part they were pTa:ying in the history .of the world./' " . ^ ^ And first, a word regarding the nituation. Settlers in. considerable numbers had crossed the moun- tains into Kentucky and Tennessee whije the war of Inde- pendence wa« in progress. Witji most of them a love of ad- ' venture rather than the prospect of gain was the motive; for the woods were full;of hostile Indians, and at Detroit the British Commandant Hamilton, with subordinates St Vin- oennes and Kaskaskia, was .vigilant and relentless in.directr ing the savage warfare against the settlements and keeping them in constant alarm. But the country was of such won- derful fertility as to make it (juite worth the necessary strug- gle ; and settlement not only went on while the war contin- .^-ued, but the settlers were enabled to make their hostile meas- ures againsfth^ir British adversaries so effective that when peace came the whole valley of the Ohio was in their hands, and settlenfieht, in it, was going on with constantly increasing rapidity. • . - < — At once it became a question of vital importance how these people were to find avenues of comirgeroe with the outer world. There was no natural highway to the. east until the Potomac or thie lakes' should be reached, and tl\e profitable transportation ot agricultural or forest products to market by land was entirely out of the question. The dicflBulty was «o obvious and apparently so insurmountable that the peo- ple of the Mstern States very generally assumed that the great interior must necessarily be settled slowlj', and that a , generation or more inust. pass away before its commerce .tfiould be of considerable importance. It was also a preva- • / ' ( ■:) TIJK A^QUISITIOK OF LOUISIANA. lent notion that the spread of, population over sb v^st a re- gion would in 4tself constitute a severe and perhaps fatal test of repi4)lican instifjitions. History it ^as said did not warrant the belief that popular government could exist tpr ' any considepable period except in citifeS and smalldistricts of territory ; and when Fisher Ames said in 17W, "Ages ', must elaps'e before our western wilderness will^be peopled, and (4rod ^lone knows how it can be governed," he gave ex- pressio]^ to ideas which were common in political circles the world-oter;^ Ttrere were nevertheless some far-sighted" men - ' who, read the immediate future more accurately, and who had n faith in the strength and vigor of republican instjitutions ^ which was not circumscribed within narrow limits, nof dr^- ' turbed by the Xfdk of historical precedents. Among the-"^ most Confident ^ these was Washington, who had^JFrom the first appreciated the value of the'West to the Union, and who immediately on the successful termination of the Revolution- ary war had addressedjiis thoughts to the subject of a high- way for immigration and commerce by means of artificial water coiiimunication connecting the Potomac and the Ohio. But his. attention was soon drawn away to public matters of more " immediate interest, and the projected canal was postponed. Immigration to the interior must cross the mountains;^ " but the natural highway ^r commerce was the Mississippi ' river. If the use of this river wer^ left free, nothing bettei" cduld b^ desired. Unfortunately it >^a8 not free. The east bink 5t the river as far south ais the north baundary of. Florida was the property of the Aited-States, Jjut the west .^ blnk, together with the island of Oj-leans was held by Spain. ^ That power, while/ conceding to the people of the United > States the free na:vigation of the Mississippi as farMowp as the American ownership of the left bank extended, clsrimed iixclusive Jilrisdiction below that line*, and proposed to exact i^ustoms duties from such American commerce as should * \^ pass in or out of the mouth of the rivjer. This preteii^ion if yielded to would place all that-coin- inerce at the mercy of Spain, And render not"nierely the nav- igation of the river of little value,*^ but the very land from ■ which the commerce sprung. It was inconceivable that such pretensions should be tolerated if successful resistance were possible, but the settlers Were able to combat' it on .two git)unds, either of which ^emed, according to recognized .rules of international law, conclusive. — ^ ^ " ^ t~^ iiil y i-j .^ ' 8 THE ACQUISITION OP X0UI«L4NA.' / First, As citizens of the countty owning one of the bank» on the upper portion of the stream, they claimed ihe free navigation. to the sea with the privilege of a "landing place at its mouth as a natural right"; and they were able to fortify this claimr— if it needed support — with the opinions of pub- licists of acknowledged authority. ^ Second, They claimed under the treaty of il763 between Great Britain and France, whereby the latter then the owner of Louisiana, had conceded to the former the free navigation of the Mississippi in its whole breadth and length, with pas- sage in and out of its mouth, subject to the payment of no duty whatsoever. Whatsoever rights Great Britain secured . by this treaty were secured for the' advantage of the people wjho t^erejto enjoy them, and must therefore have passed with the transfer of dominion to the United States ; and whatso- ever servitude the Spanish part of the river was subject to when held by France, it must be subject to in the £iands of the nation to which France had transferred its jurisdiction. ' Thus both in natural right and by treaty concession tlie claim of the American settler's seemed incontrovertible, and perhaps it may fairly be said th^t the whole country agreed in this view. When Mr. Jay, while the war of independence was still in progress, was sent to Spain to negotiate a treaty of unity and assistance, he was specially charged with the duty to see that the free navigation of the Mississijipi was conceded. All his endeavors to that end, however, resulted in failure, and he was compelled to return home with the American, claim still disputed. In 1785 the* negotiation wat* transferred to this country, and Mr. Jay rene^yed his effort to obtain concessions, but without avail. The tenacity with which Spain held to its claim was so persistent that Con- gress in its anxiety to obtain a treaty of commerce finally instructed Mr. Jay on its behalf to constent that for twenty-* five years the United States should forbear to claim the right in dispute. The instruction was given by the vote of the seven Northern States against a united South; ai^d the action was so distinctly sectional as to threaten the stability of the Union." The southern people were with some reason excited and angry ; and the charge was freely made that the Noi^h, to secure to itself commercial advantages, had ungeu «rou8ly and uj^jfairly sacrificed the interest of the South ara West, inhere ^s enough in the circumstances to. make ^e ehargeijseem altogether plausible; and threats that the din- ^1/ ■■#f" THE ACQUISITION OF LOUI8IAMA. 9 satisfied people would take redress into their own hands re- gardless of treaty stipulations were freely indulged in. In the West the feeling of dissatisfaction was most intense, and uncompromising. The settlers oi Kentucky already deemed themselves sufficiently numerous and powerftfl to be entitled to set up a state government of their own, ' and to have a voice in the councils of the Confederation. It seemed to them, therefore, an insult as well as an injury when their right to the \i8e of their great national highway was thus, and as they believed on selfish grounds, put aside without tso much as consulting their wishes or their interests. To waive their right was to check their prosperity ; fo/ their lands without it were o'f little value, and accumulations as a result of their labors and privations would be entirely out of the question. From that time, therefpre, the movement for a state government was accompanied and strengthened by a feeling that the settlers beyond thgtaountains were treated with neglect and conteippt by thelRninant majority in the Confederacy ; so that the influences which drew the settler* together in sentiment, drew them at thje sam« time away from the Union. In Tennessee as well as in Kentucky settlements had been going on rapidly ; >tnd perhaps in the former even more dis- tinctly than in the latter a growing indifference to the national bond was manifest. Serious complaint had been made by the settlers when North Carolina ceded its wester^ lands to the United States ; and in 1784 their dissatisfaction rose to a height that impelled them to revolution. The authority of the parent state was repudiated, and the settlers organized a state of their own which they called Franklin, and proceeded to give .it offlcfers and enforce their jurisdiction. The likelihood of civil war was for a time threatening; but this strange episode of a revolutionary state peacefully performing its functions was finally after four years tolerance brought to an end, and the state disman- tled, through wise measures of conciliation on the part of North Carolina authorities. But the feeling of dissatisfac- tion with Spanish pretensions remained and continued to- grow in intens/ty ; and one of the diflBeult questions which confronted the new government, formed under the Federal constitution, was how to deal with this feeling and control or remove it. Spanish levies on American conpimerce were in some cases almost prohibiiory, reaching fifty or seventy* , it >^.-f 1 -^**i- ',CWf».' THE ACQUISITION OF LOUI8IAMA. » satisfied people would take redress into their own bunds re- gardless of treaty stipulations were freely indulged in. In the West the feeling of dissatisfaction was most intense and uncompromising. The settlers ol' Kentucky already deemed themselves sufficiently numerous and powerfiil to be entitled to set up a state government of their own, and to have a voice in the councils of the Confederation. It seemed H^hf i^'/ Zi^^^.^/"^^; ^^ infiult as well as an injury when their right Ut lliu usetTiMUuir griwr natto^fit highway wm thus, and as they believed on selflHh grounds, put aside without , HO much as consulting their wishes or their interests. To waive their right was to check their prosperity; tot their lands without it were of little value, and accumulations as a result of their labors and privations would be entirely out of the question. From that time, therefpre, the movement for a state government was accompanied and strengthened by a feeling that the settlers beyond thgnountains were treated 10 THE ACQUISITION Of LOUISIANA. five per cent, ad valorem and it was quite out of the question that hardy backwoodsmen trained to arms should for any considerable time submit to pay them. If the national gov- ernment failed to secure their rights by diplomacy, they would seek redress in such other way as might be open to them. ' . Five different methods of redress suggested themselves to different minds ; and Mr. 'Martin the historian of Louisiana assures us that parties were to be found in. the West who advocated each of them. I. The West might declare its separation from the Union and the establishment of an independent republic, which would secure protection and at the saiiM^ time obtain its rights in the Mississippi by entering into a treaty ef alliance and com- merce with Spain. ' ' ^ II. The country might with the consent of its people be annexed to the province of Louisiana, and Spanish laws and institutions accepted as a lesser evil than federal neglect with existing Spanish oppressions. III. War mght be made upon Spain, and New Orleans and West Florida seized and held by the settlers regardless of federal authority. IV. Congress might by active and forcible measures com- pel Spain to yield the privileges and rights which had been refused to negotiation. V. The settlers might place themselves under the protec- tion of France ; soliciting her to procure a retrocession of Louisiana and to extend her protection over Kentucky and the Cumberland settlements. But while all these variou^emedies suggested themselves to the minds of the people, it can be safely assumed that a prevailing sentiment existed in Tavor of the existing connec- tion with the Union, and that redress at the handsof France or Spain was looked to only in the contingency that any other was found to be impracticable. Among the m^t prominent of the Kentucky settlers web Oen. James Wilkinson, who had gone there as a merchant in 1784. He was shortly found advocating, though some- what covertly, the setting up of an independent State Gov- «rnment. In 1787 he opened trade with New Orleani|, and endeavored to impress upon the Spanish authorities the im- portance of an amicable understanding with the settlers in the Ohio valley. His representations for a time had considerable -^i; ii--^-!?;- ..o'*.?-,-^-^- THE AGQUI8ITIOJI OF LOUISIANA. 11 effect, and the trade ^JMHP ^^^y relieved of oppressiye bur- dens, but Americans iti^Hpivited to make settlements within Spanish limits in Louisfafillind West Florida. A considerable settlement was actually inade at New Madrid under this invi-' tation. But there is no reason to believe that genuine good feeling inspired this policy ; the purpose plainly in view was to build up a Spanish party among the American settlers And eventually to detach them from the United States. But the course pursued was variable, being characterized in turn by liberality and by rigor. Wilkinson appears to have been Allowed special privileges in trade, and this together with the fact that he was known to receive a heavy remittance from New Orleans, begat a suspicion that he was under Spanish pay ; a suspicion from which he was never wholly relieyed, and which probably to some extent affected the judgments of men when he came under further suspicion in consequence of equivocal relations with Aaron Burr. In 1789 a British emissary made his appearance in Kentucky, whose mission seemed to be to sound the sentiments of the people respecting union with Canada. He came at a bad time for his purposes ; for the feeling of t^ie country against Oreat Britain was then at its height, and was particularly strong in the West, where the failure to deliver up the posts within American limits was known to have been influential in encouraging Indian hostilities. The British agent, there- fore, met with anything but frjendly reception, and found^it for- his interest to maintain secr^y as far as possible, and to take speedy departure. But the Spanish authorities contin- ued their intrigues, and in 1795, Thomas Powers, an English- man who had become a Spanish subject, and Don Manuel Oayoso, a brigadier "General in the armies of Spain, and then holding the office of Govsrnor of Natchez, we»e sent on a secret mission to the disaffected settlers. What was done by them waiS carefully veiled in secrecy, but there is reason to believe that men in high position were ready to listen to their advances. But the putting down of what is known as the Whisky Insurrection in western Pennsylvania and the tinal defeat of the Indians by General Wayne had greatly Htrengthened the national sentiment and made treasonable plans proportionately more dangerous ; so that this mission also had no result. Meantime Spain had become so far com- plicated in European wars as to be solicitous regarding the preservation of her own American possessions, then bordered 18 THE ACQUISITION OF LOUISIANA. by a hostilS people, and at her suggestion an enToy was sent by the United States to Madrid, with whom in October 1795 a treaty was made whereby among other things it was agreed that Spain. should permit the people of the United States for the term of three years to make use of the port of ^ew Orleans as a place of /deposit for their produce and merchan- dise, and to export tihe same free from ail duty or charge except for storage aid in«idental expenses. At the end of the three years the treaty contemplated further negotiations, and it was hoped by ihe American authorities that a decisive step had been takeri towards the complete recognition Qf American claims. The treaty, howe^^r, was far from satisfying the people of Kentucky and Tennessee, who looked upon, the assent of Spain to it as a mere makeshift for the protection of her territory from invasion. Projects for taking forcible pos- session of the mouth of the Mississippi continued therefore to be agitated. In 1798 after the admission of Tennessee to the Union, William Blount, one of its Senators, was ex- pelled from the Senate on the charge of conspiring to set on foot an expedition against the Spanish American possessions, but his punishment only made him more popular than ever in his own State, and he was likely to be chosen Governor as a marie of their approval had not his death occurred before the time of election. It is evident that this state of affairs continually boded mischief, and the difficulty of preserving friendly relations with Spain was greatly increased by the existence of Euro- pean wars in which that power was involved. The schemes of Don Francisco de Miranda for the over- throw of Spanish authority in America now became impor- tant. Mirai^da was of Spanish-American birth, and had been in the United States while the war of Independence was pending and formed acquaintance among the American of- ficers. Conceiving the idea of liberating the Spanish colon- ies, he sought assistance from England and Russia, but when the French Revolution occurred he enlisted in the French service and for a time held important military posi- tions. Driven from France in 1797 he took up his old scheme again, looking now to England and America for the necessa- ry assistance. Several leading American statesmen were ap- proached on the subject, Hamilton among them ; and while the relations between France and the United States seemed ^ THE ACQUISITION OF LOUISIANA. 13 -jiikely to result in war, that great man, who had no fear of evils to result from the extension of territory, listened with approval to the project of a combined attack T)y British and American forces on the Spanish Colonies, and would have been willing with the approval of the government, to person- ally take part in it. President Adams, however, frowned upon the scheme, and it was necessarily but with great re- luctance abandoned. ^ And now occurred an event of highest interest to the peo- ple of the United States. Spain aware of her precarious hold upon Louisiana, /In 1800 retroceded it to France. The coun- try thus passed |rom a weak nation to a strong one ; from a people to whose/ enmity Americans would be comparatively indifferent, to Another that in our extremity had been our friend and all^, and with whom we had just been arranging unpleasant controversies, and Ivould not willingly have new difficulties opened. Mr. Jefferson was deeply stirred when he learned of it and foreboded only evil from France possess- ing itself of the mouth of the Mississippi. - He immediately addressed a letter to Mr. Livingston the American minster at Paris, in which in Strong terms he expressed his anxiety. The retrocession he said, "completely reverses all the polit- ical relations of the United States, and will form a new epoch in our political course." "France," he went on to say, "we have ever looked to as our natural friend ; as one with which we could never have an occasion of difference," But France, placing herself at the dbor of our interior commerce, "assumes to us the attitude of defiance. Spain might have retained it quietly for years. Her pacific disposition, her fee- ble state, would induce her to increase our facilities there, so that her possession of the place would be hardly felt by 'us, and it would not perhaps be very long before some circumstance might arise which might make the cession of it to us the price of something of more worth to her. Not so can it ever be in the hands of France; the impetuosity of her temper, the energy and restlessness of her character, placed in a point of eternal friction with us, and our character, which, though ^'■>^"^s prHE ACQUISITION OP LOUISIANA. 17 it does those who for the time constitute the smaller and weaker party. Mr. Jefterson, therefore, struck a dangerous Jflow at the foundat^n principles of the government, and of- fered to demagojiftfes who should come after him a corrupting and dangerous precedent, when he proposed to violate the Constitution in order to accomplish an object of immediate desire. And it was quite immaterial that the object to be accomplished appeared to be of great importanqe and urg- ency : party measures commonly appear such to party lead- ers, and the plea is one that can always be advanced and will be found as available in one case as in another if popular support can be gained for it. 'But Mr^ Jetterson's political mistake was scarcely greater than that committed by his opponents : and indeed from a party standpoint it was no mistake whatsoever, but . a bold measure of wise policy. He lightly judged that the pur- chase would meet with popular approval and would strength- en his administration and his party. If this proved to be the^ case the political wrong would be condoned by the pop- ular voice even though it would stand as a dangerous prece- dent. But the purchase, according to the Federal view of the Constitution was perfectly legitimate. That instrument had given to the Federal Government complete control of the foreign relations of the states, and vested it with the powers of sovereignty in respect to them as completely m they were possessed by any other power on the globe.' If, therefore, any other power might acquire territory by pur- chase or otherwise, the United States must possess the compe- tency to do so. This, according to the Federal construction of the Constitution was clear and unquestionable. If the express authority were not given, the power was nevertheless to be implied from the complete grant of sovereignty in re- spect to the general subject : otherwise, as the states were deprived by the Constitution of all participation in diplo- matic intercourse, the extraordinary spectacle would be ex- hibited of a great nation so hampered and tied up by its in- ternal regulations that in no emergency, however great or imperative, could it deal with another for the acquisition of territory : for a spot even for a fortress or a light- house, or for an indispensible passage way. This was at war with the doctrine which the Federalists h^d advocated from the first. According to their construction of the Constitution the gov*- ernment had been invested by it with complete powers of 18 THE ACQUISITION OF LOUISIANA. I I *■ J sovereigiity over all the subjects entrusted to it, except as express restrictions were imposed. A Federalist therefore, might very well regard - with satisfaction the, purchase of Louisiana, since it could only be lawfully made in , recogni- tion of the federal doctrine of implied national powers. He might also be pleased with it because it must tend greatly to strengthen the national authority, which had been an im- portant object of federal policy from the time\the govern- ment was organized. Mr. Gouverneur Morris, one of the most consistent and able of the Federalist leaders, saw this very plainly, and gave strong Approval to the purchase. Hamil- ton saw it with efqual distincthesk He had never had any fears of evils to spring from territorial expansion, arid he had little patience with the disposition the Federalists now exhibited to fall back on a strict construction of the Consti- tution and embarrass the Government with scruples as to power. "It will never do," he said, "to carry the tnorals of a monk into the cabinet of a statesman." No doubt he agreed in the view expressed by John Quincy Adams a little later that the purchase was "an assumption of implied pow- ers greater in itself and more comprehensive in its conse- quences than all the assumptions of implied powers in . the twelve years of the Washington and Adams administrations put together." But this was of no moment if the act was wise in itsdlf and warranted by the /Constitution, and of the wisdom of the acquisition he took thje same broad and en- lightened view which was expressed by Franklin to Jay in 1794 when in answer to a suggestion that we should concede to Spain its claims he said : ' "I would rather agree with the Spaniards to buy at a great price the whole of their xight on the Mississippi than sell a drop of its waters. A neighbor might as well ask me to sell ray street door." The purchase was accomplished with popular approval. LaFayette justly called it a " blessed arrangement for Louisi- ana," and wrote to Edward Livingstoip brother to the min- ister, "With ail my heart I rejoice with you on this great ^ negotiation." But the Federalists in general took narrow and partisan views, and in order to embarrass the adminis- tration resorted to quibbles .which were altogether unworthy the. party which had boasted of Washington as its chief and Hamilton as the exponent of its doctrines. First, they ques- tioned the validity of the title which. France assumed to convey, and which they claimed was hampered by conditions f ^-. «->->^'. THE^ AXJQUISITION'OF LOUISIANA. 19 i in*tiie Spanish transfer: an objection which properly be- longed to Spain herself to raiser if it had any force. Sec- ond, they objected ths^ ifi the purchase it was agrdfed that the inhabitants of the acquired territory should be clothed with the rights of citizenship, whereas the con&titutiob vest- ed the power to naturalize exclusively in Congress. But if the powfer to acquire* the tersrtory existed^his objection was without merit since the power^i^ confer .citizenship upon the people must be incidental. Thifd, th^ complaiped that the acquisition added greatly td the presidential patronage; the last objection that a Federalist, anxious to strengthen the national authority, could consistently raise. And be- sides other objections which wer^ mere cavijs,. they claimed that the boundaries of Louisiana were wholly uncertain and undefined, so^hat it was impossible to say what' we had pur- chased. This last objection was, based in fact. No one could say what'Vv^as the south west boundary of the t^itory acquired ; whether it should be the Sabine o? the Rio del Norte ; and a controvefsy'^ith Spain on the subject might at any time ai^ise. The northwest boundary was also some- what vague arid uncertain, and would be^»pen^jto controversy with Great Britain. The territory extenoM^west to the Rocky Mountains was not questioned, but itxmight be claimed that it extended to the TPacific. An impressteji that it did so extend has since prevailed in some quarters, ifiad in some public papers arid documents it has been.assumed as an undQubted fact. But neither Mr. "^Jeff'ersbn nor the French, whose right he purchased, ever claimed for Louisi- ana any such eitent and our title to Oregon, has been safely deuced frdm other sources.* Mr. Jetferson sai^ expressly, "'Bo the waters of the Pacific, We v can found nojplaimin right of Louipiana,'^ But the Federal leaders did not stop at cavils; they insis- ted that the unconstitutional exTtensipn of territory was in effect a dissolution of the Union, ,80 that they were at lib- erty to contemplate and plan for affinal disruption. "Mr. Timothy Pickering, Mr. Roger Griswold and Mr. .^osiah Qutncy were particularly outspoken in this regard. They saw in this vast acquisition of western territory the final overthrow of ^the Federal party, the triumph of Democratic ideas, the destruction of the conservative influence of New England in the nation, and the impoverishment of ^heir sec- tibn by the transfer of population and enterprise to the west J K '^^fW^:r THE ACQUISITION 'OF LOUISIANA. 20 and soutli. ^^^^t>ir /earn wereas extravagant as their poli- ^l *•" M^'**^ ^i»ted rind sjiicidal. Even in their own section of ihm Lnion the# >.itt»»r complaints fell on deaf ears, and they Wows they aimed at Mr. Jertnrson, while failing to harn. .hini, from their very violence. recoiled destructively upon tW ' pRrtjr Ihey assumed to lead. Mr. Jetlerson, as president it '" IS plfttii to be sfeen, now, committed some serious mistakes but iiu«i of f hem ho great, in a purty point of view, as the mistake of th.f Federalists in opposing .the acquisition of Louisiana. That party, though still, for a time, possesning considerable vitality, was never again able to make hopeful contest for the government of the country. From 1800 to I8I4 its partyism was 'stronger than' its patriotism, and it justly suff'ered the penalty. ' . . , Briefly now, we direct attention to such subsequent events • ot importance as connect thehiselves directly with the Lou- isiana purchase. I. When the purchase was accomplished the parties con- cerned in it troubled themselves . no mrtre with scruples respecting the want of constitutional. power. The purchase was a finality, and if inade without author4ty, it was never- theless made and could not be unmade. A constitutional amendment might affirm it, but it needed no affirmation for Its protection, and the ^nly advanta^in having one wouhl ^e to quiet doubts and remove scru^pr But when the Fed- eralists came tO mak^ profession of scruples, Mr. Jetlerson and his friends from party antagonism, found their own scruples growing weaker, and very' soon ceasing to trouble them.. The more vigorously the Federalists cried out against the violation of the Constitution, the more complaisant the Republicans became, and the less dispbsed to question the* original |ustificattpn. The annexation of the. territory wa)s therefoi:§|it;cepted as a legitimate exercise of constitutional authority, and it settled for all time the question ,of It established a precedent which w^isvcertain to be ff whenever occasion should invite it, ISI it would be conjj^nd- that thti^ Constitution dfd not sanction wL.,..,™.. thus LOUISIANA.- ' . 21 ta^ afl^i;^ I'^^ul^ "^^"^^^-^ ^Kainst them. It was the fedPr«r^n ' *l^* P*'*^«^' ^"^ ^^^^^^^ ^^ contend that, pi^Wy'grlTJ "."^^ *^^^^ '''''' ^« ^»^«P— ex/ tio^bt'tTw^''"™:^!^'n^^^^ ^ P^rty of Btrict construc- policy, when circumstances appeared to lustiiHr it „«,i j> has repeatedly yielded from tfiSe to tiLVfrol^t^'atXy to ouSj^^f ^^ • ^'^^^"^ "^^ settlement of a constitutional ^l^^SPIMitxercisinga power which the actors asserted had UnJ^^^^^^'^'""^^ ""^ iteelf indefensible, the settle- e^th! ^i!" ."^ ""^^ '^""^ *"^ "^^*^*' ^r- Jefferson's scru- « InSon in'for^f Tif ''^''"■^ unwarranted. It was not the - he ryn^on in T^^ ^' constitution that the government of haleVnv ie s th«tTh ^^'^ ^"^^rnational questions, should^ possessed hv nth. '*^"^ ^^^^^ 9«mplete authority which-is Thmild h. ^^ ff. independent governments, or that- it- shoruld be precluded und^r any cii^cum stances from reco£ - - n p3 ^''r '"''"^ npon'such motives of necessity aSd of ^ preme policy as may be recognized and acted upon by otheb In facVthe President's „scruples were barn o^art/conTn-' tion; andwe may well believe that reflection brought to his^miSd a conviction of their baseless nature "^ • stif utin^ri^ practical settlement of the question of con- stitutional power did not heal the wound the Constitution •e