Bargain Hunters vs. the Wheelers and Dealers

Jefferson's negotiating team in the purchase of the New Orleans/Louisiana Purchase were:

1.  Robert Livingston - an aristocratic New Yorker, minister to France.  He was slightly deaf and spoke lousy French.  It is recorded that he thought he had heard wrong when the purchase was of a large land mass the size of the entire United States  rather than the port of New Orleans.

2.  James Monroe - Virginian politician and personal friend of Thomas Jefferson.  He was the
president's special emissary because in those days the President did not travel to foreign countries.  Monroe arrived the day AFTER the French proposal.  He was the bargainer.

Negotiating for Napoleon were:

1.  Talleyrand - the Prime Minister of France, ex-bishop who proposed to Livingston that the purchase include more than just New Orleans.

2.  Barbe Marbois - elder statesman, known for integrity.  He handled the details.  He did such a good job of bargaining that he made the boss dictator (Napoleon wasn't emperor yet) an extra $6 million than Napoleon would have agreed to!

Napoleon wanted quick cash and a good price for the land deal - he got both. 

One stumbling block was that the Americans lacked the required money up front.  The solution? Borrow it from Britain of course.  The British already knew what was going on from their own "spies".  They wanted "weak" United States (as they saw them) to own land rather than "strong" Napoleon and all his power, so they gladly offered the $20 million at 6% interest.  The actual land became US territory on March 8, 1804, although the United States took possession of New Orleans on December 20, 1803. 

Next time...what did we just buy?
__________________________________
On this day inn Pioneer History:  Samuel Clemens, later known as Mark Twin, is born in Florida, Missouri, on this day in 1835.