The Great Unknown Purchase

No one seemed to know what this complete mystery we just bought was like! France refused to specify the southern or western boundary, leaving it to the United States to deal with Spain.  Talleyrand said, "You have made the best possible terms for yourselves and I suppose you will make the most of it."

What was known of the resources, terrain, and climate of the new purchase was as vague as the boundaries.  The few Europeans who had explored the area had only explored narrow, long pieces of land, chiefly along major rivers.  Other than that information, the United States had no idea what lay to the west.  They had borrowed a great deal of money for something they had no idea what it was!

Jefferson's answer to this problem was to enlist the explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark to explore just what the United States had just purchased.  Jefferson also wanted to strengthen the US claims to Oregon Country and find a water route to the Pacific Ocean if there was one. 

Next time... the men who set out into the great unknown
________________________
Today in Pioneer History: On December 3, 1818,  Illinois achieves full statehood. Though Illinois presented unique challenges to immigrants unaccustomed to the soil and vegetation of the area, it grew to become a bustling and densely populated state.

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.