why did president jefferson wish to control the mississippi river?
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The Louisiana Purchase
A look at Jefferson's role in the Louisiana Purchase, which doubled the size of the young American republic.
Thomas Jefferson's Monticello
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The Louisiana Purchase
The Louisiana Purchase (1803) was a land deal between the United States and France, in which the U.S. acquired approximately 827,000 square miles of land west of the Mississippi River for $15 million.
[T]his little event, of France possessing herself of Louisiana, ... is the embryo of a tornado which will burst on the countries on both shores of the Atlantic and involve in it’s effects their highest destinies.1
President Thomas Jefferson wrote this prediction in an April 1802 letter to Pierre Samuel du Pont amid reports that Spain would retrocede to France the vast territory of Louisiana. As the United States had expanded westward, navigation of the Mississippi River and access to the port of New Orleans had become critical to American commerce, so this transfer of authority was cause for concern. Within a week of his letter to du Pont, Jefferson wrote U.S. Minister to France Robert Livingston: "every eye in the US. is now fixed on this affair of Louisiana. perhaps nothing since the revolutionary war has produced more uneasy sensations through the body of the nation."2
The Fry-Jefferson Map of Virginia
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The Fry-Jefferson Map of Virginia
Background
The presence of Spain was not so provocative. A conflict over navigation of the Mississippi had been resolved in 1795 with a treaty in which Spain recognized the United States' right to use the river and to deposit goods in New Orleans for transfer to oceangoing vessels. In his letter to Livingston, Jefferson wrote, "Spain might have retained [New Orleans] quietly for years. her pacific dispositions, her feeble state, would induce her to increase our facilities there, so that her possession of the place would be hardly felt by us." He went on to speculate that "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."3
Napoleon Bonaparte by Paul Delaroche
Jefferson's vision of obtaining territory from Spain was altered by the prospect of having the much more powerful France of Napoleon Bonaparte as a next-door neighbor.
France had surrendered its North American possessions at the end of the French and Indian War. New Orleans and Louisiana west of the Mississippi were transferred to Spain in 1762, and French territories east of the Mississippi, including Canada, were ceded to Britain the next year. But Napoleon, who took power in 1799, aimed to restore France's presence on the continent.
The Louisiana situation reached a crisis point in October 1802 when Spain's King Charles IV signed a decree transferring the territory to France and the Spanish agent in New Orleans, acting on orders from the Spanish court, revoked Americans' access to the port's warehouses. These moves prompted outrage in the United States.
1815 Plan of New Orleans by I. Tanesse; courtesy the Library of Congress
While Jefferson and Secretary of State James Madison worked to resolve the issue through diplomatic channels, some factions in the West and the opposition Federalist Party called for war and advocated secession by the western territories in order to seize control of the lower Mississippi and New Orleans.
Negotiations
Aware of the need for action more visible than diplomatic maneuvering and concerned with the threat of disunion, Jefferson in January 1803 recommended that James Monroe join Livingston in Paris as minister extraordinary. (Later that same month, Jefferson asked Congress to fund an expedition that would cross the Louisiana territory, regardless of who controlled it, and proceed on to the Pacific. This would become the Lewis and Clark Expedition.) Monroe was a close personal friend and political ally of Jefferson's, but he also owned land in Kentucky and had spoken openly for the rights of the western territories.
Boundaries of the Louisiana Purchase
Jefferson urged Monroe to accept the posting, saying he possessed "the unlimited confidence of the administration & of the Western people." Jefferson added: "all eyes, all hopes, are now fixed on you, .... for on the event of this mission depends the future destinies of this republic."4
Shortly thereafter, Jefferson wrote to Kentucky's governor, James Garrard, to inform him of Monroe's appointment and to assure him that Monroe was empowered to enter into "such arrangements as may effectually secure our rights and interest in the Mississipi, and in the country Eastward of that."5
As Jefferson noted in that letter, Monroe's charge was to obtain land east of the Mississippi. Monroe's instructions, drawn up by Madison and approved by Jefferson, allocated up to $10 million for the purchase of New Orleans and all or part of the Floridas. If this bid failed, Monroe was instructed to try to purchase just New Orleans, or, at the very least, secure U.S. access to the Mississippi and the port.
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Why was control of the Mississippi River important to the United States?
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Western farmers relied heavily on the Mississippi River to transport their wheat and corn. Spain control the New Orleans Port which was vital in the transportation of goods. Thomas Pinckney was sent by the U.S. (President Washington) to find a way to keep the port open (Pinckney Treaty). (In 1800 Spain would sign a treaty to give back New Orleans to France.)
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How did the U.S. purchase Louisiana?
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Jefferson sent Robert Livingston and James Monroe to purchase New Orleans from France. They negotiated with Talleyrand and then with Napoleon, who needed money to fund his wars in Europe. Suddenly Talleyrand asked Livingston if the U.S. wanted to buy all of Louisiana. Monroe and Livingston offered Napoleon 15 million.
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Why was control of the Mississippi River important to the United States?
Western farmers relied heavily on the Mississippi River to transport their wheat and corn. Spain control the New Orleans Port which was vital in the transportation of goods. Thomas Pinckney was sent by the U.S. (President Washington) to find a way to keep the port open (Pinckney Treaty). (In 1800 Spain would sign a treaty to give back New Orleans to France.)
How did the U.S. purchase Louisiana?
Jefferson sent Robert Livingston and James Monroe to purchase New Orleans from France. They negotiated with Talleyrand and then with Napoleon, who needed money to fund his wars in Europe. Suddenly Talleyrand asked Livingston if the U.S. wanted to buy all of Louisiana. Monroe and Livingston offered Napoleon 15 million.
What were the results of the explorations of Lewis and Clark and of the Zebulon Pike?
...
Why did Jefferson seek to control the Mississippi River?
He knew we needed control to be able to transport goods. Also, in 1800, Spain signed a treaty giving Louisiana back to France. President Jefferson was alarmed. He knew that the French ruler, Napoleon Bonaparte, had already set out to conquer Europe. He was worried Bonaparte would now try to build an empire in North America.
Why did the French offer to sell Louisiana to the United States?
The French needed to fund their wars in Europe
Identify the 2 goals and one result of the Lewis and Clark expedition.
2 Goals were to study the new lands and to map a route to the Pacific Ocean. One result of the expedition was they met Sacagawea. Sacagawea belonged to the Shoshone(shoh shoh nee) people, who lived in the Rockies. She and her French Canadian husband agreed to accompany Lewis and Clark as translators. The Shoshones supplied the expedition with food and horses. They also advised Lewis and Clark about the best route to take over the Rockies.
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Why did Jefferson feel that it was important for the United States to control the Mississippi River?
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History Why did Jefferson feel that it was important for the United States to control the Mississippi River?
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There were several reasons why Thomas Jefferson believed it was important for the United States to control the Mississippi River. The Mississippi River was very important to western farmers. They used the river to transport their crops so they could get their crops to markets where they could be sold....
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There were several reasons why Thomas Jefferson believed it was important for the United States to control the Mississippi River. The Mississippi River was very important to western farmers. They used the river to transport their crops so they could get their crops to markets where they could be sold. Spain had previously controlled the port of New Orleans. Eventually, Spain cut off the right of the United States to deposit or store goods at New Orleans. This could be a crippling blow not only to the western farmers but also to the economy of the United States. When President Jefferson learned that Spain had transferred control of Louisiana, including the port of New Orleans, to France in 1802, he decided to try to make a deal with France that would give the United States control over New Orleans and the area around it.
President Jefferson wanted to buy New Orleans and West Florida for ten million dollars. When Napoleon countered with an offer to buy the entire Louisiana Territory for fifteen million dollars, Jefferson had to be convinced that this was constitutional. By purchasing the entire Louisiana Territory, the United States controlled the Mississippi River and the port of New Orleans. This would allow farmers to ship their products on the Mississippi River to the port. Other products could also enter the country through New Orleans. This action not only helped western farmers and the American economy, it also showed the people living in the West that the government cared about them, their interests, and their welfare.
Further Readinghttps://billofrightsinstitute.org/educate/educator-resour...
https://www.lehrmaninstitute.org/history/louisiana-purcha...
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