The Purchase

    Napoleon was watching his dreams of a French empire in North America die. The 1791, slave rebellion in Haiti ruined his plan to use Louisiana as a trade center for French-Haitian sugar and coffee. The loss of Haiti drove Napoleon to a diplomatic agreement with the United States. He needed immediate cash to renew his expansionist efforts in Europe. On April 27, 1803, he directed his ministers to cede the rights over Louisiana to the American Union. ​​​​​​​

"They ask of me only one town in Louisiana; but I already consider the colonas entirely lost; and it appears to me that in the hands of this growing power it will be more useful to the policy and even to the commerce of France."
~ Napoleon Bonapart, April 10, 1803

“ I direct you to negotiate this afface” ~ Napoleon Bonapart 

“It is not only New Orleans that I will cede, it is the whole colony without reservation. I renounce it with the greatest regret. . . . I require a great deal of money for this war [with Britain"
~ Napoleon Bonapart

    Robert Livingston and James Monroe successfully negotiated the terms of the treaty. For $15,000,000, the diplomats succeeded in doubling the size of the country. However,  Napoleon wanted immediate cash. The United States did not have $15,000,000 in currency. The diplomats finally agreed to $11.25 million in government bonds with a 6% interest rate, as well as the transfer of $3.75 million in debts owed by France to US citizens.