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Chapter 1. “An Object So Dear to the Heart of Every American”: American Interests and the Purchase of Louisiana
- University Press of Mississippi
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American Interests and the Purchase of Louisiana • • CHAPTER ONE “An Object So Dear to the Heart of Every American” American Interests and the Purchase of Louisiana I n comparison to other French colonies of the mid-eighteenth century, Louisiana was an economic failure. Efforts to establish a profitable trade in cash crops such as tobacco and indigo were hindered by climate, shortages of slave labor, skeptical merchants in France, and the duties of the Farmers General and the Crown. The capital of the colony, New Orleans, was founded in 1718. Located 100 miles up the Mississippi River, it was an Atlantic gateway to the interior of North America. French officials and merchants at New Orleans found it difficult to profit from the valuable North American interior fur trade because Indian traders recognized the superiority of English goods: “Anglo-American traders consequently received the best furs and pelts, fastened more tightly their economic hold upon the Indians, and increased Indian dissatisfaction with the French.” 1 Because of Louisiana’s relatively limited economic growth, the population of Louisiana grew slowly until France was forced to abandon the colony as a result of defeat in the Seven Years’ War. In 1763, after half a century of settlement , the population of the lower Mississippi valley was approximately “four thousand whites, five thousand Negro slaves, two hundred mulatto slaves, one hundred Indian slaves and one hundred free people of color.” 2 By the seventh article of the peace treaty of 1763, France ceded its possessions east of the Mississippi to Great Britain, except for the province of Orleans, which was surrendered to Spain. Anglo-American traders poured into the lands abandoned by the French after the Seven Years’ War, and they took control of much of the trade along the Mississippi River. “By 1767 Anglo -Americans were diverting trade from Illinois down the Mississippi River to the towns they controlled along the Gulf. On the Mississippi they turned American Interests and the Purchase of Louisiana • • Natchez and Baton Rouge into fortified settlements; on the Gulf they made Pensacola the hub of their interests.” 3 The extent of Spanish weakness in Louisiana was demonstrated in October 1768 when a rebellion in response to a Spanish decree prohibiting trade between France and Louisiana resulted in the expulsion of the Spanish governor, Antonio de Ulloa. In response, Spain sent a new governor, Alexander O’Reilly, who had recently served Spain at Havana, and 2,000 men to Louisiana in 1769. O’Reilly successfully put down the rebellion in New Orleans, but his attempts to crack down on Anglo-American trade in Louisiana failed. “Anglo-Americans penetrated as far west as Texas and captured much of Louisiana’s commerce. They even supplied New Orleans with the greater part of its food.” 4 Oliver Pollock, an Irish American merchant who had engaged in trade at Havana while O’Reilly was there, was one of the first Anglo-Americans to make a fortune in Louisiana. In 1769 he capitalized on a food shortage in New Orleans and brought a cargo of flour from Pittsburgh down the Mississippi . 5 With O’Reilly’s permission, Pollock developed a regular trade between Philadelphia and New Orleans. Anglo-American interest in Louisiana increased during the American Revolution when the Spanish government decided to aid the thirteen colonies in their struggle with Britain. With the support of Spain, Pollock was able to obtain supplies and loans for American military expeditions. For these services, the Continental Congress recognized Pollock as its regular agent in New Orleans in 1778, and he profited handsomely from this position until the Revolution ended in 1783. 6 As a result of the American Revolution, England lost its colonies in North America, and Spain regained control of East and West Florida. “For Louisiana new disadvantages offset these successes. The Americans of the newly created United States were the same aggressive people who under the British flag had pushed westward and threatened to take over the colony.” 7 The potential for profit from Louisiana trade increased greatly in the period between the end of the American Revolution and the Louisiana Purchase. The introduction of the cotton gin and the first successful mass production of sugar created an economic boom in Louisiana during the 1790s. 8 This prosperity attracted more Americans to Louisiana, and it became apparent that Spain was incapable of preventing them from settling there. “By 1795 it was too late for Spain to take effective steps against the Americans.” 9 As the...