The foundation for the Louisiana Purchase (1803) was primarily laid when President Thomas Jefferson appointed Robert …show more content…
The harsh reality was that he was strapped financially and was in the midst of an impending war with Great Britain because the peace between the two nations had been shaken. Furthermore, he needed the money desperately if a conflict did break out between the nations. Consequently, the possibility of combat with Britain coupled with financial wounds made the establishment of North American empire impossible. There was no other choice but to sell the Louisiana Territory in its entirety to the United States. This can be corroborated by “Jefferson’s Great Gamble” by Charles A. Cerami which emphasizes:
In fact, as Marbois later wrote, he felt the decision was already made (to cede Louisiana to America). That was probably because he (Marbois) had always known that Louisiana could not prosper as a French colony unless France also controlled a prosperous Saint Domingue. And that island was proving to be Napoleon’s worse disaster to date …show more content…
The earliest stage was when Livingston went to France to engage in an intake process to determine France’s plan for the Louisiana Territory. Prior to the final negotiations, Livingston made intense efforts to tap into what the French were hiding as a means to figure out their weakness. The United States was always a step ahead of France because they were already aware of the Spain transferring power over the territory back to France. This gravity of this portion of the text lies in how it refers to a document he composed as an appeal to France, which confronted reasons as to why it would not be in the best interest of France to hold on to the Louisiana Territory. The primary objective of Livingston’s pre-negotiation efforts was to foster a willingness on Bonaparte’s part to contemplate if the maintaining ownership of the Louisiana Territory would in actuality wind up being a loss rather than a gain. In short, it was the steps that Robert Livingston took prior to negotiations, which resulted in the United States procurement of the Louisiana Territory.