In Pittsburgh, Meriwether Lewis is building the barge prior to departing down the Ohio River. The American Consul at New Orleans, Daniel Clark, describes the attitudes of area residents regarding the Louisiana cession, and President Jefferson discusses its legal issues with U.S. Senator John Breckinridge.
John Breckinridge
Senator from Kentucky (1801–1805)
Artist unknown. From the Year Book of the District of Columbia Society Sons of the American Revolution (1891) available at archive.org
John Breckinridge (December 2, 1760–December 14, 1806) was a lawyer, slave owner, Virginia delegate, Kentucky State Representative, U.S. Senator, and key ally of Thomas Jefferson. While the Lewis and Clark Expedition were struggling up the Beaverhead River in present-day Montana, Breckinridge replaced Levi Lincoln as U.S. Attorney General. He fell ill with tuberculosis in June 1806 and passed away later that year.[1]“John Breckinridge (U.S. Attorney General),” Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Breckinridge_(U.S._Attorney_General) accessed 14 June 2022.
New Orleans Attitudes
New Orleans 12 August 1803
Sir
This important Cession will insure the safety & Prosperity of our Western Country, and I request you will accept my sincere Congratulations on so great an Event.
. . . . .
The news of the Cession gives general satisfaction to the Planters & Spaniards (even in Office) and is disliked by a few of the merchants and lower Classes of the Towns People only . . . .
The name of Bonaparte will now become odious on the Banks of the Mississippi.
I sincerely wish that Possession may soon be taken and all our expectation realized. I have the Honor to remain Sir Your most obedient & most humble Servt.
Daniel Clark[2]Daniel Clark to James Madison, Founders Online, National Archives, founders.archives.gov/documents/Madison/02-05-02-0318 accessed 13 June 2022. [Original source: The Papers of James Madison, … Continue reading
Constitutional Questions
Monticello Aug. 12. 03.
Dear Sir
. . . . .
our information as to the country is very incompleat: we have taken measures to obtain it full as to the settled part which I hope to recieve in time for Congress. the boundaries which I deem not admitting question are the high lands on the Western side of the Missisipi inclosing all it’s waters, the Missouri of course, and terminating in the line drawn from the Northwestern point of the lake of the woods to the nearest source of the Mispi, as lately settled between Gr. Britain & us.
This treaty must of course be laid before both houses, because both have important functions to exercise respecting it. they I presume will see their duty to their country in ratifying & paying for it, so as to secure a good which would otherwise probably be never again in their power. but I suppose they must then appeal to the nation for an additional article to the constitution, approving & confirming an act which the nation had not previously authorised. the constitution has made no provision for our holding foreign territory, still less for incorporating foreign nations into our union.
Th: Jefferson[3]Thomas Jefferson to John Breckinridge, Founders Online, National Archives, founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/01-41-02-0139 accessed 18 May 2022. [Original source: The Papers of Thomas … Continue reading
Notes
| ↑1 | “John Breckinridge (U.S. Attorney General),” Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Breckinridge_(U.S._Attorney_General) accessed 14 June 2022. |
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| ↑2 | Daniel Clark to James Madison, Founders Online, National Archives, founders.archives.gov/documents/Madison/02-05-02-0318 accessed 13 June 2022. [Original source: The Papers of James Madison, Secretary of State Series, vol. 5, 16 May–31 October 1803, ed. David B. Mattern, J. C. A. Stagg, Ellen J. Barber, Anne Mandeville Colony, and Bradley J. Daigle. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 2000, pp. 298–299.] |
| ↑3 | Thomas Jefferson to John Breckinridge, Founders Online, National Archives, founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/01-41-02-0139 accessed 18 May 2022. [Original source: The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, vol. 41, 11 July–15 November 1803, ed. Barbara B. Oberg. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2014, pp. 184–186.] |
Experience the Lewis and Clark Trail
The Lewis and Clark Trail Experience—our sister site at lewisandclark.travel—connects the world to people and places on the Lewis and Clark Trail.
Discover More
- The Lewis and Clark Expedition: Day by Day by Gary E. Moulton (University of Nebraska Press, 2018). The story in prose, 14 May 1804–23 September 1806.
- The Lewis and Clark Journals: An American Epic of Discovery (abridged) by Gary E. Moulton (University of Nebraska Press, 2003). Selected journal excerpts, 14 May 1804–23 September 1806.
- The Lewis and Clark Journals. by Gary E. Moulton (University of Nebraska Press, 1983–2001). The complete story in 13 volumes.
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Unless otherwise noted, journal excerpts are from The Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, edited by Gary E. Moulton, 13 vols. (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1983-2001).