In a letter to Thomas Jefferson written on this day, the American minister to France, Robert Livingston reports that the asking price of 125 million francs for the Louisiana Territory is too high.
Robert Livingston
by Charles Willson Peale
Independence National Historical Park.
Paris 14. April 1803
Dear Sir
At three OClock Mr. [James] Monroe was presented by me to the Minister who received us very graciously, we found Mr. Marbois there, he told me that he had just been communicating to the Minister, what had passed between us last night and added that he wished that I would enable him, to meet the proposition of the first Consul on this subject, I told him they were too wide of our mark, and our means—
. . . . .
I think with you that much of the happiness of our Country will depend upon the success of our mission, now particularly that so great a field is opened upon us—
Believe me to be Dear Sir with the highest Respect & Esteem your Obt. Hube Sert
Robt R Livingston
Robert Livingston (1746–1813) was a member of the committee that wrote the Declaration of Independence. In 1803, he was bombarding Napoleon’s court with papers arguing for American access to the Mississippi River and port in New Orleans. He seemed overwhelmed when on 11 April 1803, Napoleon suddenly offered the young country much more.
Notes
| ↑1 | “To Thomas Jefferson from Robert R. Livingston, 14 April 1803,” Founders Online, National Archives, founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/01-40-02-0146 accessed 6 May 2022. [Original source: The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, vol. 40, 4 March–10 July 1803, ed. Barbara B. Oberg. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2013, pp. 198–203, including notes.] |
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