From Monticello, Virginia and Washington City, President Jefferson and Secretary of State James Madison exchange letters regarding Spain’s refusal to open the port of New Orleans to American commercial traffic—a problem affecting the future of the Western Expedition.
View & Perspective of New Orleans (1726)
Jean-Pierre Lassus
Ink & watercolor from the collection of the Centre des archives d’outre-mer, France (DFC Louisiane 71-6A) in Common Routes, St. Domingue – Louisiana, Historic New Orleans Collection, 2006.
This early view shows the young city during the French Colonial era from Algiers Point. On the west bank, slaves labor on the Company of the Indies plantation, and a man spears an alligator. On the east bank, the road to Bayou St. John can be seen leaving the city.[1]commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:NouvelleOrleans1726LassusA.jpg accessed 10 May 2022.
Spain’s Refusal
On 16 May, Thomas Jefferson received the following letter from James Madison:
Washington Mar. 10. 1803
Dear Sir
. . . . .
The Intendant himself states that he had taken his measures, merely on his own judgment, without orders from his Govt. and in opposition to the judgment of the Govr: but it appears that his determination had not been changed by the first interposition of Yrujo . . . . He says he will do every thing that depends on decision; and will even, in a private letter to the Govr. urge him, if the Intendant should be refractory, to ship him off to Spain, which is the Ultima ratio [last resort] it seems of Spanish Governors agst. Intendants.
With respectful attachment I remain Yrs.
James Madison[2]James Madison to Thomas Jefferson, Founders Online, National Archives, founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/01-40-02-0030 accessed 27 May 2022. [Original source: The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, … Continue reading
Jefferson’s Reply
Monticello Mar. 17. 1803.
Dear Sir
the answer from the Intendant of New Orleans was not unexpected to me; and I question whether any thing moves him but the shipment to Spain. Accept my affectionate salutations.
Th: Jefferson[3]Thomas Jefferson to James Madison, Founders Online, National Archives, founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/01-40-02-0061 accessed 15 May 2022. [Original source: The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, … Continue reading
Notes
| ↑1 | commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:NouvelleOrleans1726LassusA.jpg accessed 10 May 2022. |
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| ↑2 | James Madison to Thomas Jefferson, Founders Online, National Archives, founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/01-40-02-0030 accessed 27 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. 26–27.] |
| ↑3 | Thomas Jefferson to James Madison, Founders Online, National Archives, founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/01-40-02-0061 accessed 15 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, p. 78.] |
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- 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.
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