While writing the Constitution, America’s Founding Fathers were meticulous in their efforts to create a decentralized government where the fate of the nation would never fall into the hands of one man. One man could never be dependable enough to carry such an awesome responsibility. But luck would have it that James Monroe found himself at a pivotal point where America’s destiny rested entirely on the way he tipped it. Dispatched to dispel the darkening clouds of war, Monroe, in signing the Louisiana Purchase, had the fortitude to make a dangerous gamble that risked the success of the nation in order to secure an environment where she could prosper.
A portrait of the United States at the dawn of the nineteenth century would astonish the contemporary American. This revolutionary nation that had so amazed the entire world was but a weak, agricultural country that predominately consisted of a string of populated areas along the east coast. America was struggling to survive domestic instability at home, exemplified in the fragile shift between the administrations of John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, and a hostile world abroad dominated by authoritative European powers.1 Such was the state of affairs when in 1801 President Jefferson was shocked by rumors that the Louisiana Territory, which formed the western border with the U.S., had switched hands from an impotent Spain to a potentially virulent France, with whom the U.S. had just finished the Quasi-War. Napoleon, the dictator of France, was an ambitious man fascinated by power and driven by an unrelenting desire to use France to increase his personal glory.2 Whereas the Spanish had only been interested in Louisiana as a buffer zone between America and its profitable colonies, Napoleon dreamed of a French empire in America.3 A competing French colony right alongside America’s border was unacceptable to Jefferson. But war with a major power would be disastrous for the young republic. Also, the Mississippi River was a life-link for westerners. With their rights to this river threatened by French control, westerners were furious, almost to the point of insurrection.4 Overnight, it seemed the sinews of the nation were threatening to tear apart.
Sensing the looming threat of war, Jefferson frantically attempted diplomacy. He directed his Minister to France, Robert Livingston, to warn France that its possession of Louisiana would force America into an alliance with Napoleon’s enemy, Great Britain.5 Blinded by vice-presidential aspirations, Livingston ignored Jefferson’s instructions and pursued his own strategy.6 Jefferson realized he desperately needed someone dependable upon whom he could bestow the future of the nation. In January 1803 James Monroe was unexpectedly notified of his nomination as Envoy Extraordinary to France.7 A magnanimous burden, for which he had not asked, had been thrust upon Monroe. Monroe was perfect for the assignment; he had previously been Minister to France, and he was respected as a politician concerned with the rights of westerners. But Jefferson had mainly chosen Monroe for his integrity, as someone he knew would do what was best for the nation. Essentially Monroe’s mission was to choose between peace and war. He was given two million dollars with which to negotiate for a guarantee of free navigation in the Mississippi and the purchase of New Orleans and Florida. If these negotiations failed, then Monroe was authorized to travel to Great Britain and join a military alliance against France.8
While Monroe crossed the ocean, political concerns caused Napoleon to change his policy. Santo Domingo, a valuable French island in the Caribbean considered by Napoleon as the crown of his American possessions, was undergoing a slave rebellion. Having unsuccessfully dispensed over ten thousand troops to reclaim the island, the young despot had become disenchanted with his dream of an Empire.9 With France on the verge of another war with Britain, Napoleon was desperately in need of money. When Monroe arrived in France on April 8, 1803, the political landscape was unrecognizable. The entire Louisiana territory was for sale, but at a price that exceeded Monroe’s available funds. Worst of all, there was only a short window of opportunity during which to act, since Napoleon was impetuous and might change his mind.10 This eliminated any hope of consulting Jefferson. Livingston was staunchly in favor of the deal as not only good for the nation, but also as a boost for his political career. Nevertheless Livingston was not in charge; Monroe had clearly been entrusted with this mission, and it was his decision to make. Monroe had to determine what his role was as an envoy: was he merely to represent the President’s position, or was he, as a substitute for the Chief Executive, intended to use his reason to solve the problem? The former option was the safer. Monroe could have rejected the treaty with the excuse that he was not properly vested with the power to accept, but with the well-being of the nation close to his heart, this was not a choice for him.
Having acknowledged his capacity to sign the treaty, Monroe had to resolve if the treaty was viable. There was uncertainty whether the French even had the right to sell Louisiana. Spanish forces still controlled New Orleans, and no official document had been presented ensuring French ownership.11 Monroe also had to examine whether the treaty would be accepted when he returned home. To sign a treaty and have it rejected by his parent nation would not only be disgraceful for him, but would permanently damage the international credibility of the upstart nation and cripple America’s future position in international relations.12 Although Monroe and Livingston had negotiated the price down to 15 million dollars, this was still more money than existed in the entire nation.13 Monroe had to consider if this price was affordable. Also, Jefferson and his party had traditionally promoted a strict, literal interpretation of the Constitution. But, since the Constitution said nothing of land purchases, was this treaty reconcilable with Jefferson’s philosophy?
Doubtless these concerns weighed heavily on Monroe’s mind, but he was willing to take the risk if it was in the interest of America. By accepting the role of the Chief Executive at the negotiating table Monroe felt he also had to embrace the President’s responsibility to protect the nation’s general welfare. Obviously, the Louisiana Purchase was an astounding real-estate deal that would guarantee the security of the valuable Mississippi River and provide ample room for America’s expansion. More importantly, Monroe knew it would insulate America from international affairs, which threatened to entangle her in conflict and ferociously shake the foundations of this experiment in democracy. The future author of the Monroe Doctrine, which championed America’s exclusive influence over the hemisphere, would be ensuring American domination over a massive swath of the continent.14 No longer would the omnipresent threat of a European Power exist on America’s western border. America could continue to grow without concern of bumping into a competing neighbor.
Monroe was concerned that the treaty might add to America’s domestic strains. Baron de Montesquieu had warned in his Spirit of Laws that republican government could only function in a small nation. If a country expanded excessively, then government would inevitably revert to tyranny or anarchy.15 Was the Louisiana Purchase a death warrant for America? There was no true answer to this question. Monroe had to rely on blind faith in the fortitude of America. His own Revolutionary experience must have taught him that Americans had stood the test for independence and now could stand the more arduous task of building a greater nation.
On May 2, 1803 Monroe took a risk and signed the Louisiana Purchase. Then Napoleon further complicated the matter by threatening to cancel the deal unless provided with an immediate down payment. By signing the treaty, Monroe had placed himself and America waist deep in a fountain that he felt would bring new life to the nation. At this point, America could still climb out by rejecting the treaty. However, when Monroe authorized a two million dollar down payment, he had rendered the treaty irreversible and plunged America into the depths of the water.16 Now the future relied entirely on the choice that Monroe had made.
Monroe was initially sent to France as a last hope for peace, but when he arrived, the duty that rested on his shoulders was even greater. For a brief period in time, Monroe was the arbiter of America’s future. He had to weigh whether the Louisiana Purchase would save America by averting eventual conflict with a westward neighbor, or destroy her by spreading American democracy too thin. However it was not the success of the decision that made Monroe so indispensable as his courage in making it. While the enormous risks involved for the nation would have made other statesmen cringe, James Monroe did not shrink in the face of the formidable challenge. It is no surprise that a man with this courage and clarity of judgment would later lead the country as the fifth President of the United States.
1Peter S. Onuf, “The Revolution of 1803,” Wilson Quarterly 27.1 (2003): 24.
2John Keats, Eminent Domain: The Louisiana Purchase and the Making of America (New York: Charterhouse, 1973) 320.
3Joseph R. Conlin, The American Past (Philadelphia: Harcourt Brace, 1997) 207.
4Thomas A. Bailey, A Diplomatic History of the American People (Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1980) 103.
5Walter LaFeber, “The Louisiana Purchase: A Dangerous Precedent,” Portrait of America, ed. Stephen B. Oates (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1995) 190.
6Charles F. Cerami, Jefferson’s Great Gamble (Naperville, Illinois: Sourcebooks, 2003) 76.
7Harry Ammon, James Monroe: The Quest for National Identity (Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1990) 203.
8Keats 329.
9Donald Barr Chidsey, Louisiana Purchase (New York: Crown Publishers, 1972) 134.
10Cerami 199.
11Bailey 113.
12Cerami 194.
13Keats 333.
14Cerami 229.
15Onuf 25.
16Ammon, 221.
