The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, Volume 10, July 1906 - April, 1907 Page: 63
ix, 354 p. : ill. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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The Louisiana-Texas Frontier.
sisted in her policy of closing the Mississippi, all of Louisiana must
soon pass into the possession of the enraged Americans. This, he
believed, would result in the formation of a new confederacy com-
posed of the western States and Louisiana, and that, too, within
fifteen years. The only remedy, in his estimation, was for France,
or some 'other country stronger than Spain, to gain the country
bordering on the Mississippi, and then at will to assist or retard
the development of the western settlements.1
Fauchet believed that it would be easy to obtain Louisiana by
negotiation before France made peace with Spain, and that this
acquisition would cause a radical change in American policy to-
words the former. If his country should not obtain Louisiana at
this time, and if war with Spain continued, he believed it to be in
accordance with the interests of France to impede the special mis-
sion of Pinckney to Madrid in behalf of navigation of the Missis-
sippi; otherwise, by acquiring this boon, the West would be less
zealous in aiding France to conquer 'Louisiana. This last means
was less desirable than diplomacy, but would be reasonably success-
ful in lieu of a better - way, and would receive western support, if
reciprocal advantages were offered.
He was certain that the victories of France over Spain fully
justified great concessions, and that these should be obtained, de-
spite the opposition of the United States to the retrocession of
Louisiana. His suggestions were forestalled in the instructions
of the Directory to Barthelemy, the French representative in the
Treaty of Bale, to insist upon the retrocession of Louisiana as one
of the conditions of peace. In order to make this condition more
palatable that diplomat was to represent the advantage of having
a strong French colony between Mexico and the United States.
Godoy, however, preferred to yield Santo Domingo rather than
Louisiana, and the finances of France did not permit a treaty on
any other basis.2 A few months later, to prevent an undue alliance
of American and British interests, the Spaniard likewise made a
favorable treaty with Pinckney.
Adet, who in 1795 succeeded Fauchet, believed that it was not
to the interest of France to go to war with the United States.
'Report of the American Historical Association, 1903, Vol. I, 567, 568.
2American Historical Review, X 266, 267; Ogg, Opening of the Missis-
sippi, 462.
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Texas State Historical Association. The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, Volume 10, July 1906 - April, 1907, periodical, 1907; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101040/m1/71/: accessed April 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.