The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, Volume 10, July 1906 - April, 1907 Page: 71
ix, 354 p. : ill. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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The Louisiana-Texas Frontier. 71
several months, however, the correspondence of our ministers
abroad was filled with unofficial confirmations of the proposed
transfer, coupled with official denials of the act or evasions of the
proposal to sell the Floridas to the United States; while the pros-
pective French expedition to Santo Domingo caused all great un-
easiness because of its possible diversion to Louisiana. Jefferson
at home suggested a possible alliance with the British naval power;
King at London proposed united action to preserve the navigation
of the Mississippi. From Paris Livingston tried to arouse Spain
by intimating the danger to Mexico from French vicinage and to
alarm England by referring to the unsettled boundary between
Louisiana and Canada, while he attempted to demonstrate to the
French government the futility of their new acquisition. At Mad-
rid Pinckney endeavored to make sure of the Floridas and New
Orleans by a guaranty of Spanish possessions west of the Missis-
sippi.1 Yet nearly the whole year, 1802, passed with the question
of the disposal of Louisiana still uncertain.
An element of definiteness was imparted to the question when,
on October 16, 1802, the intendant, Morales, at New Orleans sus-
pended the right of deposit which American citizens, since 1798,
had enjoyed at that port. It is usually supposed that the impulse
that led to this action followed the treaty of cession, even if it did
not emanate directly from Napoleon.'" This act aroused the West
as none other could, and emphasized the necessity of securing con-
trol of the mouth of the Mississippi in order to avoid possible
future embroilment through the action of local officials. Accord-
ingly Jefferson appointed Monroe as special envoy to cooperate with
Livingston at Paris and with Pinckney at Madrid to purchase New
Orleans sand the Floridas. In case of failure to secure East Florida
and New Orleans, the next best thing was the possession of West
Florida, including the whole of the channel of the Iberville. By
artificial means this could be rendered navigable at all seasons, and
with a port on Lake Pontchatrain the settlers of the Mississippi
Valley would become wholly independent of New Orleans.3
'Ibid., 20-50 passing; also manuscript volume in Bureau of Indexes
and Archives, "Letters of C. Pinckney and R. Livingston, Spanish Dis-
patches."
'Adams, History of the United States, I 418, 419.
'Gallatin to Madison, February 7, 1803, in Works of Madison, II 179.
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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/m1/79/: accessed April 27, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.