Excerpt from "To the U.S. Minister to France"

Written on April 18, 1802
Published in The Works of Thomas Jefferson, edited by
Paul Leicester Ford, 1905

When Spain ceded Louisiana to France in October 1800, the deal created a dangerous situation for the United States. With the Spanish controlling Louisiana, the United States had felt safe, because Spain had grown militarily weak and was unlikely to pose any threat. Since signing the Treaty of San Lorenzo in 1795 (and ratifying it in 1796), Spain had stopped charging fees to U.S. boats navigating the Mississippi River and loading and unloading at New Orleans. The United States could not risk losing access to the Mississippi or the port of New Orleans; both were essential to the success of western settlements. With good reason, the United States feared that powerful France might not allow American ships to use the waterways of Louisiana. Napol...