TV SHOW EPISODE

[Music] on a cold november day in 1803 the spanish flag over new orleans came down to be replaced by the tri-color of napoleon's france and only 20 days later the french ensign was lowered and the american flag was raised the event was the biggest land buy in the world more than 500 million acres at 4 cents an acre we'll find out more about it today as discovery steps back in time to the louisiana purchase [Music] discovery 69 the award-winning program for young people with bill owen and virginia gibson hi welcome to discovery this is the port city of new orleans vital to the economy of the south there was a time when it was the key to the whole western part of this continent in 1802 when the port was held by spain before it was to be turned over to france president jefferson said there is on this globe one single spot the possessor of which is our natural and habitual enemy that spot is new orleans and jenny that spot became the main reason for the louisiana purchase probably the fastest real estate turnover in history and the biggest peaceful transfer of territory from one power to another the world has ever seen this is the cabildo spanish for city hall it's seen almost as much history as philadelphia's independence hall it was here that spain gave the whole louisiana territory to france and then just 20 days later france transferred it to the united states this was in 1803 just 27 years after 1776 when we had fought for our independence we were still finding our way as a new nation we had just written the constitution that was to bind the states together as a nation and its strength was still being tested from overseas by threats from europe and from within by bitter differences among ourselves as to just how strong a central government was needed or even provided for under our constitution we were still a loose collection of states struggling within the bounds and limits we had set for ourselves struggling but surviving thomas jefferson had just become president our third he'd long been active in the government writing the declaration of independence serving as ambassador to france and secretary of state under washington and vice president to john adams he knew and loved france but now in his first year as president he had to think of france as an enemy napoleon was on the move in europe and in his greed for empire he was looking to the americas france already had a very productive foothold in the caribbean part of the island of santo domingo now known as haiti two-thirds of france's wealth came from this little island there were six hundred thousand inhabitants only about fifty thousand or one-twelfth were white colonists from france and approximately one half million were black slaves from africa who work the sugar cotton and coffee plantations in 1799 napoleon the corsican became the dictator of france in his conquest of europe only england had defeated him in 1801 france and england were at peace but napoleon feared that an alliance between england and the young united states would pose a still greater threat to france napoleon sensed that it was important to keep the us and england apart and if possible to keep our country on his side he wanted the louisiana territory to strengthen france's position on the north american continent and we wanted the port of new orleans for it was the only way that the produce of the states along the mississippi could be marketed spain had ruled the louisiana territory for more than 30 years charles iv of spain had little interest in new orleans or the rest of louisiana the spanish had taken over from the french in 1768 and for the most part had ruled quite leniently they had established good relations with the french who were there napoleon felt now was the time to take back new orleans in the louisiana territory in a treaty with spain the territory was returned to take possession for france a prefect or commissioner was sent out from france he was pierre clemon de losa he did not know that even before he left france napoleon was entering into negotiations to sell the territory to us pierre de losa kept a journal and wrote full reports of what life was like then in new orleans he came to this country with his wife and three daughters madame de los found new orleans quite different from paris we have been here but a few days but already i miss the mildness of france the temperature here is fiercely hot even for april the spanish seem to have a better temperament for this climate certainly they have a temper when my husband first spoke to the people of new orleans telling them that the corrupt and brutal rule of the spaniards was at an end the spanish governor took exception and spoke to him rudely the spaniards have been here for 33 years and have accomplished nothing nothing everything here that is of value is french the language the mode the ambiance unfortunately there is in the air a lassitude no doubt the extreme heat causes much of it but the people here seem to know nothing of work or achievement everything is left to the slaves i have heard that the spanish and some of the french too gamble day and night with all this is a lovely place an eden a paradise containing only the serpent of sloth but i'm sure my husband will drive him out this will be a valuable colony for france and for napoleon a man my husband finds most great in the virtues of leadership as for myself i find him a bit too bloodthirsty but then i am a woman [Music] [Applause] madame de losa had no idea then of the role her husband was to play in new orleans history but at the same time in different parts of the world different needs ambitions aims and personalities were all moving to bring about a louisiana purchase in an effort to embarrass the french who are about to take over the spanish closed the port of new orleans to american shipping the kentucky and tennessee farmers and boatmen who were using the port were ready to go to war for it or even to secede from the union jefferson's representative in paris robert livingston had been trying for four months to convince napoleon that it was in his interest to let us have new orleans and was offering two million dollars for it and the floridas jefferson then sent james monroe to paris to move things faster quite suddenly almost as soon as napoleon had gotten the louisiana territory from spain he announced irresolution and deliberation are no longer in season i renounce louisiana it is not only new orleans that i see it is the whole colony without reserve i know the price of what i abandoned i renounce it with the greatest regret to attempt obstinately to retain it would be falling i direct you to negotiate the affair have an interview this very day with mr livingston napoleon's reasons while baffling to many frenchmen were fairly sound he didn't have the fleet or the army to cope with the huge territory of a new colony and most important he realized by letting us have it he would win us as friends keep us from becoming allied with england his enemy and at the same time the money he would get from us would help finance the war he was planning against england but more than anything else it was the great slave revolt of half a million slaves in santo domingo haiti that made it impossible for napoleon to keep the louisiana territory that tiny island of the caribbean was the one necessary link in napoleon's plan for an empire in the new world and we'll find out why in just a minute [Music] revolution the idea that a country and a people could demand to be separate from those who had misruled them had started in america our revolution with its concept of the equality of man had succeeded france had her revolution in 1789 a bloody and violent change but they were fighting for freedom and the quest for freedom spread to france's most important colony santo domingo a small island in the caribbean where more than half a million slaves heard of the fight for freedom in france and their struggle for liberty would in time frighten the people of new orleans on our way to new orleans our ship stopped at santo domingo truly a port of despair france has poured thousands and thousands of her military men into it attempting to put down the slave rebellion for more than 10 years now the black men of santa domingo have been making fools of our finest soldiers napoleon's brother-in-law general leclair tried and failed at the cost of his own life he had a plan to win he wrote napoleon that the only way to win was to kill all the blacks over 12 years of age that would stamp out the rebellion leaving only a new generation brought up in docility and civility a most severe measure to be sure but the black revolution threatens the very foundations of our mother country revolution is a raging storm that blows all before it but our french revolution was just and necessary [Music] napoleon could not hold on to santo domingo and without a base of operations in the new world he could not hope to hold on to the louisiana territory napoleon did capture the leader of the revolt tusa louvatua who died a year later in a european prison never knowing that he had finally defeated napoleon henry adams the historian wrote in 1881 that the miserable negro as bonaparte called him should have been forgotten so soon was not surprising but the prejudice of race alone blinded the american people to the debt they owed to the desperate courage of 500 000 haitian negroes who would not be enslaved while france prospered from the sugar tobacco and indigo of santo domingo the blacks who made it possible were hearing the french slogan liberty equality and fraternity africans from all over have been brought to the west indies now they were slaves but still they knew about freedom and out of desperation were willing to die for it once napoleon made up his mind to sell the territory of louisiana it was as good as done robert livingston was suddenly asked what will you give for all of it at first livingston was so stunned that he insisted we didn't want it we wanted only new orleans and the floridas what would a young struggling country do with all that land 500 million acres unknown and unexplored no one even knew how large it was all or parts of 13 states were to come from it the whole center of our country its eastern border was well known the mississippi river and the americans there were a source of much interest to the people of new [Music] my orleans says the great mississippi river is rightly called the nile of the americas it's so vast it's almost an inland sea and its biggest fish seem to be the americans who come from kentucky and tennessee and strange fish they are indeed they are so rough and they're buckskin garments well they may be proper for traveling through their forests but they're most unseemly in a city such as new orleans indeed yes and the river abandons them here because they cannot return up river because of the currents oh yes but did you know that many times the boats are taken apart and the boards are used for some of the very best homes true but i shudder to think of the incivilities those boards have heard while floating down the river oh this is a wild land indeed it was these kentucky and tennessee farmers and flat boatmen who made the port of new orleans so important jefferson saw clearly that to hold the country together we must have new orleans napoleon felt he must have new orleans and spain willingly gave it up to it what thoughts did the american people have about france moving in right next door we'll find out what an american general and napoleon's french commissioner had to say about it in just a minute the journal of pierre de los san of may 30 1803 had a very interesting entry this was before he had heard that france was selling the territory to the united states he tells of a significant meeting with an american general dayton a senator from new jersey general dayton's interest in this territory comes from the many discussions that have been held in the united states senate he says very little is known about louisiana and they are anxious to find what the french intentions are the united states fear the ambitious spirit and the enterprising genius of the french we only wish to secure possession of a country where we can pour out the surplus of our population we fear that you will send us a crowd of unruly men who have nothing to lose possessed of daring and adventurous in spirit who will in one way or another get into quarrels with us your neighbors indeed no sir we only plan to send four different kinds of men black slaves for limited time only and only in lower louisiana soldiers pay but strictly the better thinking and best disciplined cultivators of the soil from well-established families and the last group will probably be made up of restless and high-spirited men however they will be confined to the interior regions and kept under regulations and policing we foresee with sorrow that there will be frequent grounds for controversy with one another while up to now we have only had reasons for living in peace with one another i assure you you will have less reasons to be suspicious of us than of the english your neighbors to the north and northwest and finally we suspect that you may entice our states to the west kentucky and tennessee to join you or at least to separate from the union and as for the indians you may go to work on them and create new problems for us you're being oversensitive sir it is not our fault if the ties between you states of the coast and those of the west run contrary to the laws of nature we would not encourage such a thing it would create only problems for our countries a main purpose of my mission is to foster better relations between our two governments i trust that will be so sir but i fear otherwise oh sir we're both reasonable people and we should assume that our governments will also act like grown-ups i have given an account of the substance of our conversation i played my part in it however deep inside i believe general dayton to be right in paris napoleon was asking for 20 million dollars for the whole of louisiana livingston and monroe who joined him had to make the decision independent of advice from jefferson or anyone in washington there wasn't time there wasn't even much time to bargain and the price was set at 15 million which was more than our yearly income at that time when livingston and monroe signed the purchase treaty in paris on may 2 1803 livingston stated we have lived long but this is the noblest work of our whole lives from this day the united states take their place among the powers of the first rank i believe that next to the negotiation that secured our independence this is the most important the united states have ever entered into as livingston said for our country it was a noble work but it had a less happy meaning for the french people of new orleans official word has just been received after much rumor to that effect it can only be the greatest disappointment to my husband and to all the french here just when we were to become part of france again instead we are to become some part of this vast land this land that i have come to look upon as home is suddenly by a piece of paper signed in paris changed altered given over to these americans these farmers trappers and riverboat men whatever will they do with it on november 30th 1803 in the cabildo pierre clemente losa accepted the authority of the city of new orleans and the colony of louisiana from the spanish governor the spanish subjects were released from any loyalty to spain and became french citizens twenty days later the territory was transferred to the united states when the french flag was lowered the officer who received it wrapped it about himself tenderly many french spectators wept it is hardly the occasion for a party but since the spanish just three weeks ago were so lavish with their galas we french can do no less it was a most desolate scene today as our tri-color was carried from the place and the american flag went up the staff the only cheers were from a small group of americans in spite of these events these past three weeks have been exciting my husband managed the transfer in a most dignified fashion but i do feel for these people here we plan to return to france but most here cannot leave they look upon this as their home and it has been invaded to them democracy is a strange thing it has been promised that when there are 60 000 they will become a state that can only mean that many americans will pour into new orleans changing our ways our language [Music] my husband only served for 20 days but he served with honor and distinction he believes the americans will do the same i trust he is right he often is [Music] this territory was to become all or parts of 13 states at the time of its purchase it doubled the size of the united states the louisiana purchase has been called one of the greatest land transfers in history and yet it was done so peaceably it was a convergence of events and needs jenny napoleon needed money to fight england we needed the port of new orleans for our commerce and the slaves of santo domingo had heard of freedom and they wanted it the desire for freedom first in the united states then on to france and then in santo domingo was the force that stopped napoleon in his plan for empire in this country and helped to make possible the louisiana purchase we'll be back in just a minute we hope you've enjoyed today's program on the louisiana purchase if you'd like to find out more about that famous event in american history then ask your librarian for any of these books the louisiana purchase by robert tallant from c to c by harold faber and thomas jefferson and his world be sure to be with us next week for another exciting program as discovery continues to discover the world bye bye bye the discovery unit's transportation and promotional consideration provided by united airlines [Music] bye [Music] this has been a jewels power production in association with abc news