I renounce Louisiana! Obstinacy in trying to preserve it would be madness...This accession of territory consolidates the power of the United States forever, and I have given England a maritime rival who sooner or later will humble her pride...to emancipate nations from the commercial tyranny of England, it is necessary to balance her influence by a maritime power that may one day become her rival. That power is the United States.
French geo-political wizard of the 19th century
The
Emperor of France and a 19th Century geo-political mastermind who
changed the face of the world, both in Europe and in North America,
when he conducted a secret deal with the third president of the
United States, Thomas Jefferson, for the cession of France's
territories in the 'new world' for a sum of $15 million. (For more on Senor Bonaparte, click here)
The treaty between
the two countries was signed in Paris in 1804. Days later,
Lewis and Clark and the Corps of Discovery set out to explore the
unmapped lands west of the Mississippi River known as
Louisiana.
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