USA > Iowa > Dickinson County > History of Emmet County and Dickinson County, Iowa, a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Volume I > Part 6
USA > Iowa > Emmet County > History of Emmet County and Dickinson County, Iowa, a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Volume I > Part 6
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45
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extending their settlements west of the Allegheny Mountains. One of these forts was located upon land claimed by Virginia and the governor of that colony sent George Washington, then only twenty-one years of age, to demand of the French commandant an explanation of this inva- sion of English territory while the nations were at peace. The reply was insolent and unsatisfactory, and in 1754 Washington, who had been promoted to lieutenant-colonel in the Virginia militia, was sent with a detachment of troops into the disputed territory.
A few years prior to this time a charter had been granted by the British Government to an association called the Ohio Company, including a grant to a large tract of land on the Great Miami River and the right to trade with the Indians. In 1750 the Ohio Company built a fort and . established a trading post near the site of the present City of Piqua, Ohio. Regarding this as an encroachment upon French territory, the Canadian authorities sent a detachment of French soldiers and Indians to break up the post. The Ohio Company then began a new post at the head of the Ohio River, where the City of Pittsburgh now stands, but again they were driven out by the French. Part of Washington's instruc- tions in 1754 was "to complete the fort already commenced by the Ohio Company at the forks of the Ohio, and to capture, kill or drive out all who attemped to interfere with the English posts."
FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR
The order given to Washington naturally aroused the indignation of the French people and in May, 1756, that nation formally declared war against Great Britain. The conflict which followed is known in Euro- pean history as the "Seven Years' War," and in America as the "French and Indian War." .This war was concluded by the treaty of Fontaine- bleau on November 3, 1762, by which France ceded to Great Britain all that part of Louisiana lying east of the Mississippi River, "except the City of New Orleans and the island upon which it is situated." The treaty of Fontainebleau was ratified by the treaty of Paris on February 10, 1763, at which time it was announced that, by an agreement pre- viously made in secret, "the city and island of New Orleans, and all that part of Louisiana lying west of the Mississippi, including the whole country to the headwaters of the great river and west to the Rocky Mountains," was ceded to Spain. Thus ended France's jurisdiction in that part of North America now included in the United States, and Iowa became a Spanish possession. Most of the French people living in New Orleans and west of the Mississippi River remained in the province as Spanish subjects and took an active part in business and public affairs. East of the Mississippi a different feeling prevailed. Many of the French
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in that region refused to acknowledge allegiance to Great Britain and removed to the west side of the river.
CLARK'S CONQUEST OF THE NORTHWEST
During the twelve years following the French and Indian war the British established several military posts in the territory acquired from France by the treaties of Fontainebleau and Paris. The most important of these posts were the ones at Detroit, Michigan, Vincennes, Indiana, and Kaskaskia and Cahokia, Illinois. Then came the Revolutionary war, which again changed the map of Central North America. At the begin- ning of the Revolution Detroit had about two hundred houses, Vincennes and Kaskaskia about eighty each, and Cahokia about fifty. As soon as it became certain that the English colonies were to be involved in a war with the mother country, a large number of the French who had gone over into the Spanish possessions recrossed the Mississippi and joined the colonists in their struggle for independence.
Virginia then claimed a large expanse of country extending west- ward and including the British posts in what are now Indiana and Illinois. In 1778 the Legislature of that colony, upon the recommendation of Gov. Patrick Henry, authorized an expedition under Gen. George Rogers Clark for the reduction of the posts upon Virginia territory. The expe- dition was successful and all the British establishments in the North- west, except the one at Detroit, fell into the hands of the Americans. One of the most thrilling campaigns of the War for Independence was Clark's conquest of the Northwest.
At first glance it may seem that this expedition of Clark's had little or no effect upon the fate of the country now included in the State of Iowa. But this is another case of "The Seen and the Unseen." It must be borne in mind that the capture of the British posts by General Clark resulted in the western boundary of the United States being fixed at the Mississippi River by the treaty of 1783, which ended the Revolutionary war and established the independence of the American colonies. Had it not been for Clark's successful campaign, the territory of the United States would in all probability have been confined to the thirteen original colonies, in which case the history of the great Mississippi Valley can only be conjectured. But by extending the limits of the new republic westward to the great Father of Waters the way was opened for the acquisition of the country west of that river, and in time Iowa became one of the sovereign states of the American Union.
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NAVIGATION OF THE MISSISSIPPI
Soon after the independence of the United States was established the new nation became involved in a controversy with the Spanish auth- orities of Louisiana over the free navigation of the Mississippi River. The final settlement of this controversy had a direct and important influ- ence upon that part of the country now comprising the State of Iowa. By the treaty of September 3, 1783, which ended the Revolutionary war, the western boundary of the United States was fixed at the Mississippi, though the lower course of that river passed through Spanish territory. Having possession of the outlet, the Spanish assumed control of the navi- gation of the entire river. Posts were established at various places along the stream and every boat descending was compelled to land at such posts and submit to arbitrary revenue charges. As the Mississippi constituted the natural outlet for a large part of the commerce of the United States, it was a humiliation to the American citizen to see it controlled by a foreign power. Moreover, the system of revenue duties inaugurated by the Spanish authorities materially decreased the profits of the American trader. After much discussion and diplomatic correspondence, the ques- tion was finally settled, temporarily at least, by the treaty of Madrid, which was concluded on October 27, 1795. One article of the treaty provided that "The Mississippi River, from its source to the Gulf, for its entire width, shall be free to American trade and commerce, and the people of the United States shall be permitted, for three years, to use the port of New Orleans as a port of deposit, without payment of duty."
During the three years that the Americans were allowed the free use of the port of New Orleans the commerce of the states bordering on the Mississippi River showed a marked increase in volume. At the expiration of that period Spain manifested a disposition to return to the old order and the free navigation of the river again became a sub- ject of vital importance to the people of the United States. President Adams and his cabinet pointed out to the Spanish officials that the lan- guage of the treaty of Madrid was such that the three years' provision applied only to the use of the port of New Orleans, and not to the navi- gation of the river. While the question was under discussion the secret treaty of San Ildefonso, between France and Spain, was concluded on October 1, 1800, by which Spain agreed to cede Louisiana back to France, under certain conditions. The recession of Louisiana to France changed the whole situation, inasmuch as the United States must now negotiate with France for the free navigation of the Mississippi.
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THE LOUISIANA PURCHASE
The French Revolution brought into prominence two of the most noted characters in European history-Napoleon and Talleyrand. These two great Frenchmen, feeling deeply the loss of their country's American possessions, soon began planning for the rebuilding of a colonial empire, one of the chief features of which was the recovery of Louisiana. At that time Don Carlos IV was King of Spain, but Channing says: "The actual rulers in Spain were Dona Maria Luisa de Parma, his queen, and Don Manuel Godoy, el Principe de la Paz, which title writers of English habitually translate 'Prince of Peace.'"
Godoy, who had been influential in the formation and adoption of the treaty of Madrid in 1795, which gave the United States the free navigation of the Mississippi, knew that he was not liked by Napoleon . and Talleyrand. Therefore, when they began overtures for the transfer of Louisiana back to France, he resigned from the Spanish ministry, leaving the king without his most efficient adviser. In exchange for Louisiana Napoleon and Talleyrand offered "an Italian kingdom of at least one million inhabitants for the Duke de Parma, prince presumptive, who was at once son-in-law and nephew of the ruling monarchs." The State of Tuscany was selected and its transfer to Spain was the condition imposed by the secret treaty of San Ildefonso.
The secret treaty was confirmed by the treaty of Madrid (March 21, 1801), a copy of which was sent to President Jefferson by Rufus King, then the United States minister to England. It reached the White House on May 26, 1801. In August following Robert R. Livingston went to France as United States minister and immediately upon his arrival asked Talleyrand, then French prime minister, if the province of Louisiana had been receded to France. Talleyrand replied in the negative, and in one sense of the word he was justified in doing so, as the treaty of Madrid was not signed by the King of Spain until October, 1802. When President Jefferson received the copy of the treaty sent by Mr. King, he wrote to James Monroe: "There is considerable reason to apprehend that Spain cedes Louisiana and the Floridas to France. To my mind this policy is very unwise for both France and Spain, and very ominous to us."
During the next twelve months President Jefferson and his cabinet officers were kept in a state of suspense as to the status of Louisiana and little progress was made toward a satisfactory adjustment of the navigation matter. On April 18, 1802, the President wrote to Mr. Liv- ingston at Paris, advising him that the American people were anxiously watching France's movements with regard to Louisiana. In his letter
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he summed up the situation as follows: 1. The natural feeling of the American people toward France was one of friendship. 2. Whatever nation possessed New Orleans and controlled the lower reaches of the river became the natural enemy of American progress, and therefore of the American people. 3. Spain was then well disposed toward the United States and as long as she remained in possession of New Orleans the people of this country would be satisfied with conditions. 4. On the other hand, France possessed an energy and restlessness of a charac- ter which would be the cause of eternal friction between that country and the United States. In concluding his letter he said:
"The day that France takes possession of New Orleans fixes the sentence which is to restrain her forever within her low water mark. It seals the union of two nations who in conjunction can maintain exclu- sive control of the ocean. From that moment we must marry ourselves to the British fleet and nation. The first cannon which shall be fired in Europe will be the signal for tearing up any settlement she mad have made, and for holding the two continents of America in sequestration for the common purpose of the united British and American nations."
Jefferson did not desire an alliance with England, but was firm in the conviction that French possession of Louisiana would force the United States to adopt such a course. In November, 1802, news reached Wash- ington that the Spanish authorities at New Orleans had suddenly and without warning withdrawn the right of deposit at that port. The coun- try-particularly in the new settlements in the Mississippi and Ohio valleys-was ablaze with indignation. The Federalists, Jefferson's polit- ical opponents, tried to force the administration into some policy that would give them a political advantage, but their efforts were futile. Says Channing: "Never in all his long and varied career did Jefferson's fox- like discretion stand him in better stead. Instead of following public clamor, he calmly formulated a policy and carried it through to a most successful termination."
In his message to Congress at the opening of the session in 1802, the President merely stated that the change in ownership of Louisiana would necessarily make a change in our foreign relations, but did not intimate what the nature of that change was to be. On January 7, 1803, the lower house of Congress, acting upon the President's recommendation, adopted the following resolution: "Resolved, That it is the unalterable determination of the United States to maintain the boundaries and rights of navigation and commerce through the Mississippi River, as established by existing treaties."
On the 13th of the same month Mr. Jefferson wrote to James Mon- roe that the Federalists were trying to force the United States into war, in order to get into power. About the same time he wrote to Mr. Liv-
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ingston that if France considered Louisiana indispensable to her inter- ests, she might still be willing to cede to the United States the island of Orleans and the Floridas. Or, if not willing to cede the island, she might be induced to grant the right of deposit at New Orleans and the free navigation of the Mississippi, as it had previously been under the Spanish regime, and directed him to open negotiations with that end in view. A few days after writing this letter, thinking the cession could probably be more easily accomplished by sending an emissary direct from the United States for that purpose, he appointed James Monroe as minister plenipotentiary, to cooperate with Minister Livingston. The senate promptly confirmed Mr. Monroe's appointment and Congress placed at his disposal the sum of $2,000,000 to be used by him and Mr. Liv- ingston to pay for the island.
It may be well to note, in this connection, that the ultimate success of Livingston and Monroe was no doubt furthered by a letter written about this time by Pichon, the French minister to the United States, to Talleyrand, in which he advised the French prime minister that the people of the United States were thoroughly aroused over the suspen- sion of the right of deposit, and that the administration migh be forced by public opinion into an alliance with Great Britain. War between England and France had just been renewed and Napoleon, realizing the superior strength of the British navy, saw that it would be a difficult undertaking to hold Louisiana if an alliance should be made between England and the United States. He had a force of troops under Gen- eral Victor ready to send to New Orleans, but learned that an English fleet was lying in wait for Victor's departure and countermanded the order.
In the meantime Livingston had opened negotiations for the cession of the island of Orleans and West Florida, believing the Floridas were included in the treaty of San Ildefonso. On April 11, 1803, Napoleon placed the entire matter of the cession in the hands of the Marquis de Marbois, minister of the French treasury, and the same day Talleyrand startled Livingston by asking if the United States would not like to own the entire Province of Louisiana. Livingston gave a negative reply, but Talleyrand insisted that Louisiana would be worth nothing to France without the city and island of New Orleans and asked the American minister to make an offer for the whole province. Another conference was held the next morning, and that afternoon Mr. Monroe arrived in Paris. That night the two American envoys spent several hours in con- sultation, the result of which was that Mr. Livingston was selected to conduct the negotiations.
Several days were then spent in discussing the matter, Marbois at first asking 125,000,000 francs ($25,000,000) for the whole province,
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though it afterward cropped out that Napoleon had directed him to accept 50,000,000 francs, provided a better price could not be obtained. The price finally agreed upon was 80,000,000 francs, three-fourths of that amount to go directly to the French treasury and the remaindmer to be used in settling claims of American citizens against the French Govern- ment. The next step was to embody the terms in a formal treaty. As this treaty gave to the United States a territory of nearly nine hundred thousand square miles, in which was situated the present State of Iowa, it is here given in full. It is known as the
TREATY OF PARIS
"The President of the United States of America and the First Consul of the French Republic, in the name of the French people, desiring to remove all sources of misundertsanding relative to objects of discussion mentioned in the second and fifth articles of the convention of the 8th Vendemaire, an 9 (30 September, 1800), relative to the rights claimed by the United States, in virtue of the treaty concluded at Madrid, the 27th of October, 1795, between his Catholic Majesty and the said United States, and willing to strengthen the union and friendship which at the time of said convention was happily re-established between the two nations, have respectfully named their plenipotentiaries, to wit: The President of the United States of America, by and with the advice of the senate of said states, Robert R. Livingston, minister plenipotentiary of the United States, and James Monroe, minister plenipotentiary and envoy extraordinary of the said states, near the Government of the French Republic; and the First Consul, in the name of the French people, the French citizen, Barbe Marbois, minister of the public treasury, who, after having exchanged their full powers, have agreed to the following articles :
Article I-Whereas, by the article the third of the treaty concluded at St. Ildefonso, the 9th Vendemaire an 9 (October 1, 1800), between the First Consul of the French Republic and his Catholic Majesty, it was agreed as follows: 'His Catholic Majesty promises and engages on his part to retrocede to the French Republic, six months after the full and entire execution of the conditions and stipulations herein relative to his royal highness, the Duke of Parma, the colony or province of Louisiana, with the same extent that it now has in the hands of Spain, and that it had when France possessed it; and such as it should be after the treaties subsequently entered into between Spain and other states,' and "Whereas, in pursuance of the treaty, particularly of the third article, the French Republic has an incontestible title to the domain and pos- session of said territory ; the First Consul of the French Republic, desir- Vol. 1-4
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. ing to give to the United States a strong proof of his friendship, doth hereby cede to the United States, in the name of the French Republic, forever, in full sovereignty, the said territory, with all its rights and appurtenances, as fully and in the same manner as they have been acquired by the French Republic in virtue of the above mentioned treaty, concluded with his Catholic Majesty.
"Article II-In the cession made by the preceding article, are included the adjacent islands belonging to Louisiana, all public lots and squares, vacant lands, and all public buildings, fortifications, barracks and other edifices which are not private property. The archives, papers and documents relative to the domain and sovereignty of Louisiana and its dependencies, will be left in the possession of the commissioners of the United States, and copies will be afterward given in due form to the magistrates and municipal officers of such of the said papers and docu- ments as may be necessary to them.
"Article III-The inhabitants of the ceded territory shall be incor- porated in the Union of the United States and admitted as soon as pos- sible, according to the principles of the Federal Constitution, to the enjoyment of all the rights, advantages and immunities of citizens of the United States; and in the meantime they shall be maintained and protected in the free enjoyment of their liberty, property and the religion which they profess.
"Article IV-There shall be sent by the Government of France a commissary to Louisiana, to the end that he do every act necessary, as well to receive from the officers of his Catholic Majesty the said country and its dependencies in the name of the French Republic, if it has not already been done, as to transmit it in the name of the French Republic to the commissary or agent of the United States.
"Article V-Immediately after the ratification of the present treaty by the President of the United States, and in case that of the First Consul . shall have been previously obtained, the commissary of the French Republic shall remit all the military posts of New Orleans and other posts of the ceded territory, to the commissary or commissaries named by the President of the United States to take possession; the troops, whether of France or Spain, who may be there, shall cease to occupy any military post from the time of taking possession, and shall be embarked as soon as possible, in the course of three months after the ratification of this treaty.
"Article VI-The United States promises to execute such treaties and articles as may have been agreed between Spain and the tribes and nations of Indians, until by mutual consent of the United States and the said tribes or nations, other suitable articles shall have been agreed upon.
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"Article VII-As it is reciprocally advantageous to the commerce of France and the United States to encourage the communication of both nations, for a limited time, in the country ceded by the present treaty, until general arrangements relative to the commerce of both nations may be agreed upon, it has been agreed between the contracting parties, that the French ships coming directly from France or any of her colonies, loaded only with the produce of France or her said colonies, and the ships of Spain coming directly from Spain or any of her colo- nies loaded only with produce or manufactures of Spain or her colonies, shall be admitted during the space of twelve years in the ports of New Orleans, and all other ports of entry within the ceded territory, in the same manner as the ships of the United States coming directly from France or Spain, or any of their colonies, without being subject to any other or greater duty on merchandise, or other or greater tonnage than those paid by the citizens of the United States.
"During the space of time above mentioned, no other nation shall have a right to the same privileges in the ports of the ceded territory; the twelve years shall commence three months after the exchange of ratifications, if it shall take place in France, or three months after it shall have been notified at Paris to the French Government, if it shall take place in the United States; it is, however, well understood, that the object of this article is to favor the manufactures, commerce, freight and navigation of France and Spain, so far as relates to the importations that the French and Spanish shall make into the ports of the United States, without in any sort affecting the regulations that the United States may make concerning the exportation of the produce and merchan- dise of the United States, or any right they may have to make such regulations.
"Article VIII-In future, and forever after the expiration of the twelve years, the ships of France shall be treated upon the footing of the most favored nations in the ports above mentioned.
"Article IX-The particular convention signed this day by the respective ministers, having for its objects to provide for the payment of debts due to the citizens of the United States by the French Republic prior to the 30th day of September, 1800 (8th Vendemaire, 9), is approved and to have its execution in the same manner as if it had been inserted in the present treaty, and it shall be ratified in the same form and at the same time, so that the one shall not be ratified distinct from the other.
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