USA > Louisiana > The province and the states, a history of the province of Louisiana under France and Spain, and of the territories and states of the United States formed therefrom, Vol. II > Part 15
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During the progress of the debate on the resolutions of Mr. Ross, there was read by Mr White of Delaware the following; paper : 1
"Advertisement. Under date of the 16th instant ( December), the Intendant General of these provinces tells me that the citizens of the United States of America can have no commerce with his Majesty's subjects-they only having the free navigation of the river for the exportation of the fruits and produce of their estab- lishments to foreign countries, and the importation of what they may want from them. As such ] charge you so far as respects yon to be zealous and vigilant with particular care that the inhab- itants neither purchase or sell anything to the shipping, flat- bottomed boats, barges, or any other smaller vessels that may go along the river destined for the American possessions or pro-
. American State Papers.
1 Annals of Congress.
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cceding from them, that they shall be informed of it, for their due compliance of the same."
"Baton Rouge, Dec. 22, 1802." "CARLOS DE GRANDPRE."
This order was commented on in the severest terms by many of the senators. Mr. White said, "These are the orders that have been issued by the Intendant General to every district of the Spanish provinces, prohibiting the subjects of his Catholic Majesty from having any commerce, dealing, intercourse or com- munion whatsoever with the citizens of the United States ; exclud- ing us from their shores for the distance of two hundred and seventy miles ; treating ns like a nation of pirates or a banditti of robbers, who they feared to trust in their country. . .
. It has been given out to the world that the Intendant General of the Spanish provinces was responsible for this act ; that the Span- ish minister had issued orders for the speedy adjustment of these difficulties. Gentlemen may find when too late that this is a mere piece of diplomatic policy intended only to amuse them. If they had taken the trouble they might have been informed that the Spanish minister near this Government has no control at New Orleans; that the Intendant General is like himself an immediate officer of the Crown and responsible only there for his conduct. If the Spanish minister has interfered, it could only have been by the entreaties of men in power, as a mere mediator, to beg of the Intendant General of New Orleans justice and peace on behalf of the people of the United States. Are honorable gen- themen prepared to accept peace on such terms? And it seems that even these supplicating advances are likely travail e . noth- ing. By accounts very lately received from New Orleans by a private letter which I have seen since these resolutions were sub- mitted to the senate, the Intendant General has expressed much displeasure at the interference of the Spanish minister, stating that it was not within his duty or his province, and that he, the Intendant, acted not under Spanish but French orders .* As to the closing of the port of New Orleans against our citizens, the man who can now doubt, after viewing all the accompanying cir- cumstances, that it was the deliberate act of the Spanish or French Government, must have locked up his mind against truth and conviction and be determined to discredit even the evidence of his own senses. . . If it should be said that this important question will soon be found in other hands; that whenever we
. This statement should be particularly noted.
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may have to negotiate on this subject, either in the cabinet or the field, it will not be with His Catholic Majesty, but with the First Consul ; not with a King, but with the King of Kings, I answer that in these insults to our national dignity we at present know no lower but Spain. Whatever agency Bonaparte may have had in this business, he has been concealed from our view .* It is Spain that has violated her plighted faith; it is Spain that has trampled upon the dearest interests of the United States and she alone is responsible to us for these outrages. . . . We should
now view her as our open enemy, as having declared war against us, and do justice to ourselves. We can never have a permanent place on our western waters, till we possess ourselves of New Orleans and such other positions as may be necessary to give us the complete and absolute command of the navigation of the Mis- sissippi. We have now such an opportunity of accomplishing this important object as may not be presented again in centuries, and every justification that could be wished for availing ourselves of the opportunity. Spain has dared us to the trial and now bids us defiance. . Though not officially informed, we know that
the Spanish Provinces on the Mississippi have been ceded to the French and that they will as soon as possible take possession of them. What may we then expect ? We shall be hailed by the vigilant and alert French grenadier, and in the defence- less garrison that would now surrender at our approach, we shall see untitled the standards that have waved triumphant in Italy, surrounded by impregnable ramparts, and defended by the disci- pline veterans of Egypt. . These observations are urged upon the supposition that it is the power of the Government to restrain the impetuosity of the western people and to prevent their doing justice to themselves which by the by I beg to be under- stood as not believing, but expressly the contrary. They know their own strength; they know the feebleness of the enemy ; they know the infinite importance of the stake; they feel the insults and injuries they have received ; they are now all alive on the sub- jeet, and I believe will not submit even for the approaching sea-
son to their present ruinous and humiliating situation.
You
might as well pretend to dam up the mouth of the Mississippi, as
to expect they will be prevented from descending it. Without the free use of the river and the necessary advantage of deposit below our line, their fertile country is not worth possession ;
. The belief that Framer was responsible for the interdiction was not a partisan view; but was entertained by many men of both parties.
.
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THE INTERDICTION OF THE DEPOSITS.
these are rights not only guaranteed to them by treaty, but due them from this Government, and they will enforce them, with or without your authority. Under your auspices and with the promises of your protection, at the hazard of their lives, they explored and settled a wilderness, the lonely desert they have trans- formed into cultivated fields. They are our fellow-citizens, our friends and our brothers, and we are bound by every obligation of good faith and every sentiment of honor not to abandon them for a moment. Let Bonaparte once take possession of the mouth of the Mississippi, and we shall have a war indeed ; noth- ing but the length of our swords and the best blood of our citi- zens will ever make it ours; his object is universal dominion ; and the hero of Italy, the military despot of France, a man whose towering ambition bestrides the world, whose will is now the law of nations, with fifty millions of people and the resources of Europe at his commond, will be a foe not easily vanquished ; and I repeat, sir, only let him set his foot on that shore, let him but plant a single standard there, and he will never yield it but by inches to superior force. Ile knows well the value of the position ; he knows that it must become one of the first in the world, and that it now offers higher temptation to a pow- erful, ambitious and intriguing people than any place on earth. It is the only key to the immense regions watered by the Mis- sissippi and its tributary streams, to a country larger in extent than all Europe, surpassed by no portion of the world in fer- tility of soil and most of it in climate a paradise. Your
western people will see in Bonaparte, at their very doors, a pow- erful friend or a dangerous cions : and should be, after obtain- ing complete control over the navigation of the Mississippi, approach them, not in the menacing attitude of an enemy, but under the specious garb of a protector and a friend ; should he, instead of embarrassing their commerce by any fiscal arrange- ments, invite them to the free navigation of the river, and give them privileges of trade not heretofore enjoyed; should he, instead of attempting to coerce them to his measures, contrary to their wishes, send missionaries into their country to court and intrigue with them, he may seduce their affection and thus accomplish .by address and cunning what even his force might not be equal to. In this way, having operated upon their pas- · sions, having enlisted in his service their hopes and their fears, he may gain an undue ascendency over them. Should these things be effected, what will be the consequences? . Whenever this period shall arrive, it will be the crisis of Amer-
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ican glory and must result, either in the political subjugation of the Atlantic States, or in their separation from the western coun- try."
In replying to these remarks, Mr. Breckenridge, of Kentucky, said: "To induce us to depart from this proper, this safe, and honorable course of proceeding, which is pursuing by the l'resi- dent, the gentleman from Pennsylvania first and the gentleman from Deleware again told you, that by such pacific measures you will irritate the western people against you ; that they will not be restrained by you, but will either invade the country themselves, or withdraw from the Union and unite with those who will give them what they want. Sir, I did not expect to hear such language held on this floor. The gentleman from Pennsylvania best knows the temper and views of the western people he represents, but if he meant to extend the imputation to the state I have the honor to represent, I utterly disclaim it. The citizens of Kentucky value to highly their rights and character to endanger the one of dishonor the other. They deal not, sir, in insurrections. They hold in too sacred regard their federal compact to sport with it. They were among the first to oppose violations of it, and will, I trust, be the last to attempt its dissolution. The time, indeed, was when not only irritation but disgust prevailed in that country; when instead of sending fifty thousand mont to seize on Orleans an attempt was meditated and a solemn vote taken in congress to batter away this right for twenty five years." But those times have passed away. . But I beg to ask gentlemen who hold such language, will the western people, admitting they were to withdraw from the Union, be able to accomplish the object? Could they alone go to war with France and Spain? Could they hold Orleans, were they to take possession of it, without the aid of the United States? Admitting they could hold it, what security would they have for their commerce? A single ship of the line would be able completely to blockade that port. See also the Havana, one of the safest and strongest of the Spanish ports and so situated as to possess every advantage in annoying our commerce. Are the gentlemen, therefore, really serious when they endeavor to persuade us that the western peo- ple are in such a state of fury and mad impatience that they will not wait even for a few months to see the fate of a nego- tiation, and if unsuccessful receive the aid of the whole nation,
. See Chapter 11.
:
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but that they will madly run to the attack without a ship, with- out a single cannon, without magazines, without money, or preparation of any kind ; and what is worse, without union among themselves; and what is still worse, in face of the laws and Constitution of their country? It is impossible.
Although I think it incumbent on us, for the reasons I have stated, to try the effect of negotiation, yet, should that fail, I think it incumbent on us also to he prepared for another resort. I agree with gentlemen that such an important right should not be held by a tenure so uncertain. The only difference between us then is, what are the proper means to obtain this great end? The course pursued by the President is, in my opinion, the only true and dignified course. It is that and that only which will certainly attain the object ; and is the only one which will tend to unite cordially all parts of the Union. But we ought to be prepared, in case of a failure, instantly to redress ourselves. This instead of having an evil, will in my opinion have a good effect on the negotiation." Ile concluded by moving as an amendment to the resolutions of Mr. Ross that all after the word "resolved"' : be stricken out and the following be inserted in lieu thereof :*
"That the President of the United States be and he is hereby authorized whenever he shall judge it expedient, to require of the Executives of the several States to take effectual measures to arm and equip according to law and hold in readiness to march at a moment's warning eighty thousand effective militia, officers included ; that the President may if he judge it expedient author- ize the Executives of the several Stades to accept as part of the detachment aforesaid any corps of volunteers who shot con tinue in service for such time not exceeding -- months and perform such services as shall be prescribed by law; that -- dollars be appropriated for paying and subsisting such part of the troops aforesaid whose actual service may be wanted and for defraying such other expenses as during the recess of Congress the President may deem necessary for the security of the territory of the United States; that --- dollars be appro- priated for erecting at such place or places on the Western waters as the President may judge most proper one or more arsenals."
Mr. Clinton of New York made a powerful appeal in sup- port of the policy of the administration in resorting to negotia- tion instead of war to secure the revocation of the interdiction at New Orleans. He showed conclusively the impracticability
· Anuals of Congress.
1
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THE PROVINCE AND THE STATES.
of forcibly taking possession of New Orleans before every pe .. . ful resort had been exhausted. Not only was the plan chime : ical, but it was exceedingly dangerous to the security of :: United States, because it would mean a gigantic war with the France and Spain, with the eventual loss of louisiana and 1! probable dismemberment of the Union. He made light of :. threat of the western settlers to separate themselves from ii Atlantic states, and declared that upon the agitation of alny ..: every political difference since the formation of the government some section had taken umbrage and threatened to withdraw from the Union. He asserted that the most hazardous com ... any section could pursue would be to separate themselves fros: the Union ; and he did not believe the threats could be genuine or in earnest. He showed the unsoundness of the statement of Mr. Ross that the seizure of New Orleans would facilitate nego- tiation on the Mississippi question. He concluded with the dec- laration that the United States should exhaust every measure of negotiation, but should be prepared for war as a last resort.
Mr. Dayton of New Jersey ridiculed many of the statements of Mr. Clinton, and insited that the deplorable situation of the western people could not be denied. He declared that nearly half a million of fellow-citizens were wholly cut off from mar- ket, and asked if senators had any idea what that meant. Ile read an article to show that three productions of the western states, entered at New Orleans in 1801 (as taken from the cus- tom house books), amounted to about one million six hundred thousand dollars; they were cotton, Tobacco and fl :. 11. showed further that nine or ten other staple products of the West raised the grand total that passed through New Orleans from that section to nearly four millions of dollars. 11 was officially shown, he said, that from February Ist to June loth, 1802, one hundred and fifty vessels of from one hundred to three hundred tons had cleared from the New Orleans cus- tom house, and that eighty more such vessels would be required to carry of the produce yet in store; Tennessee had produced one-fourth of this crop. He said: "Thus we see that property amounting to four millions* annually exported in the first six montlis of the year, is to be embargoed at the will of a foreign Government, or the caprice of a Spanish Intendant; or, if per- mitted to pass at all, permitted under such restrictions and impo-
. Although these figures were disputed at the time, they seem to have been sub- Blantsally correel.
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sitions as to take away all the profit of transportation and ren- der it scarcely worth the raising. What have we done to remove the obstruction and redress the wrong? We have sent a min- ister itinerant from Paris to Madrid and from Madrid to Paris to negotiate upon this subject. There may be precedent for this; there may be courtesy in the measure; but what are prece- dents? What are the forms of courtly politeness to an injured, an outraged, a starving people? But is nothing due to the dignity and honor of the nation most grossly insulted by the act? Let them who will be the dupes of the artful, insidious insinuation that it is an unauthorized act, an irregular proceed- ing of a subordinate officer of a Government which can punish with banishment or instant death the smallest deviation from duty. ] do not believe the tale; I never believed it ; and a late official act must undeceive all whose minds are not shut to the impressions of truth .* A late proclamation issued from Baton Rouge, a Spanish port, one hundred and fifty miles above New Orleans, prohibits all intercourse between Spaniards and Amer- icans. Our people descending the river in pursuit of lawful commerce, are forbidden to buy an egg, or a mess of salt, or any comfort of life, from the possessor of the banks in the long, dreary distance of two hundred and seventy miles. Will the gentlemen call this, also, an unauthorized act of a Spanish Intendant ?"
Mr. Cocke of Tennessee sustained the administration and among other things said: "For my part I do not wish to assail the territory or the rights of any nation nor to abuse their char- acters ; but it is the more extraordinary when the gombaen while doing so tell us at the same time that it is France that sets the Spaniards ont and that we are afraid to look the hero of Italy and France in the face. Perhaps those who accuse us thus of fear would be the first to hide their faces from real danger. It is not boasting that makes the patriot or the man of courage; it is coolness and resolution. We do not fear the hero of Italy or any other hero, but we fear the effects of war, of an unjust and rash war."
Mr. J. Mason of Massachusetts favored the adoption of the Ross resolutions. Hle denied with much emphasis the justice
. If the interdiction was the sole act of the Intendant, by whom was the order authorized that forbade the people of the province of Louisiana to trade with the Americans on the Mississippiriver' Surely not that of the Intendant. Do not. then the two acts diagnose the statement that it was the unauthorized act of the Intendant only; and move that they were the deliberate orders of some power high i authority -either of France of of Spain'
I He did not deny that France might have been responsible for the interdiction
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of "dubbing them war resolutions." Having read them ke remarked: "Is this not true; do we not agree in this umani- mously; will any member of the senate deny it? Is not our right to the navigation of that river a natural and inviolabh right ? What does. it further say? That we have an unques- tionable right to the deposit at New Orleans; have we not that right? It is further declared that this right is important ; can this be denied? Upon every principle of right and safety the resolutions should be supported. I have no doubt that this infraction of the treaty is the authorized act of either France or Spain .* It is now from twelve to eighteen months since the rumor of the cession of Louisiana has prevailed, and no authen- tic information on the subject has ever been furnished to the people of the United States. How they are we to account for this secrecy? If Spain determined to deprive us of a right, would she inform us of it by message? No, she would pursue exactly the conduct she has done. The period at which this infraction took place affords strong presumption of the motive and design. It took place at the moment when the French thought they had completely overcome the blacks and restored the Island of St. Domingo to obedience ; they had deter- mined that the subjugation of that island should precede the attempt upon Louisiana, and in the moment of their imaginary triumph, they commenced their operations at New Orleans by the suspension of our right." As to the assertions that Louisiana will be ceded or is ceded with a special regard to our limits, I do not regard them ; they are eviden's made ta's to tell us." He argued that taking possession in accordance with the reso- lutions was an act to regain our own property, and could not be regarded as a war proceeding. The United States should take possession of its own property, and afterward, if there was anything to negotiate, it could be attended to better than before, and in the meantime the western country would receive relief. Hle did not fear war with both France and Spain, because Great Britain, in that case, would assist the United States.
Mr. Wells of Delaware said on the following day: "Have you not seen the letter of the Governor of New Orleans to the Governor of the Mississippi territory? In this letter I learn that the Governor comes out and acknowledges his co-operation with the Intendant, justifies the breach of the treaty, and declares that these instruments cease their binding force the moment it
" A majority of the members of Congress thought the same.
Old Mapa Showing the Extent of Louisiana
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Gulf of Mexico American Maps Vol Z. No.10.1753.
No. VI. LaJolla
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Atlas Nouveau Vol. 2. Map No. 38
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280° Gulf of Mexico. Du Lisbe Covers an Mortier. Amsterdam 1718. ·
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suits the interest of either party to break through them. It has long been evident that the French have attached to these territories upon our frontier an importance which of themselves they do not bear and which can only be attributed to them on account of their connection with our Southern and Western States. If you treat, therefore, for an extension of your limits, you will be disappointed. If you negotiate respecting the right of deposit, and should succeed, you will obtain no better security than that which has already been found ineffectual. For my part, I am strongly impressed with an opinion that the First Consul has a project in view deeply hostile to the prosperity of our country. One great object of the French is to increase their maritime strength. The position which they are about to take in New Orleans will soon put them at our expense in pos- session of an immense carrying trade and reduce under their influence the fairest portion of our empire. Perhaps I may be asked, does the First Consul imagine that the people of the United States will consent to see subjected to foreign domina- tion any part of their territory? This is an inquiry which Bona- parte has not been much in the habit of making. He knows the extent of the means he possesses in this country. It is but a few years since violent jealousies prevailed between the Atlantic and the Western States. Fortunately, they have subsided; these jealousies he will endeavor to rekindle. Possibly he may cal- culate upon detaching the people on the seaboard from the sup- port of their brethren on the western waters." He has already succeeded in concealing the hand which guided the pen of the Intendent at New Orleans. His troops are probably now approaching our shores, and what means of gevention have you adopted ? Had the advice of the honorable gentleman near me (Mr. Morris) been listened to, when you were dis- banding your army, this crisis would not have happened. Had you then posted at the Natchez, as he recommended, a thousand soldiers, the navigation of the Mississippi would not now have been interrupted. He told you what would happen, and his pre- diction has been literally fulfilled. There is but one fault I find with these resolutions, which is, they do not go far enough. If I could obtain a second, I would move an amendment explicitly authorizing the taking possession of both the Floridas as well as the island of New Orleans. . Let the French
. This was the reason given by many persons why France had probably author- ized the interdiction.
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