THE MEN BEHIND THE PURCHASE
Thomas Jefferson
(1743 - 1826)
Thomas Jefferson of Virginia authored the Declaration of Independence, served as Secretary of State in George Washington's cabinet, and was Vice President under John Adams before being elected President of the United States in 1800. A brilliant philosopher, scientist, diplomat, architect, and statesman, Jefferson believed in "strict constructionism" -- that the Constitution meant exactly what it said and that additional "powers" should not be assumed. In 1803, however, he was forced by circumstances to "seize the moment" and approve the actions of his representatives in signing the Louisiana Purchase before Congress could debate the matter. Re-elected in 1804, President Jefferson sent Meriwether Lewis and William Clark to explore the Louisiana Territory in 1805.
 Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Perigord
(1754 - 1838)
Talleyrand was one of history's great survivors. The son of a general in the Royal French Army, he became a bishop in the Catholic Church. During the French Revolution, Talleyrand gravitated toward the radicals and repudiated his religious allegiance. He served as a Revolutionary diplomat and was first appointed Foreign Minister of France in 1797. Talleyrand allied himself with Napoleon Bonaparte shortly thereafter. Although politically and philosophically opposed to selling Louisiana, he followed Bonaparte's orders and expedited the agreement with the United States. After the fall of Napoleon in 1814, Talleyrand proclaimed his loyalty to the restored French monarchy and resumed his role as Foreign Minister. He later became ambassador to Great Britain.
 Napoleon Bonaparte
(1749 - 1821)
Born on Corsica, and of Italian descent, Napoleon Bonaparte restored order in France after the bloody years of the Reign of Terror. His ability and ambition resulted in his promotion to general, and, in 1799, he carried out a coup d'etat which made him master of the nation. As First Consul of France, Bonaparte forced Spain to return Louisiana and then decided to sell the vast territory to the United States. In 1804, he was crowned Napoleon I, Emperor of the French. During the following decade, Napoleon consistently demonstrated military genius and political skill until his ultimate defeat at Waterloo and exile to the lonely island of St. Helena.
 Robert Livingston
(1746 - 1813)
A devoted patriot and determined diplomat, Robert Livingston was a member of a prominent New York Family. He served as a delegate to the Continental Congress and was a member of the committee which drafted the Declaration of Independence. In 1788, Livingston led the fight to secure New York's ratification of the Constitution. President Thomas Jefferson appointed him American Minister to France in 1801.
After the Treaty of San IIdefonso transferred Louisiana from Spain back to France, Livingston and Jefferson's special envoy James Monroe sought to secure New Orleans for the United States and thus to preserve forever the markets of the frontier farmers. On April 11, 1803, they were astonished by France's offer to sell the entire Louisiana Territory for fifteen million dollars--the "most important real estate deal in history". The Louisiana Purchase agreement was signed by Livingston and Monroe on April 30 in Paris. Though handicapped by a hearing disorder and by his "imperfect command" of the French language, Robert Livingston consistently displayed extraordinary skill and foresight. His younger brother, Edward, later represented the state of Louisiana in Congress.
 James Monroe
(1758 - 1831)
Having served as an officer in the Continental Army, a Virginia legislator, a congressman, and a political ally of Thomas Jefferson, James Monroe was sent to Paris as a special representative of the President in late 1802. He was instructed to assist American Minister to France Robert Livingston in negotiating the purchase of the Port of New Orleans. Given the choice of buying all of the vast Louisiana Territory or nothing, Monroe and Livingston agreed to accept the French proposal. President Jefferson later endorsed their decision in spite of his own doubts about the constitutionality of "such an extensive territorial acquisition". Ultimately, popular support for the Louisiana Purchase greatly enhanced Monroe's image as a statesman.
From 1803 until 1807, James Monroe represented his nation as Minister to Great Britain. In 1811, he was appointed Secretary of State by President James Madison. Finally, in 1816, Monroe was elected President of the United States. Re-elected in 1820, his administration is best remembered for the Monroe Doctrine which guaranteed the perpetual independence of the new nations of the Western Hemisphere.
 Francois Barbé-Marbois
(1745 - 1837)
Barbé-Marbois represented the King of France at several German courts before serving as French consul general in the United States during the Revolutionary War. He became a close friend of George Washington and the Marquis de Lafayette. In 1783, Barbé-Marbois married the daughter of the Governor of Pennsylvania. From 1785 until 1789, he performed various duties in Santo Domingo. The upheavals of the French Revolution resulted in his being exiled in Guiana on the coast of South America.
Restored to government by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1800, Barbé-Marbois became First Minister of the Treasury in 1801. His chief responsibility was the financing of Bonaparte's extensive military campaigns, and in keeping with that mission, he negotiated and implemented the sale of the Louisiana Territory to the Americans for fifteen million dollars- sixty million francs -- a higher price and greater profit than the French had anticipated. The money was immediately applied to the European war effort.
In 1814, Barbé-Marbois abandoned the defeated Napoleon and swore allegiance to the monarchy once more. In 1818, he wrote L'Histoire de la Louisiana.
 Timothy Pickering
(1745 - 1829)
Timothy Pickering was a leading American statesman from the time shortly after the independence of the United States until after the Louisiana Purchase. He served as Postmaster General from 1791 to 1795, Secretary of War in 1795, and Secretary of State under George Washington from 1795 to 1800.
One of the last great members of the Federalist party, he represented Massachusetts in the United States Senate from 1803 to 1811 and stood as one of Jefferson's chief opponents of the ratification of the Louisiana Purchase. Pickering believed that if Louisiana were obtained by the fledgling nation and allowed to join the Union, the balance of power between New England and the South would be dangerously uneven.
In vehement disagreement with the wishes of Jefferson that Louisiana be incorporated, Pickering launched a congressional campaign to prove the unconstitutionality of the third article of the Louisiana Purchase Treaty. Pickering believed that the American government did not have the power to merge a foreign territory (Louisiana) into the Union; he felt that every state was entitled to vote and that if one state decided to keep Louisiana out of the United States, Louisiana should not be incorporated. Pickering's policy of "universal consent" was not widely accepted by the majority of Congress who were eager to extend their nation's boundaries as far west as possible.
Despite the success of the Louisiana Purchase, Pickering did not fade into the shadows of history like many other Federalists had done before. From 1813 to 1817, he served in the House of Representatives and fought the policies of Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. In addition, he supported many unsuccessful attempts to have New England secede from the Union. In 1829he died just as he had lived: as a proud, stubborn remnant of America's political past.
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