Kudos to the Haitian Revolution

    by Regina_Lapis

    5 Comments

    1. To be fair, the only part of that territory that France actually controlled *was* New Orleans. So he did buy New Orleans, France just dropped their claim to the land as a bonus.

    2. bobbymoonshine on

      The Louisiana Territory was defined as the left bank of the Mississippi and its watershed. New Orleans is at the mouth of the Mississippi.

      If America owned New Orleans and owned the right bank/watershed, and therefore owned *the only conceivable ways of accessing the Louisiana Territory*, what would the point have been for France to continue to claim it? Hardly any Frenchmen lived beyond Baton Rouge.

      “Oh we’re just going to buy the city of New Orleans, really that’s all” just feels like negotiating kabuki to keep Congress calm. The Louisiana Territory and New Orleans were the same thing from any practical perspective.

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