WEBVTT - The Louisiana Purchase: Not a Purchase 0:00:01.440 --> 0:00:04.240 Welcome to Stuff you should know, a production of I 0:00:04.360 --> 0:00:13.360 Heart Radio. Hey, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Josh, 0:00:13.400 --> 0:00:17.280 and there's Chuck, and Jerry is on standby on our 0:00:17.360 --> 0:00:20.480 phone ready for any issue to arise. We're supposed to 0:00:20.560 --> 0:00:23.400 text her. And of course that makes this stuff you 0:00:23.400 --> 0:00:29.560 should know, the too much information addition, that's right. And 0:00:29.600 --> 0:00:32.080 you didn't even say a dish, A dish. I know, 0:00:32.240 --> 0:00:34.479 I'm growing up. Look at me. So how are you 0:00:34.560 --> 0:00:40.680 doing good? How are you good as well? Good? So, Chuck, 0:00:40.720 --> 0:00:43.120 I'm really excited about this one for a number of reasons. One, 0:00:43.640 --> 0:00:49.240 we get to take a really standard, universally understood um 0:00:49.240 --> 0:00:52.440 part of American history and smash it to bits and 0:00:52.560 --> 0:00:55.200 explain how it really happened and what it really was 0:00:55.240 --> 0:00:58.160 and what really went on. I love history stuff like that, 0:00:58.200 --> 0:01:01.280 don't you? I do? Uh? And this is a good 0:01:01.280 --> 0:01:04.399 one because it is. Uh. If you're like someone who 0:01:04.520 --> 0:01:08.480 enjoys watching Jeopardy or playing in any sort of trivia 0:01:08.640 --> 0:01:13.080 nights or trivia games, trivial pursuit stuff usually no trivial 0:01:13.080 --> 0:01:16.880 pursuit Yeah, available everywhere. Uh, this is just get info. 0:01:16.959 --> 0:01:19.920 I feel like these kind of questions. It's the Louisiana 0:01:19.959 --> 0:01:23.560 Purchase is just such sort of a softball kind of 0:01:23.600 --> 0:01:26.720 thing for trivia games. And I don't mean that it's easy. 0:01:26.760 --> 0:01:29.240 I just mean there's just so much in there, and 0:01:29.280 --> 0:01:30.880 it's not like people go like, well, how am I 0:01:30.880 --> 0:01:34.400 supposed to know about the Louisiana Purchase. Like it reshaped 0:01:34.560 --> 0:01:38.720 America in ways or the United States rather in ways 0:01:38.760 --> 0:01:43.640 that were just the tendrils just kept going and kept going. Yeah, 0:01:43.680 --> 0:01:45.839 you can make a really good case that it helps 0:01:45.840 --> 0:01:48.880 shape the world, because you know, it was the thing 0:01:48.920 --> 0:01:53.400 that jumps started the United States into UM, I guess 0:01:53.440 --> 0:01:57.120 the the initiation of it as a up and coming 0:01:57.120 --> 0:02:00.520 world power, because yeah, we doubled our sur fas area 0:02:00.600 --> 0:02:03.960 and size the United States did. UM and I saw 0:02:04.480 --> 0:02:07.200 like and chuck to the Declaration of Independence and the 0:02:07.280 --> 0:02:10.800 Constitution and that's where the that's where the list ended. 0:02:10.880 --> 0:02:13.679 They basically said, those three things are the most important 0:02:13.840 --> 0:02:17.919 parts of early American history that helped make the country. UM. 0:02:19.520 --> 0:02:21.920 And there's a lot of like really interesting stuff to it. 0:02:21.960 --> 0:02:23.720 But there's also like a lot of the history that 0:02:23.840 --> 0:02:27.359 just isn't talked about, doesn't get focused on enough, And like, 0:02:27.760 --> 0:02:29.920 what's one of the really good things about like living 0:02:29.919 --> 0:02:32.440 in the twenty centuries, Like we're really starting to examine 0:02:32.480 --> 0:02:37.280 that stuff more and we're taking these really kind of um, 0:02:37.320 --> 0:02:39.880 you know, primary and basic and kind of watered down 0:02:40.080 --> 0:02:42.760 versions of historical events and like really kind of bringing 0:02:42.760 --> 0:02:45.120 them to life for better for worse. Yeah, I mean 0:02:45.120 --> 0:02:49.359 it's not every day that a new, burgeoning nation can 0:02:49.480 --> 0:02:54.000 get the opportunity to acquire about eight hundred and fifty 0:02:54.040 --> 0:02:59.440 thousand square miles uh, not acres square miles uh and 0:02:59.560 --> 0:03:03.320 acquire are as we'll see more like the right to 0:03:03.400 --> 0:03:08.040 acquire more like the right to kind of take Yeah, 0:03:08.200 --> 0:03:10.839 which is what Oh, I know what you mean. I've 0:03:10.880 --> 0:03:13.760 done the research. I know where you're going with that. Well, 0:03:13.760 --> 0:03:18.560 should we go back then to how the name Luisiana Louisiana. 0:03:19.480 --> 0:03:21.359 It sounds Italian when I say it, Yeah, I don't 0:03:21.400 --> 0:03:28.600 think that's how it said. It's really French though, right, yeah, Louisian. Yeah. 0:03:28.639 --> 0:03:32.760 Exactly what was going on was there were people in France. 0:03:32.840 --> 0:03:35.800 There are a lot of people are from France rather uh, 0:03:35.840 --> 0:03:38.720 and in fact they were bold enough to call it 0:03:38.920 --> 0:03:42.360 new France. Uh. This was King Louis the what would 0:03:42.360 --> 0:03:46.960 that be? Yes? Read, I'm brushing up on my Roman numerals, 0:03:47.880 --> 0:03:53.400 and King Louis said, all right, Mr French explorer, I'm 0:03:53.440 --> 0:03:55.480 gonna let my friend Josh over here to my right 0:03:55.520 --> 0:04:00.560 to pronounce your name. Let me try Rene Robert Valier, 0:04:01.200 --> 0:04:06.440 Sir de la Salle. Quite a name. But Louis said, hey, dude, um, 0:04:06.520 --> 0:04:10.520 you've got authority to explore all the the western part 0:04:10.600 --> 0:04:13.120 of this area I called New France. You got a 0:04:13.160 --> 0:04:17.160 monopoly on trade there on Buffalo hides. Go knock yourself out. 0:04:17.920 --> 0:04:22.160 Licel did just that in two floated down the Mighty 0:04:22.200 --> 0:04:25.000 Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico and said, you know what, 0:04:25.720 --> 0:04:28.320 I'm just gonna say, all of this area it belongs 0:04:28.360 --> 0:04:31.800 to France, and I'm gonna name it after h the 0:04:31.839 --> 0:04:35.680 gentleman who handed over my charter. I guess uh. And 0:04:35.720 --> 0:04:40.080 it was with an E at the time, Louisian, Louis Louisian. 0:04:42.160 --> 0:04:45.640 I don't know why the Italian keeps bobbing up the 0:04:45.720 --> 0:04:48.240 land of Louis. It was basically they added in l 0:04:48.279 --> 0:04:50.120 A at the beginning and then switched out the A 0:04:50.279 --> 0:04:54.200 for an E, or you know, it would later become Louisiana. 0:04:54.680 --> 0:04:59.240 I wonder if that's Louisiane iced tea bags are a 0:04:59.279 --> 0:05:03.160 nod to is it spelled with ane? Yeah, a n 0:05:03.240 --> 0:05:06.360 any I think and they take the eye out. It's 0:05:06.360 --> 0:05:10.240 all messed up. I read somewhere chuck that um that 0:05:10.440 --> 0:05:14.080 Cavellier when he got to the um delta of the 0:05:14.080 --> 0:05:16.800 Mississippi River where it hit the Gulf of Mexico, he 0:05:16.960 --> 0:05:20.280 like located the indigenous people that lived around there and 0:05:20.320 --> 0:05:23.480 read a proclamation to them. It's basically he said, hey, um, 0:05:23.520 --> 0:05:26.320 can you stand still while I read this? And he proclaimed, 0:05:26.360 --> 0:05:29.599 like you said that whole area belonging to King Louis 0:05:29.880 --> 0:05:32.160 and they're just sitting there like, what are you talking about? 0:05:33.160 --> 0:05:35.880 Were so? But this was how um, this part of 0:05:35.920 --> 0:05:38.880 the world, this part of North America was settled. It 0:05:38.960 --> 0:05:42.719 was by the French and um they figured that. And 0:05:42.760 --> 0:05:46.799 I mean this was an enormous swath of of territory 0:05:46.880 --> 0:05:50.800 from Canada down to the Gulf of Mexico, from the 0:05:50.839 --> 0:05:54.559 west of the Mississippi River all the way to anyone 0:05:54.680 --> 0:05:56.720 knows how. Yeah, you just go as far as you want. 0:05:56.760 --> 0:05:58.560 No one had any idea what was over that way 0:05:58.600 --> 0:06:01.280 except for until you ran into the Spanish and California. 0:06:01.480 --> 0:06:04.800 I'm not even sure they were there yet. So um 0:06:04.800 --> 0:06:08.160 that that's how the English, um, the Dutch who were 0:06:08.240 --> 0:06:10.680 up in New York, the French, the Spanish, how all 0:06:10.680 --> 0:06:13.080 of these world powers that were running around North America 0:06:13.160 --> 0:06:16.080 viewed the whole thing. And that was frances And so 0:06:16.200 --> 0:06:19.559 France said, all right, awesome, let's exploit this. We're gonna 0:06:19.560 --> 0:06:22.599 make just a staggering amount of money, and I'm going 0:06:22.640 --> 0:06:26.480 to let this one particular person. Uh. In seventeen twelve, 0:06:26.680 --> 0:06:32.320 Antoine crazat Um have the the charter to basically develop 0:06:32.440 --> 0:06:35.960 this territory into New France. Like we called it kind 0:06:36.000 --> 0:06:39.280 of prematurely. Yeah, that they he didn't get a lot 0:06:39.320 --> 0:06:41.640 of support from France. Uh, they kind of handed this 0:06:41.680 --> 0:06:43.920 over to him, and like you said, it was such 0:06:44.160 --> 0:06:47.840 a big area, like it was just too unwieldy basically 0:06:48.600 --> 0:06:51.599 to control and maintain and try to manage. And he 0:06:51.680 --> 0:06:54.440 lost a ton of money. I think it only took 0:06:54.720 --> 0:06:57.320 it took less than five years when he went back 0:06:57.360 --> 0:06:59.760 to the king and said, you know what, I appreciate 0:06:59.839 --> 0:07:04.120 the charter, but with all due respect, I would like 0:07:04.160 --> 0:07:07.240 to be released from it. And you know that was fine. 0:07:07.480 --> 0:07:09.880 He was released from the charter, but the French expeditions 0:07:09.920 --> 0:07:13.200 kind of continued there for a while, but it was 0:07:13.240 --> 0:07:16.960 sort of um, you know, they were outnumbered. They were uh. 0:07:17.080 --> 0:07:21.720 The settlements were sparse, mostly still indigenous Americans populating the 0:07:21.760 --> 0:07:26.800 area until seventeen sixty two when the Seven Years War 0:07:26.920 --> 0:07:30.920 happened and France said, you know what, this territory is 0:07:30.960 --> 0:07:33.800 now going to belong to Spain. But Spain didn't really 0:07:33.800 --> 0:07:36.400 know what to do with it either, right, No, they 0:07:36.400 --> 0:07:40.240 had I think even less of a presence in UM 0:07:40.280 --> 0:07:43.880 in this I guess Louisiana territory than the French did. 0:07:44.040 --> 0:07:47.160 I saw that even when Spain kind of ruled this 0:07:47.280 --> 0:07:49.600 area as far as the European powers were concerned for 0:07:49.680 --> 0:07:53.920 thirty seven years, there were more French officials calling the 0:07:53.960 --> 0:07:57.680 shots there then there were Spanish officials, and um, I 0:07:57.720 --> 0:08:01.360 think they were the greatest minority of all. The greatest 0:08:01.400 --> 0:08:04.160 majority were the indigenous tribes in the area. But then 0:08:04.200 --> 0:08:08.000 as far as Europeans went, you had Um English, you 0:08:08.080 --> 0:08:10.800 had a lot of French people, you had UM, a 0:08:10.840 --> 0:08:14.600 lot of people who had come down from Um Canada, 0:08:14.720 --> 0:08:17.680 the Acadians who went on to become the Cajuns. They 0:08:17.680 --> 0:08:20.840 were living in the area at the time. Um, and 0:08:21.160 --> 0:08:24.280 it was just kind of uh. Spain was just they 0:08:24.360 --> 0:08:26.640 just had the thing, they owned it, they weren't doing 0:08:26.760 --> 0:08:31.040 much with it. Yeah, so they tried here and there too, 0:08:31.600 --> 0:08:34.320 not you know, uh to not excellent results. There was 0:08:34.360 --> 0:08:39.960 a colonial governor named Don Antonio del uh Ulloa. I 0:08:40.000 --> 0:08:43.880 guess will that be right? I think? And he said, 0:08:43.880 --> 0:08:46.360 all right, you know, we own this place technically, guys, 0:08:46.360 --> 0:08:48.000 so I'd like to try to enforce some of our 0:08:48.080 --> 0:08:51.480 rules if you don't mind about trade. And the French 0:08:51.559 --> 0:08:54.800 leaders there said, yes, we very much do mind because 0:08:54.800 --> 0:08:56.839 you're not calling the shots around here, despite the fact 0:08:56.880 --> 0:08:59.920 that you quote unquote owned this land. So they revolted 0:09:00.600 --> 0:09:04.640 drove him out of the colony. In seventeen uh, Spain 0:09:04.760 --> 0:09:07.160 was able to quash that rebellion get a new governor 0:09:07.200 --> 0:09:09.400 in there. I guess. I guess they were hoping with 0:09:09.400 --> 0:09:12.880 a little more backbone, uh, and started saying like, hey, 0:09:13.120 --> 0:09:16.360 you know, fellow Spaniards, why don't you go and settle 0:09:16.400 --> 0:09:19.000 that land, like we got all this great land. Please 0:09:19.040 --> 0:09:21.760 go there and farm and try and you know, sort 0:09:21.800 --> 0:09:24.880 of steak our claim. Yeah, it took also one of 0:09:24.880 --> 0:09:27.800 the reasons that they they took so long to encourage 0:09:27.800 --> 0:09:30.280 people to go do that and just kind of just 0:09:30.320 --> 0:09:32.439 approached the whole thing with like it was just kind 0:09:32.480 --> 0:09:36.360 of there was because to the Spanish, the Louisiana Territory 0:09:36.480 --> 0:09:39.720 was a buffer between the English and then later on 0:09:39.760 --> 0:09:45.839 the Americans to the east and their territory Texas, Mexico, California, 0:09:45.960 --> 0:09:49.600 all that to the west. Um, and it was a 0:09:49.679 --> 0:09:52.520 really just a nice little kind of no man's land 0:09:52.559 --> 0:09:54.920 that Spain owned so that they could be like, you 0:09:54.960 --> 0:09:57.760 need to get out, But they were more interested in 0:09:57.800 --> 0:10:00.600 it for the this the kind of distance put between 0:10:00.600 --> 0:10:04.400 the English and then the Americans and the Spanish colonies. Yeah, 0:10:04.400 --> 0:10:06.960 so it served a purpose to them, even if they 0:10:07.000 --> 0:10:10.880 weren't as intent on you know, settling it, I guess right. 0:10:11.559 --> 0:10:14.480 And then so as far as the Americans were concerned, 0:10:14.520 --> 0:10:17.680 when when America became a country, by the time eighteen 0:10:17.760 --> 0:10:19.719 hundred rolled around, and think that was the year that 0:10:19.800 --> 0:10:23.080 Jefferson was elected, and Jefferson kind of approached the whole 0:10:23.080 --> 0:10:27.720 thing with We're totally cool Spain owns, uh, the Louisiana Territory. 0:10:27.880 --> 0:10:30.360 We're okay with that right now, Spain's letting us use 0:10:30.360 --> 0:10:33.679 the Mississippi. It's letting us use the Port of New Orleans. 0:10:33.800 --> 0:10:35.920 It's letting us use the warehouses in the Port of 0:10:35.920 --> 0:10:38.800 New Orleans. These were really big deals because that was 0:10:38.840 --> 0:10:42.319 how you got stuff out to Europe. In North America 0:10:42.440 --> 0:10:45.280 was basically out of the Port of New Orleans. UM 0:10:45.600 --> 0:10:49.319 for a lot of stuff, right, especially the Midwestern stuff. UM. 0:10:49.360 --> 0:10:51.560 And as long as things were like that, it was 0:10:51.679 --> 0:10:54.679 all good. But Jefferson was very smart and he was like, 0:10:54.720 --> 0:10:56.640 there's a really good chance that things are not going 0:10:56.679 --> 0:11:00.240 to remain the same for very long. And he was right, Boy, 0:11:00.240 --> 0:11:03.160 that sounds like a great cliffhanger, I think, so all right, well, 0:11:03.200 --> 0:11:06.080 let's take a break. We'll be right back. Jefferson is 0:11:06.080 --> 0:11:08.800 feeling his oats. He thinks he can tell the future. 0:11:10.080 --> 0:11:11.800 And as Josh said, he was kind of right, and 0:11:11.840 --> 0:11:32.880 will explore that right after this, Chuck, that was a 0:11:32.880 --> 0:11:35.839 heck of a lead up. I didn't think I was 0:11:35.840 --> 0:11:39.080 gonna quit talking for a second. Just the whole podcast 0:11:39.160 --> 0:11:41.679 spills out of your mouth from that point on, all right, 0:11:41.679 --> 0:11:43.240 and you're just sitting there like I thought we were 0:11:43.280 --> 0:11:47.040 taking over him. Uh so this is like the end 0:11:47.040 --> 0:11:51.199 of the eighteenth century. Uh, Spain is not doing so hot. 0:11:51.280 --> 0:11:55.480 Financially because of just kind of constant warring in Europe 0:11:55.520 --> 0:11:58.480 for you know, many hundreds of years. Oh dude, it 0:11:58.559 --> 0:12:01.559 was really bad that century. It was a bad century 0:12:01.600 --> 0:12:03.920 for the European powers. Yeah. So, I mean it's just 0:12:03.960 --> 0:12:06.719 a money drain on everyone. So Spain is hurting financially, 0:12:06.840 --> 0:12:09.880 and in just before the turn of the century, in 0:12:09.920 --> 0:12:16.760 sev Napoleon uh seizes control in France and he says, 0:12:16.920 --> 0:12:19.280 you know, he's you know what Napoleon wanted to do. 0:12:19.320 --> 0:12:23.800 He wanted to rule the world the Andi Christ well exactly. 0:12:24.200 --> 0:12:26.440 So part of that, you know, obviously would include the 0:12:26.480 --> 0:12:30.400 America's and that's not just you know, Louis Louisiana territory, 0:12:30.440 --> 0:12:33.040 but like all of the America's Central America down to 0:12:33.080 --> 0:12:37.440 South America. And so uh he tried to do so. 0:12:37.480 --> 0:12:41.839 In eighteen hundred, they uh signed a secret treaty with 0:12:42.320 --> 0:12:47.480 Spain called the Third Treaty of San Il Defonso. Got 0:12:47.520 --> 0:12:52.319 it again, buddy, you're on a rule. And the Louisiana territory, 0:12:52.360 --> 0:12:55.400 which included New Orleans of course, came back to France 0:12:55.760 --> 0:12:58.640 and said, here you go, Spain, um will help you 0:12:58.679 --> 0:13:02.040 out with your money problems. And I understand, the nephew 0:13:02.120 --> 0:13:05.160 of the Queen of Spain wants some area that to 0:13:05.280 --> 0:13:09.120 call his own, so you can have a trucial Etruria 0:13:09.280 --> 0:13:13.280 in Italy which is now I think Tuscany, Lazio and Umbria. 0:13:13.280 --> 0:13:16.280 They're in central Italy. And they said great, thank you 0:13:16.360 --> 0:13:20.920 so much. Yeah. So Spain says like a black check dealer, 0:13:21.120 --> 0:13:24.520 as like I'm out of the Louisiana territory, and Frances like, yes, 0:13:24.559 --> 0:13:26.840 we've got it back. And from what I understand, Napoleon 0:13:27.440 --> 0:13:31.800 UM viewed this largely as a shipping, a storage and 0:13:31.840 --> 0:13:35.000 shipping and exporting center. New Orleans was like the crown 0:13:35.080 --> 0:13:39.600 jewel of Louisiana territory, but he viewed it more as 0:13:39.720 --> 0:13:44.839 a um and assist to the real gem in the 0:13:44.840 --> 0:13:48.840 French Empire, which was Saint Domain, which is now called Haiti, 0:13:49.200 --> 0:13:53.640 which was one of the most profitable plots of earth 0:13:54.200 --> 0:13:57.440 on Earth at the time. I read Chuck that Saint 0:13:57.480 --> 0:14:00.720 doming Um, and I've looked at up. I'm pretty surelet's 0:14:00.720 --> 0:14:04.440 tell you say it, Um, you're right before the before 0:14:04.440 --> 0:14:08.680 the revolt, and I believe eighteen hundred um. They were 0:14:08.920 --> 0:14:13.160 just the taxes alone that were paid by the goods 0:14:13.160 --> 0:14:16.920 that were produced there is equal to twelve billion dollars 0:14:17.320 --> 0:14:21.960 in US dollars today. Yeah, and that was just the 0:14:22.000 --> 0:14:24.880 taxes that were being paid, let alone all the productivity. 0:14:25.000 --> 0:14:28.520 So Napoleon viewed the Louisiana into territory is like the 0:14:29.200 --> 0:14:31.080 place that all that stuff could come to and then 0:14:31.240 --> 0:14:33.720 spread out to the rest of the world. Um. That 0:14:33.800 --> 0:14:36.440 was how we viewed it. Um. The other thing that 0:14:36.840 --> 0:14:40.000 about the French having it is that Jefferson was like, man, 0:14:40.640 --> 0:14:43.680 this is not good because we've got really good stuff 0:14:43.720 --> 0:14:46.200 going on with the Spanish letting us use the Mississippi 0:14:46.240 --> 0:14:48.160 River and the Port of New Orleans, and I don't 0:14:48.160 --> 0:14:50.280 think the French are going to do that. And he 0:14:50.320 --> 0:14:53.360 turned out to be right, yeah, because they, like you said, 0:14:53.400 --> 0:14:55.360 they had a sweet deal going. Uh. The one thing 0:14:55.400 --> 0:14:57.520 we didn't mention was that part of the agreement with 0:14:57.560 --> 0:15:01.000 Spain because you know, they still wanted that offer uh 0:15:01.120 --> 0:15:03.760 to be intact. So they you know, said, France can 0:15:03.800 --> 0:15:06.160 have it back, but like, you can't give it away 0:15:06.240 --> 0:15:09.800 or sell it to anybody else. Okay, Napoleon, do you 0:15:09.880 --> 0:15:13.440 will you shake on that? And he said sure, My 0:15:13.520 --> 0:15:16.600 word is my word is my bond. So that was 0:15:16.640 --> 0:15:18.880 a big important part of it. Uh. Like you said, 0:15:18.920 --> 0:15:22.840 Jefferson is getting a little bit nervous because New Orleans 0:15:22.880 --> 0:15:24.800 was very important to us as well. At the time, 0:15:25.320 --> 0:15:29.280 tensions are mounting. Uh. In eight ten o two, Spain 0:15:29.920 --> 0:15:33.400 revokes those rights that they had previously given us traders 0:15:34.160 --> 0:15:36.280 uh in New Orleans. And they were like, wait a minute. 0:15:36.680 --> 0:15:38.440 You said you could keep our stuff here and use 0:15:38.520 --> 0:15:42.680 these warehouses. They said, not so much anymore. And Jefferson said, 0:15:42.960 --> 0:15:46.480 Napoleon he's behind all this. I know, he is that 0:15:46.760 --> 0:15:53.000 little stubby uh runt. He's trying to keep this clean. 0:15:53.760 --> 0:15:55.640 It's really hard when I'm doing Jefferson, because you know 0:15:55.680 --> 0:15:59.800 that guy, yeh, potty mouth. So he said, this is 0:15:59.840 --> 0:16:02.840 all on Napoleon. I bet and I bet you anything 0:16:02.880 --> 0:16:06.840 that they're gonna shut everything down soon. And so you know, 0:16:06.880 --> 0:16:11.640 this got people, um pretty upset. In the early United States, 0:16:11.720 --> 0:16:14.040 there were people that said, no, let's let's take it 0:16:14.080 --> 0:16:17.080 back by force. There was a senator in Pennsylvania named 0:16:17.160 --> 0:16:20.120 James Ross who was very big on that and lobby 0:16:20.240 --> 0:16:23.160 for Jefferson to send actual, an actual army down there 0:16:23.680 --> 0:16:27.480 of fifty men too, to take this land. Because there 0:16:27.520 --> 0:16:30.360 was a big deal. You know, oh, it's a huge deal. Um. 0:16:30.400 --> 0:16:33.880 Other the Federalist Party said no, you know, screw that, 0:16:33.960 --> 0:16:37.800 Let's just succeed and let's form our own nation, which 0:16:37.840 --> 0:16:41.200 includes New Orleans. And so things were getting really up 0:16:41.240 --> 0:16:44.120 to sort of like a fever pitch about whether or 0:16:44.160 --> 0:16:46.280 not the United States was gonna have access to this 0:16:46.800 --> 0:16:50.680 territory for shipping. Right. Um, before we continue, Chuck, I 0:16:50.720 --> 0:16:52.720 want to show you a little magic trick. You ready, 0:16:53.120 --> 0:16:56.960 m I'm going to I'm going to delete a thousand 0:16:57.000 --> 0:17:01.040 email drafts right now. What you call Napoleon a runt? 0:17:01.240 --> 0:17:04.560 And he actually was average size. He was, he was 0:17:04.800 --> 0:17:06.359 it's a big it's a big deal, and it was. 0:17:06.440 --> 0:17:08.680 It all came down to a difference between the French 0:17:08.720 --> 0:17:12.439 foot and the English foot. There's a mistranslation, and so 0:17:12.480 --> 0:17:15.960 he was actually like five eleven. That's right. I'm not 0:17:15.960 --> 0:17:18.200 trying to correct you. I'm just trying to those from 0:17:18.200 --> 0:17:20.960 those emails. I knew that. But what my point is, Jefferson, 0:17:21.400 --> 0:17:23.920 I've seen his diaries. He very much called him a runt. 0:17:23.960 --> 0:17:25.800 Whether or not he was average sized or not, did 0:17:25.800 --> 0:17:29.280 he really wow? Well, Also, Jefferson was like I think 0:17:29.359 --> 0:17:31.280 nine and a half feet tall, so he would have 0:17:31.320 --> 0:17:34.919 considered someone five eleven a run anyone under seven feets all, 0:17:34.920 --> 0:17:37.160 it was a pretty small person. To Jefferson, Yeah, yeah, 0:17:37.160 --> 0:17:42.800 for sure. So, um, because of the Haitian Revolution, uh, 0:17:43.040 --> 0:17:48.000 like Hatie became the first black run country, um outside 0:17:48.000 --> 0:17:52.080 of Africa in the world because there was a slave revolt, 0:17:52.560 --> 0:17:55.200 and it was I mean, that's an enormous deal. Even 0:17:55.240 --> 0:17:57.840 in retrospective at the time it was it was like 0:17:58.000 --> 0:18:01.800 earth shattering for for Europe because you know, France was 0:18:01.840 --> 0:18:03.800 making so much money off of this, but you know 0:18:04.320 --> 0:18:07.560 it was having a trickling outward effect on all the 0:18:07.600 --> 0:18:10.200 other countries as well, who were really benefiting from this 0:18:10.680 --> 0:18:16.480 incredibly productive forced slave labor um. And so when that stopped, 0:18:16.520 --> 0:18:19.240 it had a really huge effect on the economy. And 0:18:19.520 --> 0:18:21.800 to Napoleon it was like, well, then what's the point 0:18:21.800 --> 0:18:24.800 of Louisiana territory anymore? If it was just a supporting 0:18:25.240 --> 0:18:29.000 character for Saint doming And now Saint Domag is now 0:18:29.080 --> 0:18:33.080 Haiti and we don't have any interest in it anymore. Um, like, 0:18:33.119 --> 0:18:36.080 there's no point in owning the Louisiana territory. And he 0:18:36.119 --> 0:18:41.160 started stroking his chin and he thought, first he thought 0:18:42.000 --> 0:18:44.679 I should grow a soul patch. And then after that 0:18:44.800 --> 0:18:47.639 he said, what is a soul patch? And then the 0:18:47.680 --> 0:18:50.280 third thing he thought at that moment was I'm gonna 0:18:50.280 --> 0:18:55.440 sell New France the Louisiana territory to the Americans. Yeah. 0:18:55.480 --> 0:18:57.520 I mean the other reason too, is like he was 0:18:57.960 --> 0:19:00.560 mad with power, but he also had a lot of 0:19:01.760 --> 0:19:06.640 irons in the fire, and Louisiana was a long ways away, 0:19:06.720 --> 0:19:08.600 so he was like, you know, and also to take 0:19:08.640 --> 0:19:12.399 on like more warring now way over there. It's like 0:19:12.400 --> 0:19:15.960 I'm spread a little bit thin, even though I am. Uh, 0:19:16.080 --> 0:19:18.840 everyone knows an average height, right, And everyone nodded and 0:19:18.840 --> 0:19:21.159 said yes, yes, yes, And he's like, in history will 0:19:21.240 --> 0:19:25.520 view me that way, right, it's just an average height person, Yes, sir, 0:19:25.680 --> 0:19:28.680 absolutely sir. And he said okay, he said, so selling 0:19:28.720 --> 0:19:30.600 it won't make me look short, and they nope, not 0:19:30.720 --> 0:19:34.080 at all. He said, okay, well we'll proceed. Then I 0:19:34.119 --> 0:19:36.200 saw he also thought, chuck that it would be really 0:19:36.240 --> 0:19:40.680 great to basically help a fledgling nation become a really 0:19:40.680 --> 0:19:44.840 big nation freshly balance out and temper well more more, 0:19:44.880 --> 0:19:48.399 to be an enemy of his enemy, which was and 0:19:48.440 --> 0:19:50.760 to kind of give the Brits or run for their money. 0:19:50.800 --> 0:19:53.720 So he did all these things in one master stroke, 0:19:53.760 --> 0:19:57.240 which was selling the Louisiana territory. The boy looking. I mean, 0:19:57.280 --> 0:20:03.440 things were just wild back then, with uh world shaping stuff. 0:20:04.200 --> 0:20:07.560 I would argue that still goes on today, not like that. 0:20:09.440 --> 0:20:15.400 No really, I mean, do you do you think NATO's 0:20:15.440 --> 0:20:18.520 fighting a proxy war with Russia through Ukraine right now? 0:20:18.560 --> 0:20:20.880 So I would say, so, yeah, well, yeah, I mean, 0:20:21.040 --> 0:20:24.120 these things happen. I'm just saying it seemed like back 0:20:24.160 --> 0:20:30.359 then it was happening everywhere, all at once. No, yeah, 0:20:30.720 --> 0:20:33.440 I still I still think that happens today. I don't 0:20:33.440 --> 0:20:35.480 know that not everywhere all at once. Like Canada is 0:20:35.520 --> 0:20:37.840 not at war with the US to try and take territory. 0:20:37.920 --> 0:20:41.880 And Canada's greatest trick is convincing the world that they're 0:20:41.960 --> 0:20:49.960 laid back? Are they? Are they laying in? Wait? Oh boy, 0:20:50.920 --> 0:20:54.520 that's all we need? Yeah? A million guns chuck, That's 0:20:54.520 --> 0:20:58.040 all I have to say. All right, So this is 0:20:58.600 --> 0:21:01.080 um let's call it eighteen oh you, because that was 0:21:01.119 --> 0:21:05.040 the year that it was. And Jefferson and you know, Jeffy, 0:21:05.080 --> 0:21:07.119 it takes a long time to get word about stuff. 0:21:07.119 --> 0:21:10.600 As I realized when I was creating this UM Jefferson 0:21:10.640 --> 0:21:13.040 doesn't know, you know that Napoleon's has this plan to 0:21:13.040 --> 0:21:15.919 sell us territory back, or not back to us, but 0:21:16.000 --> 0:21:21.080 to us. So he orders our minister to France, Robert Livingston, 0:21:21.680 --> 0:21:25.280 to go to France to their foreign minister and say 0:21:25.640 --> 0:21:29.360 his last name is tally Ran, great name, and say, hey, listen, 0:21:29.760 --> 0:21:31.800 we'd like to put a stop to the acquisition of 0:21:31.800 --> 0:21:36.800 the territory from Spain unless it's already finalized. And in 0:21:36.840 --> 0:21:38.119 the back of the set he was like, if it 0:21:38.200 --> 0:21:42.760 is finalized, you know, maybe go over uh and see 0:21:42.800 --> 0:21:45.760 if you can buy New Orleans. See if they'll put 0:21:45.760 --> 0:21:48.800 New Orleans up for sale. Okay, I'll go over there. 0:21:49.200 --> 0:21:52.480 And he took uh he took a future president with him, 0:21:52.520 --> 0:21:56.280 right or was he former president? Future? I think we 0:21:56.400 --> 0:21:59.080 only had Yeah, I always get the order mixed up 0:21:59.080 --> 0:22:02.240 there in the early days. I think Jefferson was the third. 0:22:03.440 --> 0:22:06.919 I really hope Jefferson was the third, but yeah, James 0:22:06.920 --> 0:22:11.120 Monroe went along to help Livingston too, and UM they 0:22:11.160 --> 0:22:14.919 they started negotiating. UM. They were authorized to spend up 0:22:14.920 --> 0:22:18.320 to ten million dollars and they started negotiating with UM. 0:22:18.960 --> 0:22:23.520 A guy named Barbe Marbois Francois Barbe Marbois, and he 0:22:23.640 --> 0:22:26.919 was a politician. I don't think he was the foreign minister, 0:22:26.960 --> 0:22:29.239 because I think tally Rand was the foreign minister, right, 0:22:29.600 --> 0:22:32.520 tally Rand was the foreign minister. Correct, Okay, So so 0:22:32.600 --> 0:22:35.800 Barbe Marbois was a politician who was close to Napoleon, 0:22:35.960 --> 0:22:38.280 who was instructed to basically broker the steal. And then 0:22:38.280 --> 0:22:40.280 tally Rand came along and and said I'm going to 0:22:40.359 --> 0:22:42.960 help out too, And so as they started to talk 0:22:43.000 --> 0:22:45.960 and negotiate, I think within the first couple of days 0:22:46.000 --> 0:22:50.560 maybe Barbee Marbois and tally Rand said henceforth known as 0:22:50.600 --> 0:22:55.160 the French contingent um. They said, hey, how about this 0:22:55.400 --> 0:22:58.280 um have you? Would you guys be interested in purchasing 0:22:58.320 --> 0:23:02.240 the whole Louisiana? Terry Tory and Monroe and Livi said like, 0:23:02.240 --> 0:23:06.199 oh my god, oh my god. Yeah cool, and they're like, 0:23:06.320 --> 0:23:09.600 I don't know. I think Monroe like examined his fingernails 0:23:09.600 --> 0:23:12.680 and said, well, we'll think about it. We might take 0:23:12.680 --> 0:23:14.240 it off of her. Now, how much do you want? 0:23:15.440 --> 0:23:19.240 And the Prince said twenty two million bucks, And he 0:23:19.359 --> 0:23:22.480 leaned over and said, well, Jefferson wanted chin million for 0:23:22.520 --> 0:23:25.359 new Orleans twenty two mill for all of it's not 0:23:25.440 --> 0:23:30.240 a bad deal. No, and uh and Monroe said six 0:23:30.400 --> 0:23:34.200 nay on the eel day. Wait, what would that be? 0:23:35.280 --> 0:23:37.960