USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -Jefferson’s men were in Paris because he wanted to buy the port of New Orleans. To him, New Orleans was key: Whoever owned it would be America’s natural enemy because that nation would control the channel through which produce from more than a third of the United States had to pass.

Detailed explanation-2: -Foreign Minister Talleyrand tells Livingston that France is willing to sell all of Louisiana. Monroe arrives in Paris and joins Livingston in negotiations with Finance Minister Barbé-Marbois. Monroe, Livingston, and Barbé-Marbois agree on terms of sale: $15 million for approximately 827, 000 square miles of territory.

Detailed explanation-3: -Acquisition of Louisiana was a long-term goal of President Thomas Jefferson, who was especially eager to gain control of the crucial Mississippi River port of New Orleans. Jefferson tasked James Monroe and Robert R. Livingston with purchasing New Orleans.

Detailed explanation-4: -Napoleonic France Acquires Louisiana On October 1, 1800, within 24 hours of signing a peace settlement with the United States, First Consul of the Republic of France Napoleon Bonaparte, acquired Louisiana from Spain by the secret Treaty of San Ildefonso.