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The deal that made an empire
New Orleans, others celebrating Louisiana Purchase bicentennial 04:20 PM CDT on Saturday, October 4, 2003
NEW ORLEANS – Strained relations between the United States and France over
the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq may prevent President Bush and French
president Jacques Chirac from ending up in the same room for the Louisiana
Purchase re-enactment, as tourism officials had hoped.
Although state officials say they haven't heard anything either way, "I
don't think that's happening," historian Douglas Brinkley said. "It's
not a great time for French-American relations."
But then, Thomas Jefferson didn't ride from Washington for the original
event in 1803, and Napoleon Bonaparte didn't cross the Atlantic, either.
The entire deal was handled by envoys Robert Livingston and James Monroe
for the United States and emissaries for Spain and France.
That was 200 years ago. This year, Louisiana and 14 other states that
were carved at least partially from the Louisiana Purchase are
celebrating the transaction's bicentennial with art exhibits, school
plays, operas and other activities. The celebration culminates Dec. 20
with a re-enactment of the treaty signing in New Orleans in 1803.
The purchase doubled the size of the new country for $15 million in what
has been called the most important land deal in history. It took time
for the news to travel to Washington and Paris that Spain had formally
ceded the property to France and that France had sold the 800,000 square
miles of the Louisiana Territory to the United States.
"There were no telephones or cable, so they had to wait months to find
out about it," said Mr. Brinkley, director of the Eisenhower Center for
American Studies at the University of New Orleans. "Jefferson was
interested in controlling the Mississippi River. Napoleon threw in the
whole kit and caboodle."
There was no highway system in those days. In fact, there were very few
dirt roads. But the Mississippi River was so important that Jefferson
risked the wrath of Congress to control access to the river and the Port
of New Orleans, historians say.
Tourism push
The most recent figures released by the Travel Industry Association of
America indicate that the number of domestic visitors to Louisiana
during the first quarter of 2003 was more than 5.5 million – about
850,000 more visitors than reported for January through March of 2002.
Whether the state is on track to reach the 25 million goal is not known,
but some say they don't think the bicentennial is proving to be the draw
it was expected to be.
The problem is that the Louisiana Purchase has not captured the
imagination of the public like the Lewis and Clark expedition.
"Lewis and Clark steals its thunder," he said.
The Cabildo
Roy and Emma Conway came from Ireland to honeymoon in New Orleans'
French Quarter, and one of the first things they just had to see was the
Cabildo, now part of the Louisiana State Museum on Jackson Square. The
building was completed in 1799.
Around their home in Dublin, there are buildings 500 to 1,000 years old
and older. But here in New Orleans, Ms. Conway said, "You can feel the
'old' in the air."
Federalists in 1803 were not exactly thrilled with Jefferson for
committing the $15 million for the purchase, which he had to borrow from
Dutch banks, historians say.
Yet experts now consider the purchase second only to the Declaration of
Independence and Revolutionary War in creating the "American Empire of
Liberty," in Jefferson's words.
The historic event was a defining moment in the economic life of the
United States, said François Weil, a visiting professor from France
speaking at Tulane University.
It gave the United States control of the Port of New Orleans and led to
the Lewis and Clark expedition becoming not just a scientific mission,
but a "political mission" that had meaning in the minds of Americans.
"Nothing but independence was more important," he said. "It outranks any
other event. It created an empire. The Mississippi River was a mighty
weapon of power."
View from overseas
Yet "it's still a tool for rhetoric" on both sides, even as the U.S. and
French governments today disagree about the war in Iraq.
Spain signed Louisiana over to the French just weeks before the United
States offered to buy it from Napoleon, who conceded because of a
disastrous defeat on "Sugar Island," the slave colony on Saint Domingue
(now Haiti), and to raise money for the looming war against the British.
Will leaders attend?
Of the possibility that the leaders will get together, Susan McClay, the
executive director of the Louisiana Museum Foundation, said, "We really
don't know at this point. It's just too soon to know."
A spokeswoman for the White House press office said, "We have not
released any information on that."
A spokesman for the White House scheduling office who would identify
himself only as Jack "for security reasons," said, "No decision has been
made on that."
Spokesmen for Mr. Chirac say he is awaiting an official invitation from
Mr. Bush.
Even if the national leaders do not attend, the celebration will go
ahead, said Steve Schulkens, director of marketing and public relations
for the Louisiana State Museum.
"We are planning a massive, statewide celebration," he said. The
re-enactment will be an elaborate affair, he said, complete with
historical characters dressed in period costumes. There will be more
than 120 U.S., French and Spanish militia members with muskets and
cannons at a flag-raising ceremony after the treaty signing.
Glynn Wilson is a free-lance writer based in New Orleans.
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