Rosenfeld Susan. Encyclopedia of American Historical Documents

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513

ERA 4

Expansion and Reform

(1800–1860)

★

The major themes of this era, expansion and reform,

encompass a multitude of developments. The United States

expanded in many ways. Geographically, the 16 eastern

states that elected Thomas Jefferson president in 1800 (Ver-

mont [1791], Kentucky [1792], and Tennessee [1796], plus

the original 13) had grown to 33 in the election of 1860; the

boundaries of the “Lower Forty-eight” were set pretty much

as they stand today. However, the move west also resulted in

the ousting of eastern Indians from their tribal lands. Their

relocation resulted in many deaths as they trekked to new

territories and reservations. In 1800 the nation’s foreign

interests had been limited to Europe, Africa, and the Ca-

ribbean; by 1860 they extended to Central and South Amer-

ica, China, and Japan. The population expanded as well. Not

only in numbers but in the varieties of people, as refugees

from the European upheavals and Irish famine of the 1840s

emigrated to the United States.

Politically the nation had also expanded. Property and

religious qualifications still limited who could hold an

office or vote in several states in 1800. By 1860 the United

States had what for many years textbooks called “universal

suffrage,” ignoring the fact that while almost all white men

could vote, most blacks and all women were denied the

franchise regardless of their other qualifications.

Forced by the War of 1812 to develop indigenous

manufactures and bolstered by a commerce-oriented

Supreme Court, the nation also expanded economically.

The discovery of gold in the West spurred the growth of

railroads, while an expansive view of federal responsibili-

ties enabled the development of other modes of interstate

transportation, such as roads and canals.

Sectional divisions, obvious from the Constitutional

Convention, if not earlier, laid behind every “expansion”

category. Where size—small states versus large states—

seemed the major distinction in the late 18th century, the

major distinction for the 19th begins as an exporting econ-

omy (North) versus an importing economy (South) and

soon turned on whether or not a state depended on slav-

ery. The major expansion themes of this 60-year period are

extremely intermingled.

The other parts cover religious and social reform move-

ments and intellectual and cultural developments. Although

the interests of women and slaves were quite different, many

women found a voice through antislavery activities. Because

the antislavery and the women’s movements become in-

tertwined, these two reform groups—and the reaction to

antislavery—are handled together in the second part. The

next part covers religious and educational developments,

and the final part concerns intellectual and cultural matters.

Beginning in 1850, sectional divisions become even

more pronounced and will be treated in the next era as a

prelude to the Civil War.

Land Act of 1800 (Harrison Land Act)

Federal legislation enacted on May 10, 1800, designed to

reduce the national debt and to encourage the settlement of

the West by making the purchase of public lands easier than it

had been under the Land Act of 1796. The 1800 Land Act,

sponsored by William Henry Harrison, retained the minimum

price of two dollars per acre from the previous act but autho-

rized minimum purchases of 320 acres, granted buyers four

years to pay, and gave a discount of 8 percent for cash pay-

ment. Administrative processes were revised to help the small

purchaser. Though modified several times, the act served as

the basis for federal land policy until the passage of a new

Land Act on April 24, 1820. It abolished the liberal credit sys-

tem that had allowed purchasers of public lands to pay for

their property over a period of several years. The credit system,

established by the Land Act of 1796 and extended by the Land

Act of 1800, had encouraged widespread land speculation,

and many settlers were unable or unwilling to make the

required deferred payments. The 1820 reform, intended to

help settlers and hinder speculators, reduced the minimum

price from $2 to $1.25 per acre, set the minimum purchase at

80 acres, and required that the entire amount be paid at the

time of purchase. Payments were still too high for most set-

tlers, and speculators benefitted once again.

________________________

_______________________

An Act

To amend the act intituled “An act providing for the sale of

the lands of the United States, in the territory northwest of

the Ohio, and above the mouth of Kentucky river.”

Section 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of

Representatives of the United States of America in

Congress assembled, That for the disposal of the lands of

the United States, directed to be sold by the act, intituled

“An act providing for the sale of the lands of the United

States, in the territory northwest of the Ohio, and above

the mouth of Kentucky river,” there shall be four land

offices established in the said territory: one at Cincinnati,

for lands below the Little Miami, which have not hereto-

fore been granted; one at Chilicothe, for lands east of the

Scioto, south of the lands appropriated for satisfying mili-

tary bounties to the late army of the United States, and

west of the fifteenth range of townships, one at Marietta,

for the lands east of the sixteenth range of townships, south

of the before mentioned military lands; and south of a line

drawn due west from the northwest corner of the first

township of the second range, to the said military lands;

and one at Steubenville, for the lands north of the last

mentioned line, and east or north of the said military lands.

Each of the said offices shall be under the direction of an

officer, to be called “The Register of the Land Office,” who

shall be appointed by the President of the United States,

by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, and shall

give bond to the United States, with approved security, in

the sum of ten thousand dollars, for the faithful discharge

of the duties of his office; and shall reside at the place

where the land office is directed to be kept.

Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That it shall be the

duty of the surveyor-general, and he is hereby expressly

enjoined, to prepare and transmit to the registers of the

several land offices, before the days herein appointed for

commencing sales, general plats of the lands hereby

directed to be sold at the said offices respectively, and also

to forward copies of each of the said plats to the Secretary

of the Treasury.

Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That the surveyor-

general shall cause the townships west of the Muskingum,

which by the above-mentioned act are directed to be sold

in quarter townships, to be subdivided into half sections of

three hundred and twenty acres each, as nearly as may be,

by running parallel lines through the same from east to

west, and from south to north, at the distance of one mile

from each other, and marking corners, at the distance of

each half mile on the lines running from east to west, and

at the distance of each mile on those running from south

to north, and making the marks, notes and descriptions,

prescribed to surveyors by the above-mentioned act: And

the interior lines of townships intersected by the Musk-

ingum, and of all the townships lying east of that river,

which have not been heretofore actually subdivided into

sections, shall also be run and marked in the manner pre-

scribed by the said act, for running and marking the inte-

rior lines of townships directed to be sold in sections of six

hundred and forty acres each. And in all cases where the

exterior lines of the townships, thus to be subdivided into

sections or half sections, shall exceed or shall not extend six

miles, the excess or deficiency shall be specially noted, and

added to or deducted from the western and northern

ranges of sections or half sections in such township,

514 ERA 4: Expansion and Reform

Territorial Expansion, Political and Economic

Developments, and International Relations

Territorial Expansion, Political and Economic Developments, and International Relations 515

according as the error may be in running the lines from

east to west, or from south to north; the sections and half

sections bounded on the northern and western lines of

such townships shall be sold as containing only the quan-

tity expressed in the returns and plats respectively, and all

others as containing the complete legal quantity. And the

President of the United States shall fix the compensation

of the deputy surveyors, chain carriers, and axemen: Pro-

vided, the whole expense of surveying and marking the

lines, shall not exceed three dollars for every mile that shall

be actually run, surveyed and marked.

Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, That the lands thus

subdivided (excluding the sections reserved by the above-

mentioned act) shall be offered for sale in sections and half

sections, subdivided as before directed at the following

places and times, that is to say: Those below the Little

Miami shall be offered at public vendue, in the town of

Cincinnati, on the first Monday of April one thousand

eight hundred and one, under the direction of the register

of the land office there established, and of either the gov-

ernor or secretary of the northwestern territory. The lands

east of Scioto, south of the military lands, and west of the

fifteenth range of townships, shall be offered in like man-

ner for sale at Chilicothe, on the first Monday of May, one

thousand eight hundred and one, under the direction of

the register of the land office there established, and of

either the governor or secretary of the said territory. The

lands east of the sixteenth range of townships, south of the

military lands and west of the Muskingum, including all

the townships intersected by that river, shall be offered for

sale in like manner at Marietta, on the last Monday of May,

one thousand eight hundred and one, under the direction

of the governor or secretary, or surveyor-general of the said

territory. The sales shall remain open at each place for

three weeks, and no longer. The superintendents shall

observe the rules and regulations of the above-mentioned

act, in classing and selling fractional with entire sections,

and in keeping and transmitting accounts of the sales. All

lands remaining unsold, at the closing of either of the pub-

lic sales, may be disposed of at private sale by the registers

of these respective land offices, in the manner herein after

prescribed; and the register of the land office at

Steubenville, after the first day of July next, may proceed

to sell, at private sale, the lands situate within the district

assigned to his direction as herein before described, dis-

posing of the same in sections, and classing fractional with

entire sections, according to the provisions and regulations

of the above-mentioned act and of this act: And the regis-

ter of the land office at Marietta, after the said first day of

July next, may proceed to sell at private sale, any of the

lands within the district assigned to his direction as afore-

said, which are east of the river Muskingum, excluding the

townships intersected by the river, disposing of the same in

sections, and classing fractional with entire sections as

aforesaid.

Sec. 5. And be it further enacted, That no lands shall

be sold by virtue of this act, at either public or private sale,

for less than two dollars per acre, and payment may be

made for the same by all purchasers, either in specie, or in

evidences of the public debt of the United States, at the

rates prescribed by the act, intituled, “An act to authorize

the receipt of evidences of the public debt in payment for

the lands of the United States;” and shall be made in the

following manner, and under the following conditions, to

wit:

1. At the time of purchase, every purchaser shall,

exclusively of the fees hereafter mentioned, pay six dollars

for every section, and three dollars for every half section,

he may have purchased, for surveying expenses, and

deposit one twentieth part of the amount of purchase

money, to be forfeited, if within forty days one fourth part

of the purchase money, including the said twentieth part,

is not paid.

2. One fourth part of the purchase money shall be paid

within forty days after the day of sale as aforesaid; another

fourth part shall be paid within two years; another fourth

part within three years; and another fourth part within four

years after the day of sale.

3. Interest, at the rate of six per cent. a year from the

day of sale, shall be charged upon each of the three last

payments, payable as they respectively become due.

4. A discount at the rate of eight per cent. a year, shall

be allowed on any of the three payments, which shall be

paid before the same shall become due, reckoning this dis-

count always upon the sum, which would have been

demandable by the United States, on the day appointed

for such payment.

5. If the first payment of one fourth part of the pur-

chase money shall not be made within forty days after the

sale, the deposit, payment and fees, paid and made by the

purchaser, shall be forfeited, and the lands shall and may,

from and after the day, when the payment of one fourth

part of the purchase money should have been made, be

disposed of at private sale, on the same terms and condi-

tions, and in the same manner as the other lands directed

by this act to be disposed of at private sale: Provided , that

the lands which shall have been sold at public sale, and

which shall, on account of such failure of payment, revert

to the United States, shall not be sold at private sale, for a

price less than the price that shall have been offered for

the same at public sale.

6. If any tract shall not be completely paid for within

one year after the date of the last payment, the tract shall

be advertised for sale by the register of the land office

within whose district it may lie, in at least five of the most

public places in the said district, for at least thirty days

515

before the time of sale. And he shall sell the same at pub-

lic vendue, during the sitting of the court of quarter ses-

sions of the country in which the land office is kept, for a

price not less than the whole arrears due thereon, with the

expenses of sale; the surplus, if any, shall be returned to

the original purchaser, or to his legal representative; but if

the sum due, with interest, be not bidden and paid, then

the land shall revert to the United States. All monies paid

therefor shall be forfeited, and the register of the land

office may proceed to dispose of the same to any pur-

chaser, as in case of other lands at private sale.

Sec. 6. And be it further enacted, That all and every

the payments, to be made by virtue of the preceding sec-

tion, shall be made either to the treasurer of the United

States, or to such person or officer as shall be appointed by

the President of the United States, with the advice and

consent of the Senate, receiver of public monies for lands

of the United States, at each of the places respectively

where the public and private sales of the said lands are to

be made; and the said receiver of public monies shall,

before he enters upon the duties of his office, give bond

with approved security, in the sum of ten thousand dollars,

for the faithful discharge of his trust; and it shall be the

duty of the said treasurer and receiver of public monies to

give receipts for the monies by them received, to the per-

sons respectively paying the same; to transmit within thirty

days in case of public sale, and quarterly, in case of private

sale, an account of all the public monies by them received,

specifying the amount received from each person, and dis-

tinguishing the sums received for surveying expenses, and

those received for purchase money, to the Secretary of the

Treasury, and to the registers of the land office, as the case

may be. The said receivers of public monies shall, within

three months after receiving the same, transmit the

monies by them received to the treasurer of the United

States; and the receivers of public monies for the said

sales, and also the receivers of public monies for the sales

which have taken place at Pittsburg under the act, intituled

“An act providing for the sale of the lands of the United

States in the territory northwest of the Ohio, and above the

mouth of Kentucky river,” shall receive one per cent. on

the money received, as a compensation for clerk hire,

receiving, safe keeping, and transmitting it to the treasury

of the United States.

Sec. 7. And be it further enacted, That it shall be the

duty of the registers of the land offices respectively, to

receive and enter on books kept for that purpose only, and

on which no blank leaves or space shall be left between the

different entries, the applications of any person or persons

who may apply for the purchase of any section or half sec-

tion, and who shall pay him the fee hereafter mentioned,

and produce a receipt from the treasurer of the United

States, or from the receiver of public monies appointed for

that purpose, for three dollars for each half section such

person or persons may apply for, and for at least one twen-

tieth part of the purchase money, stating carefully in each

entry the date of the application, the date of the receipt to

him produced, the amount of monies specified in the said

receipt, and the number of the section or half section,

township and range applied for. If two or more persons

shall apply at the same time for the same tract, the register

shall immediately determine by lot, in presence of the par-

ties, which of them shall have preference. He shall file the

receipt for monies produced by the party, and give him a

copy of his entry, and if required, a copy of the description

of the tract, and a copy of the plat of the same, or either of

them; and it shall be his duty to inform the party applying

for any one tract, whether the same has already been

entered, purchased, or paid for, and at his request to give

him a copy of the entry or entries concerning the same. He

shall, three months after the date of each application, if the

party shall not have, within that time, produced to him a

receipt of the payment of one fourth part of the purchase

money, including the twentieth part above mentioned,

enter under its proper date, in the said book of entries, that

the payment has not been made, and that the land has

reverted to the United States, and he shall make a note of

the same in the margin of the book opposite to the original

entry. And if the party shall, either at the time of making

the original entry, or at any time within three months

thereafter, produce a receipt to him, for the fourth part of

the purchase money, including the twentieth part afore-

said, he shall file the receipt, make an entry of the same,

under its proper date, in the said book of entries, make a

note of the same in the margin of the book, opposite to the

original entry, and give to the party a certificate, describing

the land sold, the sum paid on account, the balance

remaining due, the time and times when such balance shall

become due, and that if it shall be duly discharged, the

purchaser or his assignee or other legal representative,

shall be entitled to a patent for the said lands; he shall also,

upon any subsequent payment being made, and a receipt

from the receiver being produced to him, file the original

receipt, give a receipt for the same to the party, and enter

the same to the credit of the party, in a book kept for that

purpose, in which he shall open an account in the name of

each purchaser, for each section or half section that may be

sold either at public or private sale, and in which he shall

charge the party for the whole purchase money, and give

him credit for all his payments; making the proper charges

and allowances for interest or discount, as the case may be,

according to the provisions of the fourth section of this act;

and upon the payment being completed and the account

finally settled, he shall give a certificate of the same to the

party; and on producing to the Secretary of the Treasury,

the same final certificate, the President of the United

516 ERA 4: Expansion and Reform

States is hereby authorized to grant a patent for the lands

to the said purchaser, his heirs or assigns; and all patents

shall be countersigned by the Secretary of State, and

recorded in his office.

Sec. 8. And be it further enacted, That the registers of

the land offices respectively, shall also note on the book of

surveys, or original plat transmitted to them, every tract

which may be sold, by inserting the letter A on the day

when the same is applied for, and the letter P on the day

when a receipt for one fourth part of the purchase money

is produced to them, and by crossing the said letter A on

the day when the land shall revert to the United States, on

failure of the payment of one fourth part of the purchase

money within three months after the date of application.

And the said book of surveys or original plat shall be open

at all times, in presence of the register, for the inspection

of any individual, applying for the same and paying the

proper fee.

Sec. 9. And be it further enacted, That it shall be the

duty of the registers of the land offices to transmit quar-

terly to the Secretary of the Treasury, and to the surveyor-

general, an account of the several tracts applied for, of the

several tracts for which the payment of one fourth part of

the purchase money has been made, of the several tracts

which have reverted to the United States on failure of the

said payment; and also an account of all the payments of

monies by them entered, according to the receipts pro-

duced to them, specifying the sums of money, the names

of the persons paying the same, the names of the officers

who have received the same, and the tracts for which the

same have been paid.

Sec. 10. And be it further enacted, That the registers

aforesaid shall be precluded from entering on their books

any application for lands in their own name, and in the

name of any other person in trust for them; and if any reg-

ister shall wish to purchase any tract of land, he may do it

by application in writing to the surveyor-general, who shall

enter the same on books kept for that purpose by him, who

shall proceed in respect to such applications, and to any

payments made for the same, in the same manner which

the registers by this act are directed to follow, in respect to

applications made to them for lands by other persons. The

registers shall, nevertheless, note on the book of surveys, or

original plat, the applications and payments thus by them

made, and their right to the pre-emption of any tract shall

bear date from the day, when their application for the same

shall have been entered by the surveyor-general in his own

book. And if any person applying for any tract shall,

notwithstanding he shall have received information from

the register, that the same has already been applied for by

the said register, or by any other person, insist to make the

application, it shall be the duty of the register to enter the

same, noting in the margin that the same tract is already

purchased, but upon application of the party made in writ-

ing, and which he shall file, he may and shall at any future

time enter under its proper date, that the party withdraws

his former application, and applies in lieu thereof for any

other tract: Provided always, that the party shall never be

allowed thus to withdraw his former application, and to

apply in lieu thereof for another tract, except when the tract

described in his former application shall have been applied

for previous to the date of that his former application.

Sec. 11. And be it further enacted, That the Secretary

of the Treasury shall and may prescribe such further regu-

lations, in the manner of keeping books and accounts, by

the several officers in this act mentioned, as to him may

appear necessary and proper, in order fully to carry into

effect the provisions of this act.

Sec. 12. And be it further enacted, That the registers

of the land offices, respectively, shall be entitled to receive

from the treasury of the United States, one half per cent.

on all the monies expressed in the receipts by them filed

and entered, and of which they shall have transmitted an

account to the Secretary of the Treasury, as directed by this

act; and they shall further be entitled to receive, for their

own use, from the respective parties, the following fees for

services rendered, that is to say; for every original applica-

tion for land, and a copy of the same, for a section three

dollars, for a half section two dollars; for every certificate

stating that the first fourth part of the purchase money is

paid, twenty-five cents; for every subsequent receipt for

monies paid, twenty-five cents; for the final settlement of

account and giving the final certificate of the same, one

dollar; for every copy, either of an application or of the

description of any section or half section, or of the plat of

the same, or of any entry made on their books, or of any

certificate heretofore given by them, twenty-five cents for

each; and for any general inspection of the book of surveys,

or general plat, made in their presence, twenty-five cents.

Sec. 13. And be it further enacted, That the superin-

tendents of the public sales, to be made by virtue of this

act, and the superintendents of the sales which have taken

place by virtue of the act, intituled “An act providing for

the sale of the lands of the United States in the territory

northwest of the river Ohio, and above the mouth of Ken-

tucky river,” shall receive five dollars a day for every day

whilst engaged in that business; and the accounting offi-

cers of the treasury are hereby authorized to allow a rea-

sonable compensation for books, stationery and clerk hire,

in settling the accounts of the said superintendents.

Sec. 14. And be it further enacted, That the fee to be

paid for each patent for half a section shall be four dollars,

and for every section five dollars, to be accounted for by

the receiver of the same.

Sec. 15. And be it further enacted, That the lands of

the United States reserved for future disposition, may be

Territorial Expansion, Political and Economic Developments, and International Relations 517

let upon leases by the surveyor-general, in sections or

half sections, for terms not exceeding seven years, on con-

dition of making such improvements as he shall deem

reasonable.

Sec. 16. And be it further enacted, That each person

who, before the passing of this act, shall have erected, or

begun to erect, a grist-mill or saw-mill upon any of the

lands herein directed to be sold, shall be entitled to the

pre-emption of the section including such mill, at the rate

of two dollars per acre: Provided, the person or his heirs,

claiming such right of pre-emption, shall produce to the

they are entitled thereto, and shall be subject to and com-

ply with the regulations and provisions by this act pre-

scribed for other purchasers.

Sec. 17. And be it further enacted, That so much of the

act, providing for the sale of the lands of the United States

in the territory northwest of the river Ohio, and above the

mouth of Kentucky river, as comes within the purview of

this act, be, and the same is hereby repealed.

Source:

Statutes at Large of the United States of America, 1789–1873. 17

vols. Washington, D.C. 1850–73. Vol. 5, pp. 73–78.

Louisiana Purchase Treaty, 1803

Agreement signed on April 30, 1803, by which the United

States purchased from France a vast territory north and west of

New Orleans, from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Moun-

tains, for $15 million. The purchase of the 828,000-square-mile

area, which Napoleonic France had only recently acquired

from Spain, doubled the size of the United States. Suspicious of

the French and wary of losing access to the Mississippi from the

Gulf of Mexico, President Thomas Jefferson initially sought to

purchase only New Orleans, but Napoleon Bonaparte, occu-

pied by the slave revolt in Haiti and the impending war with

Great Britain, offered to sell the entire Louisiana Territory.

Despite the dubious constitutionality of the purchase, the U.S.

Senate approved the treaty in October 1803, and the United

States took possession of the territory in December. The precise

boundaries of the purchase, which were not defined in the treaty,

were disputed for many years. All or part of 15 states were even-

tually created from this area.

The Adams-Onís Treaty, signed at Washington, D.C., on

February 22, 1819, and ratified on February 22, 1821, settled

some of the difficulties with Spain while setting the stage for

new ones. Spain abandoned all claims to West Florida (which

had been seized by U.S. troops under Andrew Jackson the pre-

vious year), ceded East Florida to the United States, and gave

up its claims to the Pacific Northwest. In exchange, the United

States renounced its rights to Texas and agreed to pay up to $5

million to settle disputes of American citizens with Spain. The

treaty was negotiated by President James Monroe’s secretary of

state John Quincy Adams.

No specific authority in the U.S. Constitution authorized

the executive to purchase territory. By acquiring the Louisiana

Territory, Jefferson switched from being a “strict construction-

ist,” the position previously associated with the Democratic-

Republicans, to becoming a “loose constructionist.”

________________________

_______________________

Treaty

Between the United States of America and the French

Republic.

The President of the United States of America, and

the First Consul of the French Republic, in the name of

the French people, desiring to remove all source of mis-

understanding relative to objects of discussion mentioned

in the second and fifth articles of the convention of the 8th

Vendemiaire, an. 9 (30th September, 1800) relative to the

rights claimed by the United States, in virtue of the treaty

concluded at Madrid, the 27th of October, 1795, between

his Catholic Majesty and the said United States, and will-

ing to strengthen the union and friendship which at the

time of the said convention was happily re-established

between the two nations, have respectively named their

plenipotentiaries, to wit: the President of the United States

[of America,] by and with the advice and consent of the

Senate of the said states, Robert R. Livingston, minister

plenipotentiary of the United States, and James Monroe,

minister plenipotentiary and envoy extraordinary of the

said states, near the government of the French Republic;

and the First Consul, in the name of the French people,

citizen Francis Barbe Marbois, minister of the public trea-

sury, who, after having respectively exchanged their full

powers, have agreed to the following articles.

Article I. Whereas, by the article the third of the treaty

concluded at St. Ildelfonso, the 9th Vendemiaire, an. 9 (1st

October, 1800) between the First Consul of the French

Republic and his Catholic Majesty, it was agreed as follows:

“His Catholic Majesty promises and engages on his part, to

cede to the French Republic, six months after the full and

entire execution of the conditions and stipulations herein

relative to his royal highness the duke of Parma, the colony

or province of Louisiana, with the same extent that it now

has in the hands of Spain, and that it had when France pos-

sessed it; and such as it should be after the treaties subse-

quently entered into between Spain and other states.” And

whereas, in pursuance of the treaty, and particularly of the

third article, the French Republic has an incontestible title

to the domain and to the possession of the said territory:

The First Consul of the French Republic desiring to give to

the United States a strong proof of his friendship, doth

hereby cede to the said United States, in the name of the

518 ERA 4: Expansion and Reform

French Republic, forever and in full sovereignty, the said

territory with all its rights and appurtenances, as fully and

in the same manner as they have been acquired by the

French Republic, in virtue of the above-mentioned treaty,

concluded with his Catholic Majesty.

Art. II. In the cession made by the preceding article

are included the adjacent islands belonging to Louisiana,

all public lots and squares, vacant lands, and all public

buildings, fortifications, barracks and other edifices which

are not private property.—The archives, papers, and docu-

ments, relative to the domain and sovereignty of

Louisiana, and its dependencies, will be left in the posses-

sion of the commissaries of the United States, and copies

will be afterwards given in due form to the magistrates and

municipal officers, of such of the said papers and docu-

ments as may be necessary to them.

Art. III. The inhabitants of the ceded territory shall be

incorporated in the Union of the United States, and admit-

ted as soon as possible, according to the principles of the

Federal constitution, to the enjoyment of all the rights,

advantages and immunities of citizens of the United

States; and in the mean time they shall be maintained and

protected in the free enjoyment of their liberty, property,

and the religion which they profess.

Art. IV. There shall be sent by the government of

France a commissary to Louisiana, to the end that he do

every act necessary, as well to receive from the officers of

his Catholic Majesty and said country and its dependences,

in the name of the French Republic, if it has not been

already done, as to transmit it in the name of the French

Republic to the commissary or agent of the United States.

Art. V. Immediately after the ratification of the pre-

sent treaty by the President of the United States, and in

case that of the First Consul shall have been previously

obtained, the commissary of the French Republic shall

remit all the military posts of New Orleans, and other parts

of the ceded territory, to the commissary or commissaries

named by the President to take possession; the troops,

whether of France or Spain, who may be there, shall cease

to occupy any military post from the time of taking posses-

sion, and shall be embarked as soon as possible, in the

course of three months after the ratification of this treaty.

Art. VI. The United States promise to execute such

treaties and articles as may have been agreed between

Spain and the tribes and nations of Indians, until, by mutual

consent of the United States and the said tribes or nations,

other suitable articles shall have been agreed upon.

Art. VII. As it is reciprocally advantageous to the com-

merce of France and the United States to encourage the

communication of both nations for a limited time in the

country ceded by the present treaty, until general arrange-

ments relative to the commerce of both nations may be

agreed on; it has been agreed between the contracting par-

ties, that the French ships coming directly from France or

any of her colonies, loaded only with the produce and

manufactures of France or her said colonies; and the ships

of Spain coming directly from Spain or any of her colonies,

loaded only with the produce or manufactures of Spain or

her colonies, shall be admitted during the space of twelve

years in the ports of New Orleans, and in all other legal

ports of entry within the ceded territory, in the same man-

ner as the ships of the United State coming directly from

France or Spain, or any of their colonies, without being

subject to any other or greater duty on merchandize, or

other or greater tonnage than that paid by the citizens of

the United States.

During the space of time above mentioned, no other

nation shall have a right to the same privileges in the ports

of the ceded territory: the twelve years shall commence

three months after the exchange of ratifications, if it shall

take place in France, or three months after it shall have

been notified at Paris to the French government, if it shall

take place in the United States; it is however well under-

stood that the object of the above article is to favor the

manufactures, commerce, freight and navigation of France

and of Spain, so far as relates to the importations that the

French and Spanish shall make into the said ports of the

United States, without in any sort affecting the regulations

that the United States may make concerning the exporta-

tion of the produce and merchandize of the United States,

or any right they may have to make such regulations.

Art. VIII. In future and forever after the expiration of

the twelve years, the ships of France shall be treated upon

the footing of the most favored nations in the ports above

mentioned.

Art. IX. The particular convention signed this day by

the respective ministers, having for its object to provide for

the payment of debts due to the citizens of the United

States by the French Republic, prior to the 30th of

September, 1800, (8th Vendemiaire, an. 9,) is approved,

and to have its execution in the same manner as if it had

been inserted in this present treaty; and it shall be ratified

in the same form and in the same time, so that the one

shall not be ratified distinct from the other.

Another particular convention signed at the same date

as the present treaty relative to a definitive rule between

the contracting parties is in the like manner approved, and

will be ratified in the same form, and in the same time, and

jointly.

Art. X. The present treaty shall be ratified in good and

due form, and the ratifications shall be exchanged in the

space of six months after the date of the signature by the

ministers plenipotentiary, or sooner, if possible.

In faith whereof, the respective plenipotentiaries

have signed these articles in the French and English lan-

guages; declaring nevertheless that the present treaty was

Territorial Expansion, Political and Economic Developments, and International Relations 519

originally agreed to in the French language; and have

thereunto affixed their seals.

Done at Paris, the tenth day of Floreal, in the eleventh

year of the French Republic, and the 30th of April, 1803.

Source:

Charles I. Bevans, comp. Treaties and Other Agreements of the

United States of America, 1776–1949. Washington, D.C.:

Government Printing Office, 1968–76.

The Meriwether Lewis and

William Clark Expedition, 1804–1806

After purchasing the Louisiana Territory in 1803, President

Thomas Jefferson asked Congress to finance an expedition to

explore and map the land and possibly to find a water route to

the Pacific Ocean. In addition, Jefferson wanted samples of the

flora and fauna, especially if they represented species previ-

ously unknown. He appointed his private secretary and rela-

tive Meriwether Lewis to lead the expedition, which started

from Pittsburgh in August 1803. William Clark joined him two

months later, in Indiana. Several members of the party kept

journals. The excerpts here provide descriptions of the land,

the Indians they encountered, wild animals, and some of their

travel experiences.

________________________

_______________________

September 07, 1804, William Clark:

. . . [I] discovered a Village of Small animals that burrow in

the grown (those animals are Called by the french Petite

Chien [little dogs; today called prairie dogs or gophers])

Killed one and Caught one a live by poreing a great quan-

tity of Water in his hole we attempted to dig to the beds of

one of those animals, . . . [the “village”] contains great

numbers of holes on the top of which those little animals

Set erect make a Whistleing noise and whin allarmed Step

into their hole.

September 14, 1804, John Ordway:

. . . Capt Clark joined us had killed a curious annamil

resembling a Goat Willard brought it on board. [I]t was 3

feet high resembles a Deer in some parts the legs like a

Deer. feet like a Goat. horns like a Goat only forked . . .

Such an anamil was never yet known in U.S. States. the

Capt had the Skins of the hair & Goat Stuffed in order to

send back to the city of Washington. [T]he bones and all.

April 04, 1805, Patrick Gass:

We packed the boxes full of skins, buffaloe robes, and

horns of the Mountain ram, of a great size for the presi-

dent; and began to load the boat.

April 05, 1805, Patrick Gass:

If this brief Journal should happen to be preserved, and be

ever thought worthy of appearing in print: some readers

will perhaps expect, that, after our long friendly inter-

course with these Indians, among whom we have spent the

winter; . . . we ought to be prepared now, when we are

about to renew our voyage, to give some account of the fair

sex of the Missiouri: and entertain them with narratives of

feats of love as well as of arms. Though we could furnish a

sufficient number of entertaining stories and pleasant

anecdotes, we do not think it prudent to swell our Journal

with them; as our views are directed to more useful infor-

mation. . . .

It may be observed generally that chastisty is not very

high esteemed by these people, and that the severe and

loathsome effects of certain French principles are not

uncommon among them. The fact is, that the women are

generally considered an article of traffic and indulgencies

are sold at a very moderate price. As a proof of this I will

just mention, that for an old tobacco box, one of our men

was granted the honour of passing a night with the daugh-

ter of the headchief of the Mandan nation.

April 08, 1805, Patrick Gass:

The woman that is with us [Sacagawea] is a squaw of the

Snake nation of Indians, and wife to our interpreter. We

expect she will be of service to us, when passing through

that nation.

April 10, 1805, Meriwether Lewis:

The country on both sides of the missouri from the tops of

the river hills, is one continued level fertile plain as far as

the eye can reach, in which there is not even a solitary tree

or shrub to be seen, except such as from their moist situa-

tions or the steep declivities of hills are sheltered from the

ravages of the fire.

April 10, 1805, John Ordway:

[W]e Saw a nomber of large Eagles which had nested on

large cottonwood trees. . . . [O]ne of our men Shot a bald

Eagle. I took the quills to write.

April 17, 1805, Meriwether Lewis:

There were three beaver taken this morning by the party.

[T]he men prefer the flesh of this anamal, to that of any

other which we have, or are able to procure at this

moment. I eat very heartily of the beaver myself, and think

it excellent; particularly the tale, and liver. . . .

April 22, 1805, John Ordway:

Passed a high bluff . . . and a handsom bottom and plains

. . . which was covered with buffaloe & buffaloe calfs, Elk

deer . . . and large gangs on the opposite Shore I think that

520 ERA 4: Expansion and Reform

we Saw at one view nearly one thousand animels. they are

not to day verry wild for we could go within a 100 yards of

them in open view of them before they would run off and

then they would go but a Short distance before they would

Stop and feed again, . . . Saw a buffaloe Calf which had fell

down the bank & could not git up again. [W]e helped it up

the bank and it followed us a Short distance.

December 08, 1805, Patrick Gass:

The country towards the south is mountainous at some dis-

tance off; and there is some snow on the mountains. Near

our camp, the country is closely timbered with spruce-

pine, the soil rich, but not deep; and there are numerous

springs of running water.

December 11, 1805, William Clark:

Wwe are all employed putting up huts or Cabins for our

winters quarters, Sergeant Pryor unwell from a dislocation

of his sholder, Gibson with the disentary, Jo. Fields with

biles on his legs, & Werner with a Strained Knee. The rain

Continued moderately all day.

December 12, 1805, William Clark:

The flees were so troublesom last night that I made but a

broken nights rest, we find great dificuelty in getting those

trouble[some] insects out of our robes and blankets. . . . [I]

can readily discover that they [the local Indians] are close

deelers, & Stickle for a verry little, never close a bargin

except they think they have the advantage Value Blue

beeds highly, white they also prise but no other Colour do

they Value in the least.

December 18, 1805, William Clark:

[It] rained and Snowed. . . . The men being thinly

Dressed and mockersons without Socks is the reason that

but little can be done at the Houses to day. [A]t 12 the

Hail & Snow seased, and rain Suckceeded for the latter

part of the day

Source:

American Studies at the University of Virginia. “The Journals of

Lewis and Clark.” Available on-line. URL: http://xroads.

virginia.edu/~HYPER/JOURNALS/toc.html. Accessed Oc-

tober 2003.

Trade Prohibitions by Great Britain and

France (French Continental System and

British Orders in Council), 1806–1807

Decrees issued by French emperor Napoleon I and Great

Britain during the Napoleonic Wars. In the Berlin Decree

(November 1806) Napoleon forbade any trade to or from the

British Isles. Napoleon enforced this decree in retaliation for a

British blockade of commercial ports, claiming it was contrary

to international law. The Berlin Decree initiated the French

Continental System, Napoleon’s plan to prevent Britain from

exporting or re-exporting goods to continental Europe. Britain

retaliated through the British Order in Council, which forbade

nearly all trade between Britain and any nation obeying the

Continental System. The specific British regulations were

issued by the king of England on the advice of the Privy Coun-

cil and promulgated by the British government starting January

7, 1807, with an order that forbade neutral ships from trading

between French ports. Two other British orders (November 11

and 25, 1807) declared that any ship with a cargo bound for

France or a French-controlled port would first be required to

unload its cargo and pay a duty and then obtain a special

license from the British before being allowed to continue to its

destination. Napoleon responded with the Milan Decree, stat-

ing that ships complying with these orders lost their neutral

status and would be treated as British vessels, in December

1807. In an attempt to strengthen the Berlin Decree, the Milan

Decree authorized French warships and privateers to capture

neutral vessels sailing from any British port or from countries

occupied by British armies. Such vessels were deemed British

property and liable to seizure by the French as prizes of war.

Through these decrees, Napoleon hoped to destroy Great

Britain’s credit and break its stranglehold over American ship-

ping. The Americans were caught in the middle and

responded with the Embargo of 1807.

________________________

_______________________

Berlin Decree, 1806

. I

The British islands are declared in a state of blockade.

All commerce and correspondence with the British islands

are prohibited. In consequence, letters or packets,

addressed either to England, to an Englishman, or in the

English language, shall not pass through the post-office

and shall be seized.

III

Every subject of England, of whatever rank and condition

soever, who shall be found in the countries occupied by

our troops, or by those of our allies, shall be made a pris-

oner of war.

All magazines, merchandise, or property whatsoever,

belonging to a subject of England, shall be declared lawful

prize.

Territorial Expansion, Political and Economic Developments, and International Relations 521