Nor was any other place designated
for such purpose, although in the treaty of 1795 it was stipulated
that in the event of a withdrawal of the right to use New Orleans, some
other point would be named. It was now a subject of extreme importance
to the Republic into whose control the highway of traffic should
pass. President Jefferson called the attention of Congress to this
retrocession. He anticipated the French designs. He justly feared that
Napoleon Bonaparte would seek to renew the old colonial glories of
France, and the warlike genius and ambitious spirit of the "First
Consul" augmented this fear. Word came in November, 1802, of an
expedition being fitted out under French command to take possession of
Louisiana, all protests of our Minister to the transfer having proved
futile. Our nation then realized fully the peril of the situation.
Congress directed the Governors of the States to call out 80,000
militia, if necessary, and it appropriated $2,000,000 for the purchase
of the Island of New Orleans and the adjacent lands.
Early in January, 1803, the President decided to hasten matters
by sending James Monroe to France, to be associated with Robert R.
Livingston, our minister to that country, as commissioners for the
purchase of New Orleans and the Floridas.
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