Waubonsee Community College

The Louisiana Purchase, Thomas Fleming

eng

Includes bibliographical references

no index present

non fiction

The Louisiana Purchase

bibliography

51293991

Thomas Fleming

"In 1801, relations between the world's only two republics, the United States and France, were at a low ebb. American merchants had just lost millions of dollars to French privateers in the "Quasi-War" of the late 1790s, and Napoleon was scheming to acquire the Louisiana Territory from Spain and create a "wall of brass" that would halt America's westward expansion. Yet only a few years later, Napoleon agreed to sell Louisiana to the United States for $15 million. How did America manage to double its territory and end French colonial ambitions in the New World - without firing a shot?" "This book by historian Thomas Fleming delivers the answers. Taking us behind the scenes in. Thomas Jefferson's raw "federal village" of Washington, D.C., and inside the duplicitous world of Napoleonic Paris, Fleming shows how Bonaparte haters in Spain, the French army's disastrous failure in Haiti, some wily American negotiating, and Napoleon's resolve to renew his war with "perfidious Albion" led to the momentous French decision to sell Louisiana - and cede 838,000 square miles of land to the United States. Along the way, we meet a host of characters as they attempt to advance their nations' interests - and their personal ambitions - through diplomacy, threats, lies, bribery, and treachery."--Jacket

Turning points

Idealist at work -- Realist at work -- The game begins -- Frustration all around -- Aedes Aegypti to the rescue -- The dying general -- A war hero to the rescue -- Between peace and war -- All eyes on Paris -- The big bargain -- Hanging fire -- Constitution bending in Washington D.C. -- Triumph and new perils -- Destiny takes charge -- Final challenge