. A history of the United States. e French thought would be a goodhalf-way station to India. Although he conquered Eg)^t, hewas obliged to abandon it because his fleet was beaten by anEnglish fleet under Lord Nelson, and he could get no furtherhelp from home. In 1802 France and England made peace,and General Bonaparte resolved to recover part of the terri-tory that the French had once held in the Mississippi had already compelled the Spaniards to promise to turnover Louisiana to France as soon as he should be ready tooccupy it. Just here trouble came. Bonaparte thought that he should
. A history of the United States. e French thought would be a goodhalf-way station to India. Although he conquered Eg)^t, hewas obliged to abandon it because his fleet was beaten by anEnglish fleet under Lord Nelson, and he could get no furtherhelp from home. In 1802 France and England made peace,and General Bonaparte resolved to recover part of the terri-tory that the French had once held in the Mississippi had already compelled the Spaniards to promise to turnover Louisiana to France as soon as he should be ready tooccupy it. Just here trouble came. Bonaparte thought that he shouldfirst recover Santo Domingo, a rich colony in the West Indies THE LOUISIANA PURCHASE 267 in which the slaves had risen in an insurrection and chosena negro general, Toussaint LOuverture, as their ruler. Bona-partes officers seized Toussaint LOuverture, but otherleaders took his place and kept up the struggle. Soon yellowfever broke out in the French army and the soldiers died bythousands. When Bonaparte heard the news, he reahzed. The Louisiana Purchase the difficulties of his enterprise. He was also on the verge ofanother war with Great Britain. He was therefore ready toget rid of Louisiana. Spains agreement to cede Louisiana to France had beenkept a secret, but Jefferson suspected it soon after he becamePresident. Possession of this colony by Spain, which wasgrowing weaker year by year, had no terrors for the Ameri-cans, but possession by France, under such a leader as Bona-parte, was another affair. The western settlers feared fortheir river trade, which already formed more than a fourth ofthe commerce of the United States. Their alarm was changedto a certainty of impending ruin when, in 1802, the Spanish 268 RULE OF JEFFERSON: A NEW WEST intendant or governor at New Orleans refused to allowAmericans to deposit their goods in New Orleans. Westernfarmers had no wish to leave their products to decay in theirsheds and fields. They talked of war, and the militia offrontier towns
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