Louisiana Purchase was maybe greatest waste of taxpayer money ever. How many French soldiers were in the territory? What was the basis of their "claim". We could have just walked in and taken it.
We could... but Napoleon had sent a sizeable army to Haiti, so it was at least possible he could send one to New Orleans too. I don't think it was likely, but that was definitely going through Jefferson's mind.
Also, I don't think Jefferson was excited about the prospect of military rule over a potentially-unwilling (colonial white) population.
Louisiana Purchase was maybe greatest waste of taxpayer money ever. How many French soldiers were in the territory? What was the basis of their "claim". We could have just walked in and taken it.
We could... but Napoleon had sent a sizeable army to Haiti, so it was at least possible he could send one to New Orleans too. I don't think it was likely, but that was definitely going through Jefferson's mind.
Also, I don't think Jefferson was excited about the prospect of military rule over a potentially-unwilling (colonial white) population.
Point of order: in a lot of ways, south Louisiana is still culturally distinct from the rest of the South, though much less so than it used to be.