Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome to Western SIEV Episode five hundred and five,
Speaker 1: Console for Life. When Napoleon Bonaparte seized power in the
Speaker 1: Coup of eighteen Brumaire November ninth, seventeen ninety nine, France
Speaker 1: was exhausted. Ten years of revolution had left the Republic
Speaker 1: bloodied and directionless. The Directory had collapsed under its own corruption.
Speaker 1: The royalists were restless, the Jacobins plotting in the shadows,
Speaker 1: and Europe's monarchies still arrayed against the French experiment. Yet, amazingly,
Speaker 1: from this chaos is going to step a single discipline
Speaker 1: which has everything to do with one person, Napoleon Bonaparte. Citizens,
Speaker 1: Napoleon declared that the Council of Ancients, after surrounding the
Speaker 1: chambers with his own grenadiers, you are sitting on a volcano.
Speaker 1: Let us save liberty and equality. The following day, amid
Speaker 1: confusion and violence, the legislature was dissolved and a new
Speaker 1: provisional government, the Consulate, was proclaimed. By December of seventeen
Speaker 1: ninety nine, a new constitution had been drawn up, known
Speaker 1: as the Constitution of Year eight. It created three consuls,
Speaker 1: but all power rested with the first Napoleon. The title
Speaker 1: was modest, but the reality was frankly monarchy. Later on
Speaker 1: that very winter, Napoleon would tell a companion, the revolution
Speaker 1: is over. I am the revolution now. Napoleon's first task
Speaker 1: was not to conquer, but to rebuild. In the winter
Speaker 1: of seventeen ninety nine to eighteen hundred, France teetered on
Speaker 1: the edge of financial ruin and civil war. Roads lay broken,
Speaker 1: bannedits prowled the countryside, and the assignant paper currency was
Speaker 1: effectively worthless. The new council imposed order with astonishing energy.
Speaker 1: He summoned France's greatest administrators, comberss Lebrun and, of course Talleyrand,
Speaker 1: who began to centralize government authority. Prefix replaced elected officials
Speaker 1: in the Department's mayors were appointed from Paris. The judiciary
Speaker 1: was reconstructed, and the treasury reformed under the capable hand
Speaker 1: of Gaudeen. The Bank of France was founded in eighteen
Speaker 1: hundred to stabilize credit. Napoleon understood that stability was a
Speaker 1: precondition for expansion, for loyalty for everything. He also actually
Speaker 1: courted religion. Since seventeen ninety the church in France had
Speaker 1: really been at war with the state. Priests had been exiled,
Speaker 1: churches desecrated, and faith driven underground. Napoleon, though he was
Speaker 1: personally indifferent to religion, saw it as a tool for unity.
Speaker 1: In letters to Pope Pious the Seventh, he promised reconciliation.
Speaker 1: Society cannot exist without morality, he wrote, and there is
Speaker 1: no good morality without religion. But while he governed Europe
Speaker 1: was watching across the channel. William Pitt, the younger, Britain's
Speaker 1: Prime minister, regarded this ambitious Corsican general with deep suspicion.
Speaker 1: In Austria and Russia, Monarch's whispered of this military caesar
Speaker 1: who had dethroned liberty In France. The Second Coalition from
Speaker 1: the year before was technically still at war with the Republic,
Speaker 1: and it would not be logged before Bonaparte returned to
Speaker 1: his true profession, the art of war. By the spring
Speaker 1: of the year eighteen hundred, France faced enemies on two fronts,
Speaker 1: the Austrians in Italy and the Germans beyond the Rhine.
Speaker 1: In Italy, General Molass's Austrian army had retaken now just
Speaker 1: about everything Napoleon had conquered back in seventeen ninety six,
Speaker 1: and so to reclaim his own glory. Napoleon planned one
Speaker 1: of the boldest campaigns in modern history. Like Hannibal, he
Speaker 1: would cross the Alps, not by the wide, obvious passes,
Speaker 1: but through the treacherous Great Saint Bernard, still snowbound even
Speaker 1: in May. His army of forty thousand dragged cannon by hand,
Speaker 1: disassembling them and hoisting the parts with ropes. Soldiers hauled
Speaker 1: provisions on their backs or on mules that slipped and
Speaker 1: died on the icy cliffs. At the summit, Napoleon paused
Speaker 1: before Jacques Luis da Vide men who were painting a
Speaker 1: famous equestrian portrait that would immortalize him, rearing upon a horse.
Speaker 1: You guys have all seen it over the words Bonaparte, Hannibal,
Speaker 1: Carlos Magnus. The crossing of the Alps again astonished Europe.
Speaker 1: Some things never get old. Within weeks, Napoleon had descended
Speaker 1: into northern Italy, surprising the Austrian forces from the rear.
Speaker 1: On June the ninth, eighteen hundred, he fought the first
Speaker 1: engagement at Montebello, where General Lane's corpse crushed the Austrians
Speaker 1: and pushed them back towards Alessandria. Three days later came
Speaker 1: the decisive battle, the first real decisive battle of Napoleon's career,
Speaker 1: the Battle of Marengo, fought on June the fourteenth, the
Speaker 1: year eighteen hundred. The battlefield of Marengo is near the
Speaker 1: village of Spine, at the outside the town of Alessandria,
Speaker 1: in the Po River valley, where, like Hannibal in the past,
Speaker 1: Napoleon would once again make his name. Napoleon believed that
Speaker 1: the Austrian army was retreating and advanced without his full force.
Speaker 1: That was a grave miscalculation. At dawn on June fourteenth,
Speaker 1: Melus launched a furious attack with thirty thousand men against
Speaker 1: Napoleon's twenty two thousand. The Austrians struck, smashing through the
Speaker 1: French line at the Fontinan Stream. For hours, the French
Speaker 1: fell back. By midday, Napoleon's army was near collapse. His
Speaker 1: aides begged him to retreat toward the Bormida River, but
Speaker 1: the First Council refused, saying quote there is still time
Speaker 1: to win another battle, sending his couriersers racing back for
Speaker 1: reinforcements under nearby General Dessau. At five pm, Dessau arrived
Speaker 1: with French troops just fresh. Just as the Austrians, convinced
Speaker 1: of victory, had begun to loosen up on their pursuit
Speaker 1: of their enemy, Dissau's counterattack, supported by critical cavalry, broke
Speaker 1: through the Austrian center. Dissao, unfortunately for him, was shot
Speaker 1: dead just at the moment of his own triumph, telling
Speaker 1: one of his aides, quote, go tell the first Council
Speaker 1: that I die with regret that I have not done
Speaker 1: enough for posterity end quote. You just don't get things
Speaker 1: like that anymore, do you, folks. By nightfall, Mellus's army
Speaker 1: the Austrians was in full retreat. The victory at Marengo
Speaker 1: transformed Napoleon's political position. He returned to Paris a hero.
Speaker 1: The Directory had fallen in disgrace. The Republic was now
Speaker 1: reborn under one man's command. Tally Rand whispered to foreign
Speaker 1: diplomats that France once again quote had a government capable
Speaker 1: of making peace end quote. Immediately, the Austrian Emperor Francis
Speaker 1: the Second sued for peace, and negotiations at Luneville in
Speaker 1: February eighteen oh one confirmed what had been established at
Speaker 1: Campo Formio. Four years earlier. France would now hold the
Speaker 1: Rhine frontier, all of Belgium and the left bank of
Speaker 1: the Rhine. In Italy, sisal Pine, gal and Liguria were
Speaker 1: re established under French influence. They weren't annexed directly, and
Speaker 1: this is going to be one of those sort of
Speaker 1: hallmarks of the Napoleonic period where instead of France annexing
Speaker 1: territory is going to create essentially satellite states which are
Speaker 1: completely under their control. Russia, which had joined the war
Speaker 1: back in seventeen ninety nine under Czar Paul I, now
Speaker 1: withdrew from the Alliance. The British fleet's attack on Copenhagen
Speaker 1: in eighteen oh one outraged Saur Paul, who was already
Speaker 1: alienated from London, and so by the end of the
Speaker 1: year the Second Coalition had totally disintegrated and France for
Speaker 1: the moment under Napoleon stood victorious. In Britain, William Pitt
Speaker 1: the Younger resigned and in new Ministry under Henry Addington
Speaker 1: sought peace. The British economy had suffered under years of
Speaker 1: blockade and war weariness spread throughout Parliament in Westminster. Across
Speaker 1: the Atlantic, the United States under President Thomas Jefferson watched carefully.
Speaker 1: The young Republic admired Napoleon's administrative genius, but feared his ambition.
Speaker 1: The French sale of Louisiana, which we'll get into still
Speaker 1: years away, was already being whispered about in diplomatic circles.
Speaker 1: Napoleon meanwhile turned his attention from Europe to the wider world.
Speaker 1: Though the Egyptian campaign had ended in failure in seventeen
Speaker 1: ninety nine, Napoleon contin new to see the Mediterranean and
Speaker 1: the Near East as theaters for French influence. The British,
Speaker 1: led by Admiral Nelson, had destroyed the French feet at
Speaker 1: Abukar Bay as we know, and controlled the seas, but
Speaker 1: Buonaparte found other ways to expand French power and influence.
Speaker 1: In eighteen o one, he dispatched General Leclerc, his brother
Speaker 1: in law, to San Daman Haiti, to restore French control
Speaker 1: over the richest sugar colony in the world, which have
Speaker 1: been in revolt since seventeen ninety one. As we know,
Speaker 1: the mission was catastrophic to Saint Louvistour, the brilliant black
Speaker 1: general who had led the revolution, resisted fiercely disease and
Speaker 1: guerrilla warfare annihilated the French army. Honestly, by eighteen oh three,
Speaker 1: France would lose not just Haiti but any realistic hope
Speaker 1: of a new world empire. These defeats were years away
Speaker 1: in eighteen oh one, and Napoleon's prestige at home was growing. However,
Speaker 1: Napoleon's genius, I want to point out here lay as
Speaker 1: much an administration as it did in war. In July
Speaker 1: of eighteen oh one, he concluded the Concordat with Pope
Speaker 1: Pious the Seventh, a political masterpiece that restored Catholicism as
Speaker 1: quote the religion of the great majority of French citizens
Speaker 1: end quote, while keeping simultaneously the church under the state control.
Speaker 1: In Paris. Bishops were appointed by the French government but
Speaker 1: later confirmed by Rome, and the Pope agreed to forget
Speaker 1: the confiscations of church lands. The Concordat was critical because
Speaker 1: it sued the countryside. Remember the Vendee and that long
Speaker 1: fueled rebellion there well. The Concordat finally ended that, and
Speaker 1: it elevated Napoleon in the eyes of Europe. The former
Speaker 1: revolutionary general was now a peacemaker with the Church of
Speaker 1: all things at home. New institutions sprang up in rapid succession.
Speaker 1: The Legion of Honor was created to reward merit, The
Speaker 1: education system was reformed completely. Laws were codified in what
Speaker 1: would eventually become the Cold Napoleon. Napoleon, in fact, later writes,
Speaker 1: my true glory is not that I won forty battles,
Speaker 1: but that I created the civil code. In March of
Speaker 1: eighteen oh two, France and Britain signed the Treaty of Ames,
Speaker 1: the first piece between the two nations in about ten years.
Speaker 1: The terms were favorable to France. Britain restored most of
Speaker 1: its colonial conquests will France agreed to evacuate Naples in Egypt.
Speaker 1: For a brief moment, I will underline that phrase Europe
Speaker 1: was at peace. In Paris, theaters celebrated with patriotic dramas
Speaker 1: and illuminations. The press declared the peace of the world.
Speaker 1: Napoleon used the respite to consolidate his rule. He reorganized
Speaker 1: the administration of the French Republic into his stable authoritarian system,
Speaker 1: with the Council des Atat drafting laws under his direction,
Speaker 1: and a network of prefects ensuring obedience in every department.
Speaker 1: But this piece concealed a deeper transformation. In August eighteen
Speaker 1: oh two, the Senate approved a new constitution of year
Speaker 1: ten by plebiscite. Napoleon was now named first Consul for life.
Speaker 1: The result, this is true, a staggering three million, five
Speaker 1: hundred and sixty eight thousand, eight hundred and eighty five
Speaker 1: votes in favor of Napoleon becoming Consul for life, compared
Speaker 1: to eight thousand, three hundred and seventy four opposed, some
Speaker 1: of which I assume just checked the wrong box. Napoleon's
Speaker 1: victory was now a foregone conclusion, at least in politics.
Speaker 1: The Republic was now little more than a facade. The
Speaker 1: Senate said, we have achieved the revolution's aims. Equality before
Speaker 1: the law, property secured, and peace abroad. That was a lie.
Speaker 1: Napoleon had achieved all of that, not the Senate, but
Speaker 1: at the price of liberty. Now the crown heads of
Speaker 1: Europe watched with wary fascination. In London, newspapers alternated between
Speaker 1: admiration and dread. He has given France order, wrote The
Speaker 1: Times in London, But at what costs to Europe's repose.
Speaker 1: Czar Alexander, the first newly ascended to the Russian throne
Speaker 1: after his father's assassination in eighteen oh one, flirted with
Speaker 1: the idea of alliance, but he didn't trust Napoleon or
Speaker 1: his ambitions, and in Vienna the Habsburgs licked their wounds
Speaker 1: and began quiet rearmament. Across the pond, in Washington, President Jefferson,
Speaker 1: who was himself a revolutionary, watched a fine line between
Speaker 1: ideological sympathy and pragmatic caution. The United States and France
Speaker 1: were technically at peace after the Convention of eighteen hundred,
Speaker 1: but relations remained strained from the quasi War of seventeen
Speaker 1: ninety eight to eighteen hundred. Still, Jefferson recognized the value
Speaker 1: of having Napoleon as a counterweight to British naval power France.
Speaker 1: He would write to James Monroe, another future president is
Speaker 1: now governed by one man of transcendent ability. Let us
Speaker 1: hope his ambition is bounded by reason. By the summer
Speaker 1: of eighteen oh two, France was transformed. Odes were rebuilt,
Speaker 1: finances stabilized, and law and order restored. The calendar of
Speaker 1: the revolution still lingered. The year was still technically year ten,
Speaker 1: but the spirit of the monarchy had returned in all
Speaker 1: but name. Paris pulsed with energy, Soldiers drilled in the tuleries,
Speaker 1: engineers surveyed canals, and bureaucrats worked under the shadow of
Speaker 1: the increasingly omnipotent First Council for life. A British traveler,
Speaker 1: John Carr observed, quote the people appear content, the soldiers
Speaker 1: adore him, and the politicians fear him end quote. Honestly,
Speaker 1: I think he got it right. It was that mixture
Speaker 1: of fear, adoration, and just general weariness and contentness that
Speaker 1: made Napoleon possible. The world believed that peace had come.
Speaker 1: What they didn't know was that Napoleon was already dreaming
Speaker 1: beyond it. A true man of genius, he once said,
Speaker 1: can stop himself at nothing short of the infinite. The
Speaker 1: Republic had become his instrument in Europe would soon become
Speaker 1: his stage. But before we talk about that, I do
Speaker 1: want to actually talk about the Louisiana purpose, because events
Speaker 1: in distant San Deman were soon to interrupt Napoleon's dreams
Speaker 1: for Europe. It's been a bit, so before we move forward,
Speaker 1: let's quick recap. In the late eighteenth century, Sandman had
Speaker 1: been the crown jewel of France's overseas empire on the
Speaker 1: western half of the island, Hispaniola. Enslaved Africans labored under
Speaker 1: brutal conditions to produce sugar, a ton of coffee, and indigoes,
Speaker 1: which was all commodities that poured unimaginable wealth into the
Speaker 1: coffers of the Parisian merchants. Sandoman, by seventeen ninety was
Speaker 1: the richest colony in all the world and generated about
Speaker 1: two thirds of France's overseas trade. But as we know,
Speaker 1: when the revolution broke out in France in seventeen eighty nine,
Speaker 1: the language of liberty, egalate in fraternity made its way
Speaker 1: across the Atlantic too. The enslaved population, about half a
Speaker 1: million people, heard those words and thought, well, why aren't
Speaker 1: we free. In August seventeen ninety one, the island erupted
Speaker 1: in the largest slave uprising in human history. Plantations were burned,
Speaker 1: white planters fled to the coast or the United States,
Speaker 1: and the revolutionary chaos in Europe meant that Paris couldn't
Speaker 1: respond effectively. Remember, we're kind of going into the period
Speaker 1: of the terror as well. By seventeen ninety four, the
Speaker 1: situation had been transformed completely. The French National Convention, desperate
Speaker 1: to hold onto its colony and facing British and Spanish invasions,
Speaker 1: went ahead and just abolished slavery throughout the empire. And
Speaker 1: this was exactly when Dussaint louv Tour, the self educated
Speaker 1: former slave who was capable of general as anyone in
Speaker 1: Europe arose. Louvy Tour effectively fought off the Spanish, the British,
Speaker 1: and then internal rivals. By the turn of the century
Speaker 1: had made himself the Governor General of Sandeman under what
Speaker 1: had become sort of nominal French authority. While all this
Speaker 1: was going on, of course, this is exactly when the
Speaker 1: young and ambitious Napoleon sees his power as First Council
Speaker 1: in seventeen ninety nine and then subsequently becomes Council for life. Now,
Speaker 1: Napoleon dreamed of restoring France's global empire. The Caribbean, especially Sandeman,
Speaker 1: was to be the economic engine for a grand French
Speaker 1: presence in the Americas. To feed that Caribbean empire, Napoleon
Speaker 1: envisioned a vast French agricultural base on the North American continent. Louisiana,
Speaker 1: recently reclaimed from Spain through secret diplomacy, So let's talk
Speaker 1: about that. Under the secret Treaty of San Idifencio in
Speaker 1: eighteen hundred, Spain agreed to retroceed Louisiana back to fran rants.
Speaker 1: Though the treaty was kept secret for a time, the
Speaker 1: news quickly alarmed American leaders. Louisiana, which kind of generally
Speaker 1: we didn't have exact lines on the map, stretched from
Speaker 1: the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains, controlled the outlet
Speaker 1: for goods of the entire western frontier of what was
Speaker 1: then the fledgling United States. President Thomas Jefferson was an
Speaker 1: agrarian idealist, yes, but also a shrewd realist at times
Speaker 1: understood that whoever controlled the Mississippi and especially New Orleans,
Speaker 1: controlled the destiny of the United States. But Jefferson wanted
Speaker 1: to resolve the issue peacefully, and so he dispatched envoys
Speaker 1: to France to negotiate the purchase of the city of
Speaker 1: New Orleans and maybe a small strip of territory along
Speaker 1: the lower Mississippi. Napoleon, for his part, had other priorities
Speaker 1: until events in the Caribbean began to unravel his vast ambitions.
Speaker 1: As I said, before. In eighteen o two, Napoleon sent
Speaker 1: a large expeditionary force under his brother in law, General
Speaker 1: Charles Leclerc, to Saint demand his orders were clear, reasserted
Speaker 1: French authority, disarmed Toussaint louvs Tour's army, and just restore
Speaker 1: the plantation system. In other words, let's just go back
Speaker 1: in time about ten years. Secretly, many in the French
Speaker 1: government also hoped to reinstate slavery, which had been abolished
Speaker 1: by the revolutionary government years earlier. It's unclear if that
Speaker 1: was Napoleon's plan, by the way, At first the French
Speaker 1: forces overwhelmed and succeeded. Louvs Tour, betrayed by his rivals,
Speaker 1: was captured and sent to France, where he died in
Speaker 1: a freezing prison cell in eighteen o three, but his
Speaker 1: warning uttered before his departure would later prove prophetic quote
Speaker 1: in overthrowing me, you have cut down only a trunk
Speaker 1: of the tree of liberty. It will spring up again
Speaker 1: by the roots, for they are numerous and deep. Almost immediately,
Speaker 1: yellow fever swept through the French army. Of the roughly
Speaker 1: forty thousand men sent to the island, fewer than a
Speaker 1: quarter survived. By late eighteen oh three, of the French
Speaker 1: were driven out entirely. Haiti declared its independence on January
Speaker 1: the first, eighteen oh four, the first black republic in
Speaker 1: the world and the first nation born from a successful
Speaker 1: slave revolt. For Napoleon, the loss was devastating. Without Sandeman,
Speaker 1: the rest of his American empire didn't make any sense.
Speaker 1: The sugar plantations were gone, the slave labor that fueled
Speaker 1: them gone, and the French treasury effectively gone by the
Speaker 1: attempt to suppress the revolt. Meanwhile, war with Great Britain
Speaker 1: loomed once again in Europe. Napoleon needed money, he needed
Speaker 1: it fast, and actually it turned out he no longer
Speaker 1: needed Louisiana. Enter stage left Thomas Jefferson's envoys, Robert Livingstone
Speaker 1: and James Monroe, who arrived in Paris in eighteen three,
Speaker 1: as they expected really difficult negotiations over New Orleans. Instead,
Speaker 1: Napoleon's foreign minister Tallyrand stunned them both would he asked
Speaker 1: the United States be interested in buying all of Louisiana.
Speaker 1: The offer was astonishing. For fifteen million dollars, France would
Speaker 1: sell a territory of over eight hundred thousand square miles,
Speaker 1: a land that will soon become fifteen states in the
Speaker 1: United States. Napoleon's reasoning was simple and strategic. Quote to
Speaker 1: attempt obstinately to retain it Louisiana would be folly. I
Speaker 1: can scarcely say that I ceded to you, for you
Speaker 1: already have it. I know the value of Louisiana, and
Speaker 1: I have renounced it with the greatest regrets. But I
Speaker 1: direct my attention to Europe. France requires money for war.
Speaker 1: Jefferson was elated, but a little uneasy the US Constitution,
Speaker 1: which he revered, didn't explicitly grant the president of the
Speaker 1: power to acquire new territory. As a strict constructionist, Jefferson
Speaker 1: had long argued that the federal government should do only
Speaker 1: what the Constitution expressly authorized. Purchasing an empire from a
Speaker 1: foreign power was certainly not among those enumerated powers. His
Speaker 1: solution was pragmatic and political. He reasoned that the power
Speaker 1: to make treaties granted an Article to Section two, could
Speaker 1: encompass territorial acquisitions. Moreover, honestly, the opportunity was just too
Speaker 1: good to ignore. As he wrote privately, the less we
Speaker 1: say about constitutional difficulties the better. The Senate ratified the
Speaker 1: treaty anyway in October eighteen oh three, and the United
Speaker 1: States formally took possession of New Orleans and all of
Speaker 1: Louisiana that same December. The Louisiana purchase doubled the size
Speaker 1: of the United States overnight. It gave the younger public
Speaker 1: control of the Mississippi River, vast fertile lands for agriculture,
Speaker 1: and the foundation for westward expansion. Jefferson, though still struggling
Speaker 1: with the constitutional implications, sought as securing quote an empire
Speaker 1: for liberty end quote For France, the sale marked the
Speaker 1: end forever of its North American ambitions. Napoleon turned his
Speaker 1: gaze back to Europe, where he would soon crown himself
Speaker 1: emperor as we'll see, and plunge the continent into more
Speaker 1: than a decade of war. And for Haiti, the revolution
Speaker 1: that had set these events in motion came at a
Speaker 1: terrible cost, as we'll see, years of isolation, punitive debt,
Speaker 1: and racial fear that will ripple through the Atlantic world.
Speaker 1: It's really interesting to me, though, that the connection between
Speaker 1: all these stories is so firmly soldered together. Without the
Speaker 1: Haitian Revolution Napoleon would not have abandoned his North American empire.
Speaker 1: Without Napoleon's need for money and the failure in the Caribbean,
Speaker 1: Jefferson never would have had the chance to get Louisiana.
Speaker 1: And that's why I think this is so important and
Speaker 1: shows the connection between events in these eras, because the
Speaker 1: Louisiana purchase didn't truly come to being in Washington or Paris.
Speaker 1: It came into being in the cane fields of Sant
Speaker 1: de Man where enslaved people fought for freedom, and in
Speaker 1: doing some reshaped the map of the Western hemisphere.