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<v Speaker 1>Hello, and welcome to Western SIEV Episode five hundred and five,

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<v Speaker 1>Console for Life. When Napoleon Bonaparte seized power in the

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<v Speaker 1>Coup of eighteen Brumaire November ninth, seventeen ninety nine, France

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<v Speaker 1>was exhausted. Ten years of revolution had left the Republic

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<v Speaker 1>bloodied and directionless. The Directory had collapsed under its own corruption.

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<v Speaker 1>The royalists were restless, the Jacobins plotting in the shadows,

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<v Speaker 1>and Europe's monarchies still arrayed against the French experiment. Yet, amazingly,

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<v Speaker 1>from this chaos is going to step a single discipline

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<v Speaker 1>which has everything to do with one person, Napoleon Bonaparte. Citizens,

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<v Speaker 1>Napoleon declared that the Council of Ancients, after surrounding the

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<v Speaker 1>chambers with his own grenadiers, you are sitting on a volcano.

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<v Speaker 1>Let us save liberty and equality. The following day, amid

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<v Speaker 1>confusion and violence, the legislature was dissolved and a new

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<v Speaker 1>provisional government, the Consulate, was proclaimed. By December of seventeen

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<v Speaker 1>ninety nine, a new constitution had been drawn up, known

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<v Speaker 1>as the Constitution of Year eight. It created three consuls,

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<v Speaker 1>but all power rested with the first Napoleon. The title

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<v Speaker 1>was modest, but the reality was frankly monarchy. Later on

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<v Speaker 1>that very winter, Napoleon would tell a companion, the revolution

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<v Speaker 1>is over. I am the revolution now. Napoleon's first task

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<v Speaker 1>was not to conquer, but to rebuild. In the winter

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<v Speaker 1>of seventeen ninety nine to eighteen hundred, France teetered on

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<v Speaker 1>the edge of financial ruin and civil war. Roads lay broken,

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<v Speaker 1>bannedits prowled the countryside, and the assignant paper currency was

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<v Speaker 1>effectively worthless. The new council imposed order with astonishing energy.

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<v Speaker 1>He summoned France's greatest administrators, comberss Lebrun and, of course Talleyrand,

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<v Speaker 1>who began to centralize government authority. Prefix replaced elected officials

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<v Speaker 1>in the Department's mayors were appointed from Paris. The judiciary

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<v Speaker 1>was reconstructed, and the treasury reformed under the capable hand

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<v Speaker 1>of Gaudeen. The Bank of France was founded in eighteen

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<v Speaker 1>hundred to stabilize credit. Napoleon understood that stability was a

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<v Speaker 1>precondition for expansion, for loyalty for everything. He also actually

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<v Speaker 1>courted religion. Since seventeen ninety the church in France had

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<v Speaker 1>really been at war with the state. Priests had been exiled,

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<v Speaker 1>churches desecrated, and faith driven underground. Napoleon, though he was

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<v Speaker 1>personally indifferent to religion, saw it as a tool for unity.

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<v Speaker 1>In letters to Pope Pious the Seventh, he promised reconciliation.

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<v Speaker 1>Society cannot exist without morality, he wrote, and there is

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<v Speaker 1>no good morality without religion. But while he governed Europe

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<v Speaker 1>was watching across the channel. William Pitt, the younger, Britain's

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<v Speaker 1>Prime minister, regarded this ambitious Corsican general with deep suspicion.

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<v Speaker 1>In Austria and Russia, Monarch's whispered of this military caesar

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<v Speaker 1>who had dethroned liberty In France. The Second Coalition from

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<v Speaker 1>the year before was technically still at war with the Republic,

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<v Speaker 1>and it would not be logged before Bonaparte returned to

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<v Speaker 1>his true profession, the art of war. By the spring

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<v Speaker 1>of the year eighteen hundred, France faced enemies on two fronts,

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<v Speaker 1>the Austrians in Italy and the Germans beyond the Rhine.

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<v Speaker 1>In Italy, General Molass's Austrian army had retaken now just

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<v Speaker 1>about everything Napoleon had conquered back in seventeen ninety six,

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<v Speaker 1>and so to reclaim his own glory. Napoleon planned one

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<v Speaker 1>of the boldest campaigns in modern history. Like Hannibal, he

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<v Speaker 1>would cross the Alps, not by the wide, obvious passes,

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<v Speaker 1>but through the treacherous Great Saint Bernard, still snowbound even

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<v Speaker 1>in May. His army of forty thousand dragged cannon by hand,

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<v Speaker 1>disassembling them and hoisting the parts with ropes. Soldiers hauled

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<v Speaker 1>provisions on their backs or on mules that slipped and

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<v Speaker 1>died on the icy cliffs. At the summit, Napoleon paused

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<v Speaker 1>before Jacques Luis da Vide men who were painting a

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<v Speaker 1>famous equestrian portrait that would immortalize him, rearing upon a horse.

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<v Speaker 1>You guys have all seen it over the words Bonaparte, Hannibal,

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<v Speaker 1>Carlos Magnus. The crossing of the Alps again astonished Europe.

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<v Speaker 1>Some things never get old. Within weeks, Napoleon had descended

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<v Speaker 1>into northern Italy, surprising the Austrian forces from the rear.

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<v Speaker 1>On June the ninth, eighteen hundred, he fought the first

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<v Speaker 1>engagement at Montebello, where General Lane's corpse crushed the Austrians

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<v Speaker 1>and pushed them back towards Alessandria. Three days later came

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<v Speaker 1>the decisive battle, the first real decisive battle of Napoleon's career,

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<v Speaker 1>the Battle of Marengo, fought on June the fourteenth, the

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<v Speaker 1>year eighteen hundred. The battlefield of Marengo is near the

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<v Speaker 1>village of Spine, at the outside the town of Alessandria,

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<v Speaker 1>in the Po River valley, where, like Hannibal in the past,

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<v Speaker 1>Napoleon would once again make his name. Napoleon believed that

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<v Speaker 1>the Austrian army was retreating and advanced without his full force.

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<v Speaker 1>That was a grave miscalculation. At dawn on June fourteenth,

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<v Speaker 1>Melus launched a furious attack with thirty thousand men against

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<v Speaker 1>Napoleon's twenty two thousand. The Austrians struck, smashing through the

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<v Speaker 1>French line at the Fontinan Stream. For hours, the French

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<v Speaker 1>fell back. By midday, Napoleon's army was near collapse. His

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<v Speaker 1>aides begged him to retreat toward the Bormida River, but

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<v Speaker 1>the First Council refused, saying quote there is still time

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<v Speaker 1>to win another battle, sending his couriersers racing back for

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<v Speaker 1>reinforcements under nearby General Dessau. At five pm, Dessau arrived

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<v Speaker 1>with French troops just fresh. Just as the Austrians, convinced

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<v Speaker 1>of victory, had begun to loosen up on their pursuit

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<v Speaker 1>of their enemy, Dissau's counterattack, supported by critical cavalry, broke

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<v Speaker 1>through the Austrian center. Dissao, unfortunately for him, was shot

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<v Speaker 1>dead just at the moment of his own triumph, telling

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<v Speaker 1>one of his aides, quote, go tell the first Council

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<v Speaker 1>that I die with regret that I have not done

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<v Speaker 1>enough for posterity end quote. You just don't get things

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<v Speaker 1>like that anymore, do you, folks. By nightfall, Mellus's army

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<v Speaker 1>the Austrians was in full retreat. The victory at Marengo

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<v Speaker 1>transformed Napoleon's political position. He returned to Paris a hero.

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<v Speaker 1>The Directory had fallen in disgrace. The Republic was now

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<v Speaker 1>reborn under one man's command. Tally Rand whispered to foreign

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<v Speaker 1>diplomats that France once again quote had a government capable

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<v Speaker 1>of making peace end quote. Immediately, the Austrian Emperor Francis

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<v Speaker 1>the Second sued for peace, and negotiations at Luneville in

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<v Speaker 1>February eighteen oh one confirmed what had been established at

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<v Speaker 1>Campo Formio. Four years earlier. France would now hold the

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<v Speaker 1>Rhine frontier, all of Belgium and the left bank of

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<v Speaker 1>the Rhine. In Italy, sisal Pine, gal and Liguria were

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<v Speaker 1>re established under French influence. They weren't annexed directly, and

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<v Speaker 1>this is going to be one of those sort of

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<v Speaker 1>hallmarks of the Napoleonic period where instead of France annexing

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<v Speaker 1>territory is going to create essentially satellite states which are

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<v Speaker 1>completely under their control. Russia, which had joined the war

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<v Speaker 1>back in seventeen ninety nine under Czar Paul I, now

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<v Speaker 1>withdrew from the Alliance. The British fleet's attack on Copenhagen

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<v Speaker 1>in eighteen oh one outraged Saur Paul, who was already

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<v Speaker 1>alienated from London, and so by the end of the

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<v Speaker 1>year the Second Coalition had totally disintegrated and France for

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<v Speaker 1>the moment under Napoleon stood victorious. In Britain, William Pitt

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<v Speaker 1>the Younger resigned and in new Ministry under Henry Addington

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<v Speaker 1>sought peace. The British economy had suffered under years of

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<v Speaker 1>blockade and war weariness spread throughout Parliament in Westminster. Across

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<v Speaker 1>the Atlantic, the United States under President Thomas Jefferson watched carefully.

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<v Speaker 1>The young Republic admired Napoleon's administrative genius, but feared his ambition.

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<v Speaker 1>The French sale of Louisiana, which we'll get into still

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<v Speaker 1>years away, was already being whispered about in diplomatic circles.

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<v Speaker 1>Napoleon meanwhile turned his attention from Europe to the wider world.

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<v Speaker 1>Though the Egyptian campaign had ended in failure in seventeen

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<v Speaker 1>ninety nine, Napoleon contin new to see the Mediterranean and

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<v Speaker 1>the Near East as theaters for French influence. The British,

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<v Speaker 1>led by Admiral Nelson, had destroyed the French feet at

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<v Speaker 1>Abukar Bay as we know, and controlled the seas, but

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<v Speaker 1>Buonaparte found other ways to expand French power and influence.

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<v Speaker 1>In eighteen o one, he dispatched General Leclerc, his brother

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<v Speaker 1>in law, to San Daman Haiti, to restore French control

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<v Speaker 1>over the richest sugar colony in the world, which have

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<v Speaker 1>been in revolt since seventeen ninety one. As we know,

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<v Speaker 1>the mission was catastrophic to Saint Louvistour, the brilliant black

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<v Speaker 1>general who had led the revolution, resisted fiercely disease and

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<v Speaker 1>guerrilla warfare annihilated the French army. Honestly, by eighteen oh three,

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<v Speaker 1>France would lose not just Haiti but any realistic hope

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<v Speaker 1>of a new world empire. These defeats were years away

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<v Speaker 1>in eighteen oh one, and Napoleon's prestige at home was growing. However,

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<v Speaker 1>Napoleon's genius, I want to point out here lay as

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<v Speaker 1>much an administration as it did in war. In July

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<v Speaker 1>of eighteen oh one, he concluded the Concordat with Pope

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<v Speaker 1>Pious the Seventh, a political masterpiece that restored Catholicism as

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<v Speaker 1>quote the religion of the great majority of French citizens

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<v Speaker 1>end quote, while keeping simultaneously the church under the state control.

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<v Speaker 1>In Paris. Bishops were appointed by the French government but

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<v Speaker 1>later confirmed by Rome, and the Pope agreed to forget

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<v Speaker 1>the confiscations of church lands. The Concordat was critical because

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<v Speaker 1>it sued the countryside. Remember the Vendee and that long

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<v Speaker 1>fueled rebellion there well. The Concordat finally ended that, and

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<v Speaker 1>it elevated Napoleon in the eyes of Europe. The former

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<v Speaker 1>revolutionary general was now a peacemaker with the Church of

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<v Speaker 1>all things at home. New institutions sprang up in rapid succession.

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<v Speaker 1>The Legion of Honor was created to reward merit, The

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<v Speaker 1>education system was reformed completely. Laws were codified in what

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<v Speaker 1>would eventually become the Cold Napoleon. Napoleon, in fact, later writes,

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<v Speaker 1>my true glory is not that I won forty battles,

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<v Speaker 1>but that I created the civil code. In March of

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<v Speaker 1>eighteen oh two, France and Britain signed the Treaty of Ames,

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<v Speaker 1>the first piece between the two nations in about ten years.

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<v Speaker 1>The terms were favorable to France. Britain restored most of

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<v Speaker 1>its colonial conquests will France agreed to evacuate Naples in Egypt.

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<v Speaker 1>For a brief moment, I will underline that phrase Europe

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<v Speaker 1>was at peace. In Paris, theaters celebrated with patriotic dramas

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<v Speaker 1>and illuminations. The press declared the peace of the world.

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<v Speaker 1>Napoleon used the respite to consolidate his rule. He reorganized

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<v Speaker 1>the administration of the French Republic into his stable authoritarian system,

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<v Speaker 1>with the Council des Atat drafting laws under his direction,

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<v Speaker 1>and a network of prefects ensuring obedience in every department.

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<v Speaker 1>But this piece concealed a deeper transformation. In August eighteen

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<v Speaker 1>oh two, the Senate approved a new constitution of year

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<v Speaker 1>ten by plebiscite. Napoleon was now named first Consul for life.

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<v Speaker 1>The result, this is true, a staggering three million, five

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<v Speaker 1>hundred and sixty eight thousand, eight hundred and eighty five

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<v Speaker 1>votes in favor of Napoleon becoming Consul for life, compared

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<v Speaker 1>to eight thousand, three hundred and seventy four opposed, some

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<v Speaker 1>of which I assume just checked the wrong box. Napoleon's

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<v Speaker 1>victory was now a foregone conclusion, at least in politics.

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<v Speaker 1>The Republic was now little more than a facade. The

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<v Speaker 1>Senate said, we have achieved the revolution's aims. Equality before

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<v Speaker 1>the law, property secured, and peace abroad. That was a lie.

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<v Speaker 1>Napoleon had achieved all of that, not the Senate, but

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<v Speaker 1>at the price of liberty. Now the crown heads of

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<v Speaker 1>Europe watched with wary fascination. In London, newspapers alternated between

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<v Speaker 1>admiration and dread. He has given France order, wrote The

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<v Speaker 1>Times in London, But at what costs to Europe's repose.

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<v Speaker 1>Czar Alexander, the first newly ascended to the Russian throne

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<v Speaker 1>after his father's assassination in eighteen oh one, flirted with

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<v Speaker 1>the idea of alliance, but he didn't trust Napoleon or

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<v Speaker 1>his ambitions, and in Vienna the Habsburgs licked their wounds

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<v Speaker 1>and began quiet rearmament. Across the pond, in Washington, President Jefferson,

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<v Speaker 1>who was himself a revolutionary, watched a fine line between

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<v Speaker 1>ideological sympathy and pragmatic caution. The United States and France

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<v Speaker 1>were technically at peace after the Convention of eighteen hundred,

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<v Speaker 1>but relations remained strained from the quasi War of seventeen

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<v Speaker 1>ninety eight to eighteen hundred. Still, Jefferson recognized the value

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<v Speaker 1>of having Napoleon as a counterweight to British naval power France.

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<v Speaker 1>He would write to James Monroe, another future president is

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<v Speaker 1>now governed by one man of transcendent ability. Let us

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<v Speaker 1>hope his ambition is bounded by reason. By the summer

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<v Speaker 1>of eighteen oh two, France was transformed. Odes were rebuilt,

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<v Speaker 1>finances stabilized, and law and order restored. The calendar of

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<v Speaker 1>the revolution still lingered. The year was still technically year ten,

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<v Speaker 1>but the spirit of the monarchy had returned in all

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<v Speaker 1>but name. Paris pulsed with energy, Soldiers drilled in the tuleries,

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<v Speaker 1>engineers surveyed canals, and bureaucrats worked under the shadow of

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<v Speaker 1>the increasingly omnipotent First Council for life. A British traveler,

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<v Speaker 1>John Carr observed, quote the people appear content, the soldiers

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<v Speaker 1>adore him, and the politicians fear him end quote. Honestly,

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<v Speaker 1>I think he got it right. It was that mixture

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<v Speaker 1>of fear, adoration, and just general weariness and contentness that

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<v Speaker 1>made Napoleon possible. The world believed that peace had come.

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<v Speaker 1>What they didn't know was that Napoleon was already dreaming

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<v Speaker 1>beyond it. A true man of genius, he once said,

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<v Speaker 1>can stop himself at nothing short of the infinite. The

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<v Speaker 1>Republic had become his instrument in Europe would soon become

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<v Speaker 1>his stage. But before we talk about that, I do

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<v Speaker 1>want to actually talk about the Louisiana purpose, because events

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<v Speaker 1>in distant San Deman were soon to interrupt Napoleon's dreams

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<v Speaker 1>for Europe. It's been a bit, so before we move forward,

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<v Speaker 1>let's quick recap. In the late eighteenth century, Sandman had

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<v Speaker 1>been the crown jewel of France's overseas empire on the

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<v Speaker 1>western half of the island, Hispaniola. Enslaved Africans labored under

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<v Speaker 1>brutal conditions to produce sugar, a ton of coffee, and indigoes,

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<v Speaker 1>which was all commodities that poured unimaginable wealth into the

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<v Speaker 1>coffers of the Parisian merchants. Sandoman, by seventeen ninety was

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<v Speaker 1>the richest colony in all the world and generated about

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<v Speaker 1>two thirds of France's overseas trade. But as we know,

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<v Speaker 1>when the revolution broke out in France in seventeen eighty nine,

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<v Speaker 1>the language of liberty, egalate in fraternity made its way

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<v Speaker 1>across the Atlantic too. The enslaved population, about half a

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<v Speaker 1>million people, heard those words and thought, well, why aren't

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<v Speaker 1>we free. In August seventeen ninety one, the island erupted

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<v Speaker 1>in the largest slave uprising in human history. Plantations were burned,

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<v Speaker 1>white planters fled to the coast or the United States,

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<v Speaker 1>and the revolutionary chaos in Europe meant that Paris couldn't

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<v Speaker 1>respond effectively. Remember, we're kind of going into the period

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<v Speaker 1>of the terror as well. By seventeen ninety four, the

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<v Speaker 1>situation had been transformed completely. The French National Convention, desperate

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<v Speaker 1>to hold onto its colony and facing British and Spanish invasions,

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<v Speaker 1>went ahead and just abolished slavery throughout the empire. And

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<v Speaker 1>this was exactly when Dussaint louv Tour, the self educated

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<v Speaker 1>former slave who was capable of general as anyone in

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<v Speaker 1>Europe arose. Louvy Tour effectively fought off the Spanish, the British,

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<v Speaker 1>and then internal rivals. By the turn of the century

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<v Speaker 1>had made himself the Governor General of Sandeman under what

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<v Speaker 1>had become sort of nominal French authority. While all this

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<v Speaker 1>was going on, of course, this is exactly when the

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<v Speaker 1>young and ambitious Napoleon sees his power as First Council

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<v Speaker 1>in seventeen ninety nine and then subsequently becomes Council for life. Now,

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<v Speaker 1>Napoleon dreamed of restoring France's global empire. The Caribbean, especially Sandeman,

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<v Speaker 1>was to be the economic engine for a grand French

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<v Speaker 1>presence in the Americas. To feed that Caribbean empire, Napoleon

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<v Speaker 1>envisioned a vast French agricultural base on the North American continent. Louisiana,

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<v Speaker 1>recently reclaimed from Spain through secret diplomacy, So let's talk

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<v Speaker 1>about that. Under the secret Treaty of San Idifencio in

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<v Speaker 1>eighteen hundred, Spain agreed to retroceed Louisiana back to fran rants.

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<v Speaker 1>Though the treaty was kept secret for a time, the

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<v Speaker 1>news quickly alarmed American leaders. Louisiana, which kind of generally

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<v Speaker 1>we didn't have exact lines on the map, stretched from

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<v Speaker 1>the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains, controlled the outlet

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<v Speaker 1>for goods of the entire western frontier of what was

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<v Speaker 1>then the fledgling United States. President Thomas Jefferson was an

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<v Speaker 1>agrarian idealist, yes, but also a shrewd realist at times

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<v Speaker 1>understood that whoever controlled the Mississippi and especially New Orleans,

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<v Speaker 1>controlled the destiny of the United States. But Jefferson wanted

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<v Speaker 1>to resolve the issue peacefully, and so he dispatched envoys

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<v Speaker 1>to France to negotiate the purchase of the city of

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<v Speaker 1>New Orleans and maybe a small strip of territory along

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<v Speaker 1>the lower Mississippi. Napoleon, for his part, had other priorities

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<v Speaker 1>until events in the Caribbean began to unravel his vast ambitions.

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<v Speaker 1>As I said, before. In eighteen o two, Napoleon sent

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<v Speaker 1>a large expeditionary force under his brother in law, General

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<v Speaker 1>Charles Leclerc, to Saint demand his orders were clear, reasserted

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<v Speaker 1>French authority, disarmed Toussaint louvs Tour's army, and just restore

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<v Speaker 1>the plantation system. In other words, let's just go back

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<v Speaker 1>in time about ten years. Secretly, many in the French

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<v Speaker 1>government also hoped to reinstate slavery, which had been abolished

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<v Speaker 1>by the revolutionary government years earlier. It's unclear if that

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<v Speaker 1>was Napoleon's plan, by the way, At first the French

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<v Speaker 1>forces overwhelmed and succeeded. Louvs Tour, betrayed by his rivals,

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<v Speaker 1>was captured and sent to France, where he died in

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<v Speaker 1>a freezing prison cell in eighteen o three, but his

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<v Speaker 1>warning uttered before his departure would later prove prophetic quote

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<v Speaker 1>in overthrowing me, you have cut down only a trunk

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<v Speaker 1>of the tree of liberty. It will spring up again

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<v Speaker 1>by the roots, for they are numerous and deep. Almost immediately,

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<v Speaker 1>yellow fever swept through the French army. Of the roughly

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<v Speaker 1>forty thousand men sent to the island, fewer than a

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<v Speaker 1>quarter survived. By late eighteen oh three, of the French

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<v Speaker 1>were driven out entirely. Haiti declared its independence on January

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<v Speaker 1>the first, eighteen oh four, the first black republic in

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<v Speaker 1>the world and the first nation born from a successful

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<v Speaker 1>slave revolt. For Napoleon, the loss was devastating. Without Sandeman,

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<v Speaker 1>the rest of his American empire didn't make any sense.

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<v Speaker 1>The sugar plantations were gone, the slave labor that fueled

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<v Speaker 1>them gone, and the French treasury effectively gone by the

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<v Speaker 1>attempt to suppress the revolt. Meanwhile, war with Great Britain

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<v Speaker 1>loomed once again in Europe. Napoleon needed money, he needed

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<v Speaker 1>it fast, and actually it turned out he no longer

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<v Speaker 1>needed Louisiana. Enter stage left Thomas Jefferson's envoys, Robert Livingstone

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<v Speaker 1>and James Monroe, who arrived in Paris in eighteen three,

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<v Speaker 1>as they expected really difficult negotiations over New Orleans. Instead,

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<v Speaker 1>Napoleon's foreign minister Tallyrand stunned them both would he asked

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<v Speaker 1>the United States be interested in buying all of Louisiana.

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<v Speaker 1>The offer was astonishing. For fifteen million dollars, France would

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<v Speaker 1>sell a territory of over eight hundred thousand square miles,

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<v Speaker 1>a land that will soon become fifteen states in the

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<v Speaker 1>United States. Napoleon's reasoning was simple and strategic. Quote to

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<v Speaker 1>attempt obstinately to retain it Louisiana would be folly. I

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<v Speaker 1>can scarcely say that I ceded to you, for you

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<v Speaker 1>already have it. I know the value of Louisiana, and

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<v Speaker 1>I have renounced it with the greatest regrets. But I

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<v Speaker 1>direct my attention to Europe. France requires money for war.

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<v Speaker 1>Jefferson was elated, but a little uneasy the US Constitution,

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<v Speaker 1>which he revered, didn't explicitly grant the president of the

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<v Speaker 1>power to acquire new territory. As a strict constructionist, Jefferson

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<v Speaker 1>had long argued that the federal government should do only

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<v Speaker 1>what the Constitution expressly authorized. Purchasing an empire from a

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<v Speaker 1>foreign power was certainly not among those enumerated powers. His

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<v Speaker 1>solution was pragmatic and political. He reasoned that the power

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<v Speaker 1>to make treaties granted an Article to Section two, could

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<v Speaker 1>encompass territorial acquisitions. Moreover, honestly, the opportunity was just too

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<v Speaker 1>good to ignore. As he wrote privately, the less we

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<v Speaker 1>say about constitutional difficulties the better. The Senate ratified the

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<v Speaker 1>treaty anyway in October eighteen oh three, and the United

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<v Speaker 1>States formally took possession of New Orleans and all of

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<v Speaker 1>Louisiana that same December. The Louisiana purchase doubled the size

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<v Speaker 1>of the United States overnight. It gave the younger public

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<v Speaker 1>control of the Mississippi River, vast fertile lands for agriculture,

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<v Speaker 1>and the foundation for westward expansion. Jefferson, though still struggling

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<v Speaker 1>with the constitutional implications, sought as securing quote an empire

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<v Speaker 1>for liberty end quote For France, the sale marked the

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<v Speaker 1>end forever of its North American ambitions. Napoleon turned his

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<v Speaker 1>gaze back to Europe, where he would soon crown himself

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<v Speaker 1>emperor as we'll see, and plunge the continent into more

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<v Speaker 1>than a decade of war. And for Haiti, the revolution

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<v Speaker 1>that had set these events in motion came at a

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<v Speaker 1>terrible cost, as we'll see, years of isolation, punitive debt,

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<v Speaker 1>and racial fear that will ripple through the Atlantic world.

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<v Speaker 1>It's really interesting to me, though, that the connection between

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<v Speaker 1>all these stories is so firmly soldered together. Without the

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<v Speaker 1>Haitian Revolution Napoleon would not have abandoned his North American empire.

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<v Speaker 1>Without Napoleon's need for money and the failure in the Caribbean,

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<v Speaker 1>Jefferson never would have had the chance to get Louisiana.

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<v Speaker 1>And that's why I think this is so important and

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<v Speaker 1>shows the connection between events in these eras, because the

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<v Speaker 1>Louisiana purchase didn't truly come to being in Washington or Paris.

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<v Speaker 1>It came into being in the cane fields of Sant

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<v Speaker 1>de Man where enslaved people fought for freedom, and in

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<v Speaker 1>doing some reshaped the map of the Western hemisphere.