Limits of the purchase. Effects of the purchase. and opposed ratification with all the means at their command; some of them even proposed that the Federalist states should secede from the Union. The territory ceded by France was described in the treaty as "the colony or province of Louisiana, with the same extent as it now has in the hands of Spain, and that it had when France possessed it, and such as it should be after the treaties subsequently entered into between Spain and other powers." These were the terms of the cession by Spain to France, and more definite boundaries could not be obtained from Barbé-Marbois, the French negotiator of the treaty. But what did they mean? New Orleans was plainly comprised in the acquisition, but did Louisiana, as thus described, include West Florida, which the government was anxious to obtain, and Texas, about which it then cared nothing? The United States immediately asserted that it included West Florida, but to this assertion Spain would not agree, and France refused to interfere. The orders issued by the French government when it expected to take possession of the country for itself have been recently discovered, and show that France and Spain understood the words in the Treaty of St. Ildefonso, which were used in the cession to the United States, to exclude West Florida and to include Texas. The population of the ceded domain numbered about fifty thousand, of which more than one half were negro slaves. This addition of a new center of slavery must be considered as a disadvantage outweighing many advantages, more especially as the slavery of Louisiana resembled that of South Carolina. A large portion of the territory thus purchased lay west of the one hundredth meridian, that is, beyond the region of abundant rainfall. The settlement of this region, with the inevitable result of recurring failure of harvests, has given rise to many problems extremely difficult of solution. But when all has been said in its disfavor, the purchase of Louisiana was one of the most fortunate events in the history of the United States. 341 President. 45-48; 229. The Twelfth Amendment, 1804. As the presidential election of 1804 drew near, the leading men in both parties resolved to amend the Constitution in such a manner Change in as would prevent the recurrence of another scandal similar mode of electing to the attempt to elect Burr President in 1800. The result was the Twelfth Amendment, declared in force in 1804. Stanwood's The old machinery of presidential electors was originally Elections, invented to mitigate the supposed ill effects of popular Schouler's election, and to give a less democratic cast to the gov- United ernment. One would think that the Republicans would States, II, 67. have seized the opportunity afforded by revision and have discarded such an aristocratic institution. Since 1804 the forces of democracy have completely triumphed over this bit of constitutional machinery, — not an elector has voted against the wishes of the party which elected him. This device made it easier, however, to give the smaller states a share in the election of the highest officers in the nation out of all proportion to their population or importance. The great change brought about by this amendment consisted in having the electors vote for President and Vice-President on separate and distinct ballots. This has prevented the recurrence of scandals like that of 1800; but it has led to the nomination of inferior men to the second place, which was not likely to have happened under the older system, as it was then uncertain which of the party's candidates would be chosen President. The amendment further provided that in case no candidate for the Chief Magistracy should receive a majority of all the electoral votes cast for President, the House of Representatives, voting by states, should elect one of the three having the highest number of votes (see p. 390). 1804. There was no question of Jefferson's election in 1804: Jefferson he received one hundred and sixty-two votes, to only four- re-elected, teen given to Charles C. Pinckney, the Federalist candidate *Stanwood's for first place; even Massachusetts and New Hampshire Elections, gave their votes to Jefferson. 45-50. Aaron Burr. He kills Burr's States, II, 133-138, 139-141. 230. Burr's Conspiracy and Trial, 1804-1807. - Aaron Burr, the Vice-President, had aroused the resentment of the Republicans by his dealings with the Federalists in 1800. George Clinton, another New York Republican, was put forward in 1804 as Republican candidate for this office, and was elected. Ejected from the Republican fold, Burr had allied himself with the ultra-Federalists of New Theodosia Burr England and had offered himself as an independent candidate for the governorship of New York. He was defeated, owing largely to the efforts of Hamilton, whom he now challenged to fight a duel and killed at the first shot. Hamilton's untimely death in the prime of manhood aroused the moral sentiment of the people of the Northern states and put an end to dueling in that part of the country; it made Burr an outcast and impelled him to undertake a most desperate venture. It is impossible to say what he expected to accomplish at one time he seems to have had in mind the founding of an empire in Texas and Mexico, which should descend to his daughter, Theodosia; at another time, the venture took the shape of the formation of a new republic in the country west of the Alleghanies. Burr gathered arms, ammunition, and men and descended the Mississippi towards New 1805] Attacks on Neutral Trade 343 Orleans, where he expected to receive the aid of General John Marshall, the Chief Justice, presided at the trial. Burr's trial, Among other things, he ordered the President to attend as 1807. a witness with the records of the War Department. Jefferson refused to heed the summons, but offered to send any papers which might be necessary. condemn this action of Marshall. Even Federalist writers The trial ended abruptly, as the Chief Justice declared that an overt act of treason must be first proved, and then Burr connected with it. The Constitution defines treason as consisting "only in levying war against them [the United States], or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort." Burr had never been in a position to levy war, and the prosecution for treason stopped at that point; nor was the government able to convict him of misdemeanor. Britain, 1800-3. 231. Attacks on Neutral Trade, 1800-1808. - Jay's Relations treaty had fully justified its existence by securing partial with Great immunity from British hostility to American commerce during the struggle between Great Britain and France which ended in 1802 by the conclusion of the Peace of Amiens. During this time, the Americans were able to prosecute a most thriving trade with the Spanish and French West Indies. The British refused to permit the Americans to carry West India produce from the Spanish and French islands direct to Spain and France; but they had no objection to such commerce when pursued indirectly through some United States port, provided the foreign goods were landed on a wharf and duty paid. Under these circum Change in British policy, 1805. French and decrees and 1806-10. Schouler's United States, II, 151-160. stances American trade flourished greatly, and this prosperity continued during the earlier years of the war against Napoleon, which began in 1804. This successful commerce had aroused the jealousy of English shipowners, and they implored the younger Pitt, who was now Prime Minister, to put an end to the favors granted America; and there were not wanting persons to argue that the action of the Americans was so beneficial to England's enemies as to be "war in disguise." Pitt decided to enforce the "Rule of War of 1756" (p. 299) to the letter, and thus put an end to all American trade to the West Indies. The British vessels made seizures right and left, and, as a matter of fact, Great Britain practically began war against the United States (1805). The conflict between Great Britain and Napoleon had now reached a point where it seemed impossible for the leading combatants to attack one another: Napoleon was supreme on the continent of Europe, and Britain was undisputed mistress of the seas. The belligerents thereupon endeavored to injure one another indirectly; but the real sufferers during this later time were the American shipowners, whose vessels were almost the only neutral ships on the ocean. 232. Decrees and Orders, 1806-10. - Napoleon began the contest by closing the recently captured ports of Hamburg and Bremen to British commerce, thus cutting off a profitable trade between Great Britain and Germany. The British government retaliated by declaring a blockade of the coast of the continent from Brest to the Elbe (May 16, 1806), which was enforced only between the Seine and Ostend. Napoleon replied to this by the issue of the Berlin Decree (November 21, 1806), declaring the British. Islands to be "in a state of blockade." He also forbade all trade in British goods throughout the lands under French control, which soon included all of continental Europe except Norway, Sweden, and Turkey. Jay's treaty was about to expire by limitation, and it was |