“The Present Order of Things” in January 1803

The various contracts signed in Paris and the United States for financing the Louisiana Purchase occurred during the “Truce of Amiens,” from October 1, 1801 to May 18, 1803. The suspension of hostilities permitted the movement of individuals, political and private, to resume between Britain and the Continent, especially the merchant bankers involved in international finance. The Truce also allowed Napoleon to launch his ill-fated invasion of Haiti in order to re-establish prosperous sugar plantations, which depended on restoring slave labor. When that failed, Napoleon decided to yield to the American demand to buy New Orleans but raise the price by including all of the Louisiana Territory. He knew from his advisors, Mollien and Barbé-Marbois, the success of the British financial revolution and the ongoing success of the American financial revolution. Barings had experienced the benefit of Alexander Hamilton’s restoration of American public credit through the efforts of Daniel Parker, even though a tontine designed to interest British investors in American sovereign debt proved unworkable in London. Meanwhile, Alexander dealt with Gallatin in the United States and Labouchere with Talleyrand in Paris and Dutch competitors in Amsterdam.