James Monroe Announces Acceptance of the Ambassadorship to London

“I have received instructions from our government to repair to England to take the place of Mr. King, which I shall immediately comply with, lest by the want of a representation there our commerce might suffer in consequence of the war between G.B. [Great Britain] and France.”

Spain had been in control of Louisiana since the 1760s, when it took over from France.  But in early 1802 came reports that Spain would retrocede to that country the entire vast territory.  This substituted a strong power France for a weak power Spain on the doorstep of the United States, and made commercial expansion on the Mississippi and at New Orleans a more complicated venture.  By the fall of 1802 it was clear in the U.S. that the Louisiana territory would indeed return to French rule, and in October Spain’s King Charles IV signed a decree transferring the territory to France. President Jefferson responded by dispatching Robert Livingston to Paris as U.S. ambassador with instructions to try to purchase the crucial port city of New Orleans.  Meanwhile, a serious uprising in France’s most important colony in the Caribbean – Haiti – was taking place, as Toussaint Louverture captured Santo Domingo from the French and took control of the entire island of Hispaniola. His difficulties there caused Napoleon to consider that an adventure in the Americas was no longer desirable.

When he got to Paris, Livingston told French officials that he was authorized to offer $10 million for the city of New Orleans. Momentously, and with no instructions, he also suggested that the United States might be interested in acquiring additional lands west of the Mississippi.  Meanwhile Jefferson ordered James Monroe to assist with the negotiations, and he arrived on April 12, 1803. But Napoleon had greater plans than the Americans anticipated. Combining his disinclination to make a foray into America, his desire to keep the British out, and Livingston’s remark that the U.S. might be willing to take more than just New Orleans, Napoleon offered to sell the United States not only the port of New Orleans, but the entire Louisiana Territory. On April 30, Livingston and Monroe concluded negotiations to purchase all of Louisiana for $15 million, doubling the size of the United States for a cost of about 3 cents an acre. The American negotiators signed the Louisiana Purchase Treaty, even though doing so far exceeded their authority. It may have been the greatest diplomatic triumph in U.S. history.

Meanwhile, on April 18, unsure whether the mission would be successful and whether Napoleon would accede to his desire to purchase even New Orleans, Secretary of State James Madison wrote to Monroe and Livingston.  In this letter, written just days before the signing of the Treaty, Madison expressed a hope that a deal has been negotiated, but that should their expedition have met with failure, and should France show an inclination to draw America into conflict or deny them navigation of the Mississippi, the two were to begin negotiations with England, so that an alliance against the French might be built. Madison was intent on making it clear that no deal or failure to reach a deal should have a detrimental effect on relations with England, nor  should it draw America into a conflict that did not need to be fought.  In this letter of the 18th, the President enclosed two blank commissions for James Monroe and Robert Livingston.  The two of them would decide whether Monroe would become Ambassador to London or Livington would, with the other remaining in that capacity in Paris.  It was Monroe’s choice whether to accept the position in London, which Madison hoped he would, unless some issue might prevent it.

While that letter was on a ship in the Atlantic, much happened.  In addition to the signing of the Treaty, England had declared war on France once again after a 1-year hiatus from the ongoing conflict.  Hostilities had formally commenced, and the main occupation of the US, President Jefferson, and Secretary of State Madison would be to attempt to maintain a neutrality policy and avoid foreign entanglements.  With the purchase of Louisiana accomplished, Monroe was needed in London to accomplish this balancing act, and he chose to accept the position, made vacant by newly departed Rufus King.  Monroe responded to Madison, writing in a consequential letter to accept the position out of concern that a failure of representation at the London court might harm US interests in the upcoming escalation of conflict between the great European powers.  He also mentioned that he had sent the signed Louisiana Purchase earlier and that he thought West Florida, a strip of land comprising parts of the Gulf Coast west of the Mississippi still claimed by Spain, ought to be included in the cession.  To post this letter to Madison, and have confidence that it would be entrusted to a reliable ship’s captain, Monroe turned to his friend, William Lee, the American consul at Bordeaux.  To Lee he sent this important letter, along with a cover letter announcing that he would accept the position the post in London.  This letter to Lee is unpublished and until now has been unknown..

Autograph letter signed, Paris, June 19, 1803, to William Lee, American consul at Bordeaux.  “Dear Sir, I enclose you a letter for the Secretary of State [James Madison] which you will be pleased to forward by the first vessel, under particular orders to the person to whom it is committed, for safe keeping on this sea, and deposit in the post office as soon as he arrives in the U States.  Since my last to you, I have received instructions from our government to repair to England to take the place of Mr. King, which I shall immediately comply with, lest by the want of a representation there our commerce might suffer in consequence of the war between G.B. [Great Britain] and France.  Thus I shall be deprived of the pleasure of seeing you and other friends at Bordeaux for some time yet to come.  I beg you however to be assured that I am very sincerely your friend, Jas Monroe.”

News reached Jefferson of the cession of land and he announced it to the public in July 1803, and the treaty was ratified within months.  Interestingly, the issue of West Florida was not formally settled until the acquisition of the entire state of Florida with the Adams-Onis Treaty, negotiated under then-President James Monroe.

An uncommon and important letter of Monroe, relating to the Louisiana Purchase and the Napoleonic conflicts.