| February 28 |  |
Editor says, what if the Haiti revolt fizzled out, enabling Napoleon to send his crack forces to New Orleans instead? Please note that the opinions expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect the views of the author(s).
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In 1801, following the unexpected death of Toussaint L'Ouverture, Napoleon Bonaparte redirected his attention from the revolt in Haiti to his grander ambitions for the vast territory of Louisiana; L'Empereur sends his brother-in-law General Charles Leclerc with thousands of troops and numerous warships to establish French control of New Orleans.
Long Tom's War of 1801Expecting the French to clamp down on the rights of Americans to use the Mississippi River to float their goods and produce to New Orleans for overseas shipment, US farmers and traders howl in protest. In principle, President Thomas Jefferson sides with the British, threatening "The day France takes possession of New Orleans, we must marry ourselves to the British fleet and nation". But he hides behind negotiations for two years, needing that time in order to reverse himself on disbanding the army and fleet his predecessor John Adams was constructing."The day France takes possession of New Orleans, we must marry ourselves to the British fleet and nation" Jefferson finally made the offer of a military alliance in 1803; sensing a unique opportunity to humiliate Napoleon, the Prime Minister of Great Britain, William Pitt the Younger, seizes the offer with both hands. As soon as the news reaches Washington DC, the US declares war on France.
Not for the first time, "Long Tom" demonstrated that his mind was a bundle of contradictions; a strict follower of the constitution who was prepared to bend the rules, a slave owner who hated slavery, a white supremacist who fathered dual heritage children, a balanced budget advocate who died $100,000 in debt. And now, a revolutionary founding founder who was prepared to ally with his bitter enemy, the British in order to prevent Napoleon from creating a vast new French empire on the North American continent.
Entry posted by Todayinah Editor
© Steve Wiegand, US History for Dummies (2001)Story Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Alternate Nations Source: Wikipedia Labels: Thomas Jefferson, America, Napoleon Bonaparte, Louisiana, Great Britain. Editor says, many thanks to Scott Palter for his advise and guidance in developing this story
~ Time scale of the breakdown is too fast. UK was not ready for war until 1803.
~ So much for the Louisiana Purchase. Either the U.S. ends up taking New Orleans, and the rest of the huge Louisiana Territory, as spoils of war--or the British do, putting the young U.S. in deep you-know-what, since the U.S.-British alliance isn't likely to survive the war any better than the U.S.-Soviet alliance survived World War II.
~ The British had long since accepted American independence, but Napoleon couldn't be trusted for a minute---Artemus Ward described him as "the man who tried to do too much---and he done it." If he was ensconced in strength at New Orleans, he'd start casting envious eyes at the US in short order, particularly if things were going South for him in Europe.
Comment from Mia Amani on Facebook: The USA may never have existed as it does today.
I don't think it might have made that much difference to Napoleon since he was defeated in Europe but it might have weakened us to the point that Texas and California may still have been (rightfully) Mexican and there might have been much more Native Americans left too.
An awful footnote to this is our treatment of Haiti after the revolution and the fact that this horrible treatment forced them to pay unbelievable repatriations to France which ultimately has lead to the hell-hole we see today.
Our entire history of involvement in the Caribbean and South and Central America is a very shameful one indeed.
~ As a long shot, what if Britain and America got along again? Probably not enough for reabsorption, but it would change expansionistic policies drastically.
© Today in Alternate History, 2013-. All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
