XXXII.: PROPOSAL THAT LOUISIANA BE PURCHASED. (SENT TO THE PRESIDENT, CHRISTMAS DAY, 1802.) - Thomas Paine, The Writings of Thomas Paine, Vol. III (1791-1804) [1791]
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The Writings of Thomas Paine, Collected and Edited by Moncure Daniel Conway (New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1894). Vol. 3.
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- Introduction to the Third Volume. With Historical Notes and Documents.
- I.: The Republican Proclamation.
- II.: To the Authors of Le RÉpublicain
- III.: To the AbbÉ
- IV.: To the Attorney General.
- V.: To Mr. Secretary Dundas.
- VI.: Letters to Onslow Cranley,
- VII.: To the Sheriff of the County of Sussex Or , the Gentleman Who Shall Preside At the Meeting to Be Held At Lewes, July 4.
- VIII.: To Mr. Secretary Dundas.
- IX.: Letter Addressed to the Addressers On the Late Proclamation.
- X.: Address to the People of France.
- XI.: Anti-monarchal Essay.
- XII.: To the Attorney General, On the Prosecution Against the Second Part of Rights of Man.
- XIII.: On the Propriety of Bringing Louis XVI. To Trial.
- XIV.: Reasons For Preserving the Life of Louis Capet,
- XV.: Shall Louis XVI. Have Respite?
- XVI.: Declaration of Rights.
- XVII.: Private Letters to Jefferson.
- XVIII.: Letter to Danton.
- XIX.: A Citizen of America to the Citizens of Europe.
- XX.: Appeal to the Convention.
- XXI.: The Memorial to Monroe.
- XXII.: Letter to George Washington.
- XXIII.: Observations.
- XXIV.: Dissertation On First Principles of Government. 1
- XXV.: The Constitution of 1795. Speech In the French National Convention, July 7, 1795.
- XXVI.: The Decline and Fall of the English System of Finance.
- XXVII.: Forgetfulness. 1 From ‘the Castle In the Air,’ to the ‘little Corner of the World.’
- XXVIII.: Agrarian Justice.
- XXIX.: The Eighteenth Fructidor. to the People of France and the French Armies.
- XXX.: The Recall of Monroe.
- XXXI.: Private Letter to Thomas Jefferson.
- XXXII.: Proposal That Louisiana Be Purchased. (sent to the President, Christmas Day, 1802.)
- XXXIII.: Thomas Paine to the Citizens of the United States, and Particularly to the Leaders of the Féderal Faction .
- Letter I.
- Letter II.
- Letter III.
- Letter IV.
- Letter V.
- Letter VI.
- Letter VII.
- XXXIV.: To the French Inhabitants of Louisiana.
XXXII.
PROPOSAL THAT LOUISIANA BE PURCHASED.
(SENT TO THE PRESIDENT, CHRISTMAS DAY, 1802.)
Spain has ceded Louisiana to France, and France has excluded Americans from New Orleans, and the navigation of the Mississippi. The people of the Western Territory have complained of it to their Government, and the Government is of consequence involved and interested in the affair. The question then is—What is the best step to be taken?
The one is to begin by memorial and remonstrance against an infraction of a right. The other is by accommodation,—still keeping the right in view, but not making it a groundwork.
Suppose then the Government begin by making a proposal to France to re-purchase the cession made to her by Spain, of Louisiana, provided it be with the consent of the people of Louisiana, or a majority thereof.
By beginning on this ground any thing can be said without carrying the appearance of a threat. The growing power of the Western Territory can be stated as a matter of information, and also the impossibility of restraining them from seizing upon New Orleans, and the equal impossibility of France to prevent it.
Suppose the proposal attended to, the sum to be given comes next on the carpet. This, on the part of America, will be estimated between the value of the commerce and the quantity of revenue that Louisiana will produce.
The French Treasury is not only empty, but the Government has consumed by anticipation a great part of the next year’s revenue. A monied proposal will, I believe, be attended to; if it should, the claims upon France can be stipulated as part of the payment, and that sum can be paid here to the claimants.
—I congratulate you on The Birthday of the New Sun, now called Christmas Day; and I make you a present of a thought on Louisiana.
T. P.
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