ch, however disastrous to them, would ultimately have been
more so to him; but he was a great statesman, and a still greater
soldier, and he did not need to be told that it would be worse than
folly to try to keep a country when he had given up the key-position.

The Great West Gained against the Wishes of the American
Diplomats.

The region west of the Mississippi could become the heritage of no other
people save that which had planted its populous communities along the
eastern bank of the river, it was quite possible for a powerful European
nation to hold New Orleans for some time, even though all upper
Louisiana fell into the hands of the Americans; but it was entirely
impossible for any European nation to hold upper Louisiana if New
Orleans became a city of the United States. The Westerners, wiser than
their rulers, but no wiser than Napoleon at the last, felt this, and
were not in the least disturbed over the fate of Louisiana, provided
they were given the control of the mouth of the Mississippi. As a matter
of fact, it is improbable that the fate of the great territory lying
west of the upper Mississippi would even have been seriously delayed had
it been nominally under the control of France or Spain. With the mouth
of the Mississippi once in American hands it was a physical
impossibility in any way to retard the westward movement of the men who
were settling Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee.

Debates in Congress.
Folly of the Federalists.

The ratification of the treaty brought on some sharp debates in
Congress. Jefferson had led his party into power as the special champion
of States' Rights and the special opponent of national sovereignty. He
and they rendered a very great service to the nation by acquiring
Louisiana; but it was at the cost of violating every precept which they
had professed to hold dear, and of showing that their warfare on the
Federalists had been waged on behalf of principles which they were
obliged to confess were shams the moment they were put to the test. But
the Federalists of the Northeast, both in the Middle States and in New
England, at this juncture behaved far worse than the Jeffersonian
Republicans. These Jeffersonian Republicans did indeed by their
performance give the lie to their past promise, and thereby emphasize
the unworthiness of their conduct in years gone by; nevertheless, at
this juncture they were right, which was far more important than being
logical o