The Louisiana Purchase

Originally Aired: February 16, 1938 Cavalcade of America #122, "The Louisiana Purchase," dramatizes one of the most significant territorial acquisitions in American history. The episode opens with Napoleon's secret envoy negotiating with Spain's King Carlos IV to transfer the vast Louisiana territory back to France in exchange for the kingdom of Etruria. The king reluctantly agrees but demands the arrangement remain secret. Meanwhile, American frontiersmen like Ed Hawkins and Bill Joyce discover they can no longer freely navigate the Mississippi River or land their goods at New Orleans without paying heavy taxes to the new French authorities. Furious at this restriction on their commercial lifeline, these backwoodsmen threaten armed resistance against Napoleon's control. President Thomas Jefferson and Secretary of State James Madison face a far more complex challenge than the frontiersmen's simple solution of fighting. Jefferson understands that while Spain was a weak neighbor, having Napoleon Bonaparte control Louisiana poses a grave threat to American commerce and westward expansion. As tensions mount with news arriving from the frontier, Jefferson must find a diplomatic solution through Minister Robert Livingston in France before the situation escalates into open conflict.