How Napoleon and America Saw Each Other

Napoleon Bonaparte was born on August 15th, 1769. As such, when the United States declared independence from Great Britain in 1776, Napoleon was only a 6-year-old boy playing in the streets of Ajaccio on the French island of Corsica. He would have heard about the Americans from time to time as he grew up and studied the revolution as a young man. Napoleon took power in France and began to build his empire a few decades later in 1799. Many of America’s founding fathers were still alive and serving as presidents.

In fact, some of the most prominent, such as John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, would even outlive Napoleon. Though distanced from each other by the Atlantic, America and Napoleonic France would shape each other’s history in multiple important ways. This leads us to ask, how did Napoleon and America see each other? And how did they interact? Ladies and gentlemen, hello and welcome to Fire of Learning. Let’s find out. The French Revolution had erupted in France in 1789. For the next 10 years, France was embroiled in political upheaval and conflict both within and with the other powers of Europe who sought to overturn the revolution.

Napoleon then took power in France in November of 1799, having led a coup d’état against the French government. He became first consul, a military dictator in all but name. Only a little over a month into Napoleon’s rule, on December 14th, 1799, George Washington died. When Napoleon heard the news, he issued a statement to the French military, which read, quote, “Washington is dead. This great man fought against tyranny. He established the liberty of his country. His memory will always be dear to the French people, as it will be to all free men of the two worlds, and especially to French soldiers who, like him and the American soldiers, have combatted for liberty and equality.” End quote.

He then ordered a 10-day period of public mourning across France in Washington’s honor. Napoleon admired Washington, but this was mostly political theater. Napoleon ordered such a large demonstration of grief over Washington’s death to create the impression that he deeply empathized with him and was, therefore, perhaps, like Washington, a leader who had merely dutifully stepped in to stabilize his country during revolution. Still, it was somewhat unusual as relations between France and America had been strained for several years. The two countries had even been involved in a kind of quasi-war, remembered as the Quasi-War.

In 1793, France had gone to war with Britain and other European powers in the War of the First Coalition. France argued that under the terms of the alliance they forged during the American Revolution, America was obligated to provide assistance. However, America, under President Washington, declared neutrality. America was deeply dependent on British trade at the time and in no position to become involved in such a war. They argued that the treaty was only a defensive treaty and that it was null and void regardless, having been made with the French monarchy, not the French Republic.

The following year, America signed the Jay Treaty with Britain. This treaty resolved various outstanding disputes and expanded trade between the two powers. The treaty was intended to preserve peace with Britain and maintain American neutrality, but France viewed it as collaboration with the British. In an attempt to pressure the United States into abandoning the Jay Treaty, the French began to seize American merchant vessels in 1796. In 1798, after diplomatic solutions had failed, the next American president, John Adams, authorized American ships to attack armed French vessels. War was never officially declared, hence the name Quasi-War, but light fighting resulting in hundreds being killed or wounded did occur.

Soon after, in 1800, Napoleon came to power. Napoleon brought an end to this conflict. War with America was a distraction from his ultimate motivations. While Napoleon had helped to bring peace, Americans, including Adams and the next president, Thomas Jefferson, were uncertain of what to expect of him. Jefferson recognized that Napoleon was a great commander on the battlefield, but was very skeptical that he would turn out to be a statesman. Jefferson doubted that Napoleon was truly a champion of liberty and feared he would undermine the French Revolution and become a dictatorial conqueror, but it was too soon to say.

Jefferson and many Americans were concerned that Napoleon’s ambitions might lie in the Americas. France had once ruled a great portion of North America, but had suffered significant losses in the French and Indian War in 1763, over a decade before the American Revolution. After this war, France’s territory on the North American mainland was divided between its rival, Britain, and its ally, Spain. There were concerns that Napoleon might seek to reclaim what was the western half of the original French Louisiana territory, a great swath of land that bordered the young United States, stretching from New Orleans to modern southern Canada, encompassing much of what is today the central United States.

This was the territory that had been transferred to Spain, the eastern Louisiana territory going to Britain and then America. The Mississippi River and port of New Orleans were vital to the American economy, and the United States viewed the territory as something that would inevitably be theirs. In fact, Americans had already been settling the territory. If Napoleon regained it, not only would this potentially harm the American economy and hinder expansion, but the United States itself could come under threat.

Indeed, Napoleon did have ambitions in the Americas. He intended to rebuild the French colonial empire there, restoring France as a major colonial power that could challenge Britain there and in other colonial theaters once more. The focus was on the Caribbean with the colony of Saint-Domingue or modern-day Haiti serving as the center of the colonial empire. But Napoleon’s ambitions did also include reclaiming the Louisiana territory under Spanish control. Buying time to secure this peacefully was one reason he had wanted peace with America. In 1800, Napoleon legally regained the Louisiana territory from Spain in a secret treaty. When America found out about this, they did not remain quiet about their opposition.

Both President Jefferson and the Secretary of State James Madison warned Napoleon that if he followed through with taking the territory back, it would destroy any friendship they had and push America into alliance with Britain and eventually even war with France. However, before Napoleon and America could lock horns, Napoleon’s ambitions were sidelined by events in Saint-Domingue. In 1791, during the French Revolution, the enslaved Africans of Saint-Domingue had risen up against the French in a revolution of their own. The French diffused the situation by abolishing slavery. The Haitian revolutionaries accepted this compromise and French sovereignty.

However, Paris’s hand on the colony remained weak and by 1801, the Haitian leader Toussaint Louverture had promulgated his own constitution, claimed Spanish Hispaniola, thereby taking the rest of the island, and ruled the colony with a great deal of independence. Napoleon’s ambitions in the Americas depended upon Saint-Domingue being firmly under his rule. In 1802, a French army landed to reassert control over Saint-Domingue. Napoleon had promised the former slaves they would retain their freedom. However, this promise was suspected. Indeed, Napoleon’s intentions were to reinstate slavery throughout the French Empire.

The Haitians responded by rebelling against the French. The Haitians waged a guerrilla warfare campaign against the French. This, combined with a devastating outbreak of yellow fever, wiped out most of the French army. By 1803, it was clear that France would not be able to reassert control over the island. While the Louisiana Territory was substantially larger than Saint-Domingue, Saint-Domingue was the real prize, as it was necessary to make a French Empire in North America economically viable. It was, as was mentioned, an extremely profitable colony, producing roughly half of the world’s sugar and coffee at the time. Whereas the Louisiana Territory, especially outside of New Orleans, was only very sparsely settled by Europeans. Large portions of it were only French on paper.

Half of the reason Napoleon had even wanted the Louisiana Territory was so that it could supply food and resources to Saint-Domingue. Napoleon realized America would follow through on their threats, and without Saint-Domingue, he would struggle to defend the territory from the Americans and British. It was also clear that another war with Britain was coming. Napoleon wanted to keep America as a counterweight to Britain. Furthermore, he needed money for the upcoming war. Jefferson had already expressed interest in something like a purchase of New Orleans and a small portion of the surrounding territory for as much as $10 million.

Napoleon decided to sell America the entire Louisiana Territory for $15 million. The American representatives, stunned, immediately accepted, and in fact, rushed to secure the deal before Napoleon could change his mind. The purchase became a key moment in American history, doubling the size of the country. After the deal, Napoleon reportedly remarked, quote, “This succession of territory affirms forever the power of the United States, and I have given England a maritime rival who, sooner or later, will humble her pride.” End quote.

The Haitian Revolution altered the course of North American history, and possibly even prevented the United States and Napoleon from colliding. But, Napoleon and America would continue to have a complicated relationship for the rest of Napoleon’s reign. Soon, the issue of trade would inflame relations between America and France once more. War had indeed come between France and Britain, with many other European powers eventually joining Britain’s side. Napoleon, upgraded to the status of emperor, saw great, though not total, success in these conflicts.

Napoleon had wanted to invade Britain, but any hope of this was lost at the Battle of Trafalgar in October of 1805. With neither power able to invade the other, by 1806, the conflict between the two had shifted to an economic war in which Britain and France attempted to destroy each other’s economies. Britain and France began to seize neutral ships trading with the other. Neutral America was once more caught in the middle of Britain and France’s tug-of-war. The British had already been harassing and capturing American ships for some time, but the situation now intensified dramatically, with both countries aggressively seizing American ships.

Jefferson responded with America’s own Embargo Act, which forbade all foreign trade. It was intended to hurt Britain and France and assert American neutrality, but in truth, it hurt America far more overall. Restrictions were later revised to apply only to France and Britain, though this was not successful either. Thomas Jefferson’s opinion of Napoleon had by now thoroughly soured. Jefferson believed Napoleon turned out to be the cold-blooded military dictator he feared he would be, ignorant and inept at everything required of a leader except ability on the battlefield. A few years after his presidency, Jefferson would refer to Napoleon as the destroyer of mankind.

However, between Britain and France, the British were the bigger bullies towards America, interfering far more with American trade. Britain’s navy was much larger and stronger than France’s. The British were also impressing American sailors, in other words, seizing American ships and forcing some of their crew into the British navy. They were also arming Native Americans to halt American expansion. The Americans attempted to use diplomacy to resolve their disputes with Britain and France, but when diplomacy ultimately failed, the American government, including the next president, James Madison, considered declaring war on both Britain and France.

However, because America had more disputes with Britain, and a dual war was less realistic, Congress declared war on Britain alone. This became the War of 1812. While the War of 1812 was an offshoot of the Napoleonic Wars, and America and Napoleon once more had a common enemy, neither power actively cooperated with or assisted the other. Relations were still strained, and Napoleon was busy dealing with his invasions of Spain and Russia. Napoleon’s invasions of these countries would end disastrously and result in his downfall and exile in the spring of 1814.

Napoleon’s defeat and peace in Europe did not immediately resolve the War of 1812. In fact, Britain sent even more forces to America. However, Napoleon’s defeat had removed some of the main grievances between the two, namely trade blockades and impressment. It soon became clear that neither side would be able to gain the advantage over the other. Thus, peace came between Britain and America, at least officially, in December of 1814. Napoleon famously returned from exile and took power in France once more not long after. However, he was once more defeated on June 18th, 1815, at the Battle of Waterloo. A few days later, Napoleon came to terms with the fact that it was over and abdicated his throne.

Now, Napoleon had to make a decision. What was he going to do? Where was he going to go? Napoleon knew Europe would resort to even more extreme measures to ensure he did not escape exile and return to power again, and therefore did not fancy being their prisoner. Exile was unavoidable at this point, or at least the only option apart from execution. But, Napoleon, characteristically, at least wanted to do it on his own terms. There was hardly anywhere in Europe or its empires where he could reliably hide. Thus, he would have to flee to a far-away non-European land.

Napoleon looked to the United States. According to Ines Murat in her book, Napoleon and the American Dream, Napoleon’s plan was to discretely transfer 3 million francs to an American bank with the help of various agents. Napoleon would then sneak away to America and live there privately but lavishly under the alias Colonel Muiron, a name he chose to honor a French soldier who had saved his life. From what was written by him and those close to him at the time, it seems Napoleon wanted to retire to live a life of a scholar, focusing on science and mathematics.

However, some historians, such as Shannon Selin, have questioned whether he could truly give up his political machinations, especially if he were secure in America. He may have tried to use his home in America as a base from which he would organize for his son to be put on the French throne as he had originally wanted or even to retake it for himself. However, this was not to be. Napoleon’s enemies were hunting him down. He became stuck surrounded by them in the port city of Rochefort. The Prussians had orders to execute Napoleon on site. The restored French king Louis the 18th likely would have done similar.

Under this pressure, Napoleon surrendered to the British. The British decided to send him into exile on the island of St. Helena, a small island in the South Atlantic. He would remain there for the rest of his life. In truth, even if Napoleon had made it to America, it is doubtful it would have changed history very much. By 1818, 3 years into his exile, Napoleon developed what was very likely stomach cancer. He would live for only a few years after that until 1821.

Napoleon lamented in his final years on St. Helena, quote, “My great mistake was to turn to the English and to wind up on St. Helena. If I were in America, everything would go well, whereas here, everything goes badly. It’s all an error.” End quote. At one point, Napoleon, reflecting on his career and justifying his actions, compared himself to George Washington and argued that it would have been impossible for him to have taken the same course, that is to say, to stabilize the revolution, serve a limited term, and then step down.

He said specifically, quote, “They wanted me to be another Washington. As for me, I could only be a crowned Washington. Had I been in America, I would willingly have been a Washington, and I should have had the little merit in so being. But had Washington been in France, exposed to discord within and invasion from without, I would have defied him to have been what he was in America. At least he would have been a fool to attempt it and would only have prolonged the existence of evil.” End quote.

Napoleon admired the United States and believed that it would probably eventually grow into a military power that would rival the empires of Europe. However, any admiration he might have had for America did not influence his relationship with the nation. His relationship with America was entirely pragmatic, shaped by how it fit into his broader ambitions. Early on in his reign, he saw it as a potential rival to his ambitions in the Americas. Later on, he preferred to keep America as a counterweight to Britain, though never at the cost of France’s interests. In the end, when he had been thrown from power, he hoped America would serve as a refuge.

The American public was divided on their view of Napoleon. Some, especially early in his rule, viewed him as a great man who had risen to his position through merit rather than birth and was defending a revolution and republic against the hereditary monarchies of Europe, something with which these Americans empathized. Others viewed him as an ambitious, opportunistic usurper and military dictator from the beginning and eventually, perhaps even a ruthless, warmongering tyrant, exactly the kind of character who could have come to power in America had they not been careful. Many held views in between or held a variety of other views.

American public opinion of Napoleon soured as the years went on, especially when the trade conflicts increasingly damaged the American economy. Regardless, whether considered a hero or a villain, to many Americans, Napoleon was a distant, larger-than-life foreign celebrity who dominated American newspapers throughout his reign and whose story the American public followed and discussed with fascination. We recently made a documentary on the complete history of Antarctica. The link to that video will be in the description. Thank you for reading.