Day-by-Day / April 8, 1803

April 8, 1803

A British alliance?

At a meeting of President Thomas Jefferson‘s cabinet in Washington City, it is decided that an alliance with Great Britain regarding Louisiana should be pursued should negotiations to obtain that colony from France fail.

King George III Coat of Arms

Two lions and a unicorn adorn King George III's coat of arms

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This coat of arms was used by King George of Great Britain from 1801 to 1816.

1803. Apr. 8. present 4. Secretaries & Atty Genl.

Great Britain. if refusg our rights by France, forces us to overtures to England as an ally? on what conditions?

1. not to make a separate peace?

2. to let her take Louisiana?

3. commercial privileges?

all reject the 2d & 3d. condns. Dearborne & Lincoln reject the 1st. the others agree to the 1st.

agreed to instruct our ministers, as soon as they find that no arrangement can be made with France, to use all possible procrastinations with them, and in the mean time enter into conferences with the British govmt thro’ their ambassador at Paris to fix principles of alliance, and leave us in peace till Congress meets, & prevent war till next spring.[1]“Notes on a Cabinet Meeting, 8 April 1803,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/01-40-02-0119 accessed 15 May 2022. [Original source: The … Continue reading

Related: Louisiana’s Purchase

 

Notes

Notes
↑1 “Notes on a Cabinet Meeting, 8 April 1803,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/01-40-02-0119 accessed 15 May 2022. [Original source: The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, vol. 40, 4 March–10 July 1803, ed. Barbara B. Oberg. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2013, pp. 152–154.]

Discover More

  • The Lewis and Clark Expedition: Day by Day by Gary E. Moulton (University of Nebraska Press, 2018). The story in prose, 14 May 1804–23 September 1806.
  • The Lewis and Clark Journals: An American Epic of Discovery (abridged) by Gary E. Moulton (University of Nebraska Press, 2003). Selected journal excerpts, 14 May 1804–23 September 1806.
  • The Lewis and Clark Journals. by Gary E. Moulton (University of Nebraska Press, 1983–2001). The complete story in 13 volumes.

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Unless otherwise noted, journal excerpts are from The Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, edited by Gary E. Moulton, 13 vols. (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1983-2001).