2 of 3

Write now Article Tools

Page 2 of 2

battlefield, Russia, in the east. The fall of Napoleon, his comeback, and ultimate defeat at Waterloo by the combined British and German armies freed the victorious British forces for a renewed invasion on its former colony, the United States.

The inheritor of the French Revolution, Napoleon Bonaparte, was short on cash he needed to fight in Europe. Abandoning plans in the New World to establish a food production enterprise in the Louisiana Territory, Napoleon astonished President Jefferson's emissaries by offering to sell all the French-held territory west of the Mississippi River, millions of unexplored acreage for a relatively few millions of dollars.

At the mouth the vast territory stood the key city of New Orleans, which the British decided to seize as a bargaining chip for the soon-to-end War of 1812. The Americans with their Kentucky rifle sharpshooters annihilated a strong British force in one of the few bright spots of that badly fought campaign.

So, the French Revolution had some ironic and history altering outcomes. The French traded the chaos of their revolutionary rule for the security and promised glory of Napoleonic rule. The cries of "Liberte, egalite fraternite" of the French Revolution gave way to "Vive L'empereur!" The British became a world sea power, whose bullying tactics against American shipping resulted in the Americans' "second war of Independence." America's territory doubled, and the country began its inevitable expansion to the Pacific.

Learn more about this author, Jerry Curtis.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.

• << previous page
• 1
• 2

Add your voice

Know something about Effects of the French Revolution?
We want to hear your view. Write now!