CHAPTER IV 



THE PURCHASE OF LOUISIANA; AND BURROS CON- 

 SPIRACY, 1803-1807 



A GREAT and growing race may acquire vast 

 stretches of scantily peopled territory in any 

 one of several ways. Often the statesman, no less 

 than the soldier, plays an all-important part in win- 

 ning the new land; nevertheless, it is usually true 

 that the diplomatists who by treaty ratify the acqui- 

 sition usurp a prominence in history to which they 

 are in no way entitled by the real worth of their 

 labors. 



The territory may be gained by the armed forces 

 of the nation, and retained by treaty. It was 

 in this way that England won the Cape of Good 

 Hope from Holland; it was in this way that the 

 United States won New Mexico. Such a con- 

 quest is due, not to the individual action of members 

 of the winning race, but to the nation as a whole, 

 acting through her soldiers and statesmen. It was 

 the English Navy which conquered the Cape of 

 Good Hope for England; it was the English diplo- 

 mats that secured its retention. So it was the Amer- 

 ican Army which added New Mexico to the United 

 States ; and its retention was due to the will of the 

 politicians who had set that army in motion. In 



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