re: GMT

Good morning

morning ky

hope you and your family is doing well.

we finally got rain!

Happy Halloween my darling spooky boos! I hope you all have a hauntingly good day!

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1803
Congress ratifies the purchase of the entire Louisiana area in North America, adding territory to the U.S. which will eventually become 13 more states.

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A curious result of a quasi war between France and the US over piracy and the French failing to hold onto modern day Haiti.

To say the British quickly established naval dominance after the French Revolution is an understatement. Many of the French naval officers had either been executed or fled the country, given the voracious demands of the growing French army potential new officers were steered away from the Navy. Britain, for its part, was determined to make sure there would be no repeat of Yorktown where the timely arrival of a French fleet had essentially cost them most of their North American colonies.

So, the only way to wage naval warfare for the struggling (and soon to die) French Republic was to issue letters of marque, creating "legalized" pirates. Unfortunately it just so happened that one of the UK's biggest trading partners was the United States. The US, a prickly young nation, reacted very poorly to losing merchant men and an undeclared, but vicious, naval war broke out.

That complicated matters. Meanwhile Spain had grudgingly agreed to return control of New Orleans to France and allow US merchants to store and ship merchandise through the port again. Which was smart on their part because the US was fully prepared to go to war over the issue and Spain was in no condition to defend Florida.

Then things got really complicated. Haiti, the focal point of France in the Caribbean had been undergoing a slave revolt for quite some time. Under the leadership of Toussiant Louverture, a former slave turned military leader, the Haitians finally succeeded in pushing the French almost completely off the island. At a time when France was desperate for money the loss of Haiti and its rich sugar crops was unfathomable.

All of this came to a head for the "First Consul" of the French Republic, a little known gent named Napoleon Bonaparte. He knew that a renewed war with the UK was coming. If the US allied with the UK then the impoverished US would get the financial backing to turn its comically small army into a real military force. Not only would the whole of the Louisiana Territory fall but France's Caribbean colonies (including Haiti) would almost certainly be doomed.

At the same time President Jefferson had started sending out feelers to France about outright purchasing the Louisiana Territory, which, along with a cessation of privacy on US vessels, would remove any chance of the US being forced to ally with the UK. The deal was quickly struck, giving US "ownership" of a vast swath of land... and coming as a very unwelcome surprise to the native tribes in the area... while giving France a much needed influx of cash to use to retake Haiti. The Haitians sat back and watched the French army wither away from disease which, at the time, ended the French adventure in Haiti.

In the end it gave the US a ton of cheap new land, cleared the boards for Napoleon to not have to defend North America, and effectively restarted the European wars because now the French were free to declare war without worrying about losing the bulk of their overseas empire.

In an odd side note, Spain had dragged its heels about returning the lucrative port of New Orleans to French control but finally did so in late November of 1803. Three weeks later the French, in turn, handed it over to the US.

Morning All !!

Rain gauge said 4.5 inches of rain and getting more Saturday - Tuesday.

bout time

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Morning All !!

Rain gauge said 4.5 inches of rain and getting more Saturday - Tuesday.

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That's great news! I know this drought has really been a major pain for you.

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Rain gauge said 4.5 inches of rain and getting more Saturday - Tuesday.

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There was a time when I would give it a shot, but now at my advanced age, I can just feel the potential hernia forming through the screen.

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Piffle and tosh sir, piffle and tosh. I could do that today. I mean I'd die doing it and probably be crushed to death by the bale of hay as I suffered a heart attack/massive stroke at the same time.