After the Treaties of Tilsit, the wars in Europe had passed into a lull, with the end of The War of The Fourth Coalition; Napoleon’s “Continental System” now fought an economic war against Great Britain. Much to the Emperor’s irritation, Portugal continued to trade with France’s great rival, and allowed the Royal Navy to use Lisbon’s ports as part of its operations against France.
After signing an alliance with Manuel de Godoy, the Prime Minister of Spain, Napoleon sent his army into Portugal under Jean-Andoche Junot with the assistance of three Spanish divisions. Paralyzed by surprise and indecision, the Portuguese offered little resistance. Junot occupied Lisbon on October 1807 forcing the Prince Regent, and much of the Portuguese court, to flee to Brazil. Despite the easy surrender by the authorities, heavy resistance by the Portuguese population would incite the Peninsular War less than a year later.
The escalation of the rebellion, and fear of Spain turning on France, pushed Napoleon to order his army into Spain and force Charles IV to abdicate. The King was replaced by his son Ferdinand VII, who was by then engaged to Napoleon’s sister, Pauline. But just like in Portugal, the general population of Spain rose in rebellion against the French and “their puppet king”. [1] The rebellions were not limited to Spain; across the Spanish possessions in the America’s insurgencies rose up against the Napoleonic controlled Spain.
Following the insurrections, the British fleet landed in Portugal fully re-engaging in hostilities against France.
Transfer of the Portuguese Court to Brazil
9. Britain’s Other Headache
As the Napoleonic Wars continued to escalate, their effects began to be felt in America. Napoleon had attempted a re-conquest of Haiti, as part of his attempt to spread his influence into the Americas. But the forces under the command Charles Leclerc, at the time Napoleon’s brother-in-law, were defeated in 1804 by the local resistance. Leclerc himself was killed in battle and by 1805 Haiti was once again an independent nation. [1] As a consequence, Napoleon slowly abandoned his North American ambitions. Seeing a window of opportunity James Monroe, immediately began negotiations with both France and Spain. In the spring of 1808 a letter from Livingston reached President Jefferson; France was willing to accept the American claim to the entirety of Louisiana if an agreement was reached between Spain and the United States. Livingston urged the president to accept Spain’s terms and take hold of the continent. In April 1808, Spain (under French pressure) sold the remainder of Louisiana to the United States for 7 million dollars. Britain was outraged when news of the purchase reached London (possibly earlier than Washington) and refused to acknowledge the American claims, arguing that Spain had been coerced to give up those lands.
As, Britain tightened its grip on the Atlantic trade, it became common for the British navy to seize and search American merchant ships, particularly those thought to be trading with France. In the summer of 1807 The British warship HMS Leopard attacked and boarded the USS Chesapeake near the coast of Virginia while looking for deserters. When the Chesapeake refused to be boarded, the Leopard opened fire killing four American’s including Commodore James Barron. [2]
Not surprisingly the American public was outraged! President Jefferson himself noted, “Never have I seen this country in such a state of exasperation”, and asked Congress to place economic pressure on Britain with an embargo. Unfortunately, the embargo had the unintended consequence of placing the nation at odds against itself. Without the possibility of trade with Britain, New England spiraled into an economic downturn, sparking riots in several border towns inside Maine and Vermont. Rumors that Britain was inciting these rebellions were rampant, and a young group of Congressmen, led by Henry Clay, known as the War Hawks urged Congress to declare war on Britain.
As a preemptive measure, Jefferson did order US troops to reinforce disputed the border alongside Vermont and Maine, as well as disputed regions west of Lake Superior. Skirmishes on the frontier were common, but the arrival of American troops in Fond du Lac [3] unnerved the local British garrison into thinking war had already started back east. When news reached Washington that British forces had moved south of the St Louis river and occupied the American outpost, the United States officially declared a State of War against the United Kingdom, on April 4th of 1808.
The Chesapeake-Leopard Affair
[1] So Leclerc doesn’t get sick with yellow fever, so he lives a little longer. Yet he still dies in time for Pauline to marry Ferdinand VII.
[2] He dies in TTL, rather than just being wounded.
[3] OTL’s Duluth
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