Page 84 - All About History - Issue 72-18
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wasn’t until he got to Plymouth that he not necessarily have greatly altered world
discovered the British were going to send history – the exception being if he tried SO YOU’VE HAD A
him to St Helena [where he would live in to do it in Louisiana, where there was a
exile until his death on 5 May 1821]. sizeable French-speaking population and REVOLUTION, NOW WHAT?
Napoleon was well regarded. This could
Why did Napoleon consider going ultimately have led to an attempt to
to America? secede, which would have been resisted If YOU’VE thrown off the yoke
of Spanish rule but you’re
He had been reading a book by Alexander by the American government.
not sure what comes next,
von Humboldt, who was a great German
NAPOLEON BONAPARTE has
naturalist of the 19th century, about Could Napoleon have had a lasting
THE ANSWER!
the US, and this seemed appealing to impact on the Americas?
him. He thought it was an attractive I don’t think he could have done In this six-week course, YOU’LL
destination, and he could perhaps do anything comparable with what he did LEARN how to TRANSFORM
some scientific exploration there, or just in Europe, because he didn’t have the a capital with lovely wide
retreat as a private gentleman essentially. infrastructure, the familiarity with the boulevards, RENEW your legal
He talked about retiring on the banks culture or the political situation there system with the NAPOLEONIC
of the Mississippi or the Ohio River, and or the geography. And he just didn’t CODE, and MASTER
ARTILLERY to CRUSH
about travelling around the Americas on have the number of followers that were
rival powers!
a scientific expedition. needed. Where he could have had an
influence would have been in Spanish
So would he have lived a quiet life America, lending his support to one of
in America? the groups there. But there were so many “Napoleon, in search of a new throne, might
If you look at what the options would individual players there, and in that stage
have been, the first is just to settle of his life his health was declining. He have tried to launch an invasion of one of
peacefully. That’s what his brother Joseph died of cancer in 1821, and the symptoms
Bonaparte did. Another of his options were already showing as early as 1818. He Spain’s American colonies”
would have been to attempt to gather his was passed his prime. I don’t think the
followers there and to peacefully start fire was still in his belly in the way it had Alexander von
a colony, creating a sort of new mini- been earlier. Humboldt’s writing
France within the US. That’s something sparked Napoleon’s
interest in America
he fantasised of doing when he was on St Would he have changed the
Helena. And in fact the Bonapartists who outcome of any of the independence
did flee to the US actually did try to start revolutions in Central or South
colonies in Alabama and also in Texas. America?
There was some argument that Napoleon, in search of a new throne,
perhaps the purpose [of these colonies] might have tried to launch an invasion
was to rescue Napoleon from St Helena, of one of Spain’s American colonies,
and put him on the Mexican throne. The which were then seeking independence.
third possibility is this Texas expedition, The most obvious candidate would have
which Napoleon might have got involved been Mexico, via Texas. There is some
in if he was really in search of a new suggestion that Mexican patriots may
throne. He might have got involved have offered to put Joseph Bonaparte on
in launching an invasion of Spain’s the throne of an independent Mexico.
American colonies, because most of them Napoleon might also have meddled
were seeking independence from Spain in other Spanish American colonies
at that point. where his supporters had landed up. For
There were revolutionary wars going example, Napoleonic General Michel
on in these places, and the most obvious Brayer briefly commanded the cavalry in
candidate if he was in the US would have Chile’s independence army and allegedly
been Mexico. At one point when he was lent his support to a reported plan to
on St Helena and learned that Joseph had rescue Napoleon from St Helena.
successfully reached the US, Napoleon
said if he was in his place he would build Would Napoleon have been safe
a great empire in all of Spanish America. in America?
So there are some hints that this was A very real possibility is that Napoleon
playing on his mind. would have been assassinated in
America by a supporter of France’s
If he had started a colony in the US, Bourbon regime [which ruled France in
would that have been tolerated? his stead]. Napoleon certainly feared
Given Napoleon’s penchant for that outcome, and it is one of the
governance, this would have caused things that deterred him from going
friction with the Americans, but would to America.
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