A divided Louisiana Purchase

The Louisiana Purchase was the acquisition of the Louisiana territiory by the United States from France in 1803.
Suppose the eastern half only of the Louisiana Purchase went to the United States.
The western half remained under the ownership of France.
 
I'm not sure if this is plausible. The Americans wanted the port of St. Louis. Either they get the port, or the sale doesn't go through. If the French agree to lose the port, then there is no point in keeping any of the land, and they get rid of it cheap -like they did OTL. It's everything or nothing, with little in between. They won't sell it to the British and I'm doubtful about the Mexicans or any other European power wanting to get that land, port or no.
 
There would not be any point. Why would they sell half the land they had in America when they could either keep it or sell it all.
 
I'm not sure if this is plausible. The Americans wanted the port of St. Louis. Either they get the port, or the sale doesn't go through. If the French agree to lose the port, then there is no point in keeping any of the land, and they get rid of it cheap -like they did OTL. It's everything or nothing, with little in between. They won't sell it to the British and I'm doubtful about the Mexicans or any other European power wanting to get that land, port or no.

Actually, all the U.S. really wanted was New Orleans. The American negotiators were surprised when all of Louisiana was offered.
 
The Louisiana Purchase was the acquisition of the Louisiana territiory by the United States from France in 1803.
Suppose the eastern half only of the Louisiana Purchase went to the United States.
The western half remained under the ownership of France.

Why on earth would France want to keep what was then regarded as the "Great American Desert"? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_American_Desert Even if it *was* habitable (by anyone other than "savages") its only access to the outside world would be through US, British, or Spanish territory.
 
How does that division even look? Without the eastern portion of the Louisiana Purchase, how can France even access the rest?

Once New Orleans is lost, then entire territory becomes unsupportable by France. It really is an all or nothing deal.
 
Whoever controls New Orleans controls the entire Louisiana territory. If the French only sell the eastern half the western half becomes American territory by default since the only reasonable route in or out is through New Orleans. That was the entire reason the Americans wanted the city in the first place. Whoever controls New Orleans controls the fate of the Mississippi/Ohio valley
 
The primary goal was to gain access to that vast inland waterway known as the Mississippi River. The Mighty Mississippi empties into the Ocean at New Orleans.

America's first goal was expanding west of the Appalachian Mountains ... a struggle through the Cumberland Gap, while the Mississippi provided easy access to the western slopes of the Appalachian Mountains.
Once into the Mississippi River Valley, the USA could expand into the vast interior plains, the vast agricultural prairies now known as the American Mid-West, especially on the western flanks of the Mississippi, up the Missouri River, etc.

The northern end of the Mississippi River is an easy portage from l Lake Michigan, but in the long run you still need to dig a canal a few miles south of Chicago. Chicago (and the Great Lakes) have the disadvantage of freezing solid during winter.
 
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