The transfer of the Louisiana Territory by Spain back to France had gone largely unnoticed in 1800, but fear of an eventual French invasion spreads nationwide in 1801 when Napoleon sends a military force to secure New Orleans.

Southerners fear that Napoleon will free all the slaves in Louisiana, which could trigger slave uprisings elsewhere.

Jefferson urges moderation, but Federalists seek to use this against the President and call for hostilities against France.

Undercutting them, Jefferson takes up the banner and threatens an alliance with the United Kingdom, although relations are uneasy in that direction.

Jefferson supports France in its plan to take back Saint-Domingue (present-day Haiti) in 1801, which is at this time under control of Toussaint Louverture after a slave rebellion.

After Jefferson discovers the transfer of Louisiana from Spain to France under the Third Treaty of San Ildefonso, he sends Robert R. Livingston to Paris with authorization to purchase New Orleans.