Short Stuff: Did a shipwreck double the size of the United States? | STUFF YOU SHOULD KNOW

Hey, and welcome to the short stuff. Chuck, Josh, Jerry, Dave. Let's go. back in time. >> Do you know who else is in the room with. us? >> Uh, Jerry Murphy? >> No. Do you know who wrote this article? >> No. >> Not you. >> Okay, good. >> [laughter]. >> Cuz I was going to say I there is I. didn't even know about some of this. stuff. >> Yeah, this uh. maybe the densest three pages I've ever. seen written.

>> Yeah. >> Uh, was written by our old colleague. Kristen Conger. >> Conger. It's this is seriously. incredibly well written. >> It is. Conger Conger did a great job and. Kristen is is thankfully still around in. the podcasting biz. Uh, she has her great show Unladylike. uh that she used to co-host with. Caroline. Uh, but eventually Caroline left and and. Conger kept doing it by herself and it's. it's still great still around. She has a. Unladylike book. And we think the world.

of of Conger. So, still support her please. >> Way to go Conger and way to go for this. article cuz it really is incredibly well. done especially for something she. probably wrote in a day maybe a day and. a half you know. >> crank these out. >> Yeah, we did. Um, so the whole story starts in 1993. That's where where Conger put it and I. think that was the right place the right. way to go. Uh, out on the Gulf of Mexico. there's a guy named Jerry Murphy who was. a fisherman there and he was a he was.

trawling in the Gulf of Mexico and when. he brought the net up there was some. debris in it. He just assumed were rocks. at first but I guess he took a closer. look and were like. those are silver coins that are fused. together because they've been underwater. for so long. Hot damn. >> That's right. So, he did what anyone. would do. He got in touch with an. attorney. He said, "Can I keep this stuff?". Uh, and then he contacted uh history. experts and said, "Where did these.

things come from?". >> Mhm. >> And then about a year after that, they. finally said, "Hey, dude, do you know. what this is? This is from the ruins of. the El Cazador, uh, or the hunter. And this is a a ship. that disappeared in 1784, uh, after it set out from, uh, Veracruz, Mexico with 19 tons of Spanish currency, which was, uh, silver reals at the time. >> Yeah. Um, they were newly minted, even. There was apparently a mint in Mexico, and they were headed to New Orleans.

And at the time, you're like, "Well, why. why does Spain care about New Orleans?". Spain cared about New Orleans because. that was the capital of the Louisiana. colony owned by Spain at the time. Sure, you thought it was France? No, there was. a period where Spain owned Louisiana, and that was during this time. And the. reason they sent 19 tons of silver coins. to New Orleans was because New Orleans'. currency had recently become devalued. There was a lot of counterfeiting going.

on. There was a lack of hard currency. around. So, they were bringing this hard. currency to pay the soldiers, to pay. government officials, um, and it went. down. It I can't imagine being, uh, King. Carlos II and being like, "Are you. kidding me? We lost 19 tons of silver. coins forever.". >> Yeah. And so, King Carlos is like, I imagine face palmed and said, "Oh God, is this, like, is Louisiana even worth.

all this, you guys?". >> He said, "I hate Mondays.". >> [laughter]. >> He did. He and Garfield. Uh, it was it's. so far away. We lost all this money. We. just won it from the French a couple of. decades ago. Like, do we really want to. be in the Louisiana business anymore? Uh, and so, well, we should back up a little and. just explain who he was. He was a cousin. to King Louis the 15th of France. I said 25th, just a little behind the. scenes there. Josh corrected me. >> It was awesome.

>> Uh in 1762, Louis ceded the Louisiana. territory to Carlos uh with a treaty of. Fontainebleau. >> Nice. >> And it wasn't because they were family. It was. um. basically he he wanted to keep uh. Louisiana out of the hands of the Brits. >> Right. Better in the hands of a cousin. that's ruling another country than in. the Brits who he has no friends with, you know? So, now uh. Louisiana and New Orleans is under um.

Spanish rule, and it was actually a. pretty smart move because after the. Seven Years' War ended, um King Louis. had to cede all of the Louisiana. territory east of the Mississippi to the. Brits as part of the treaty, except New Orleans. And the reason New. Orleans is such a plum was because if. you wanted to move goods from one place. to another, there were no railroads. There were no stagecoaches. You did it. on the river. And the Mississippi in particular was a. very uh valuable river cuz it went from.

the top of the continent to the bottom. And with when you got your stuff down in. New Orleans, you could prepare for. sea-going ship, put your goods on that, and now from the Gulf of Mexico, you can. take that stuff and sell it anywhere in. the world. >> That's right. Another reason New Orleans. is a plum. is because it's New Orleans. >> It's just sure. >> One of the great American cities. Man, I. love New Orleans. I love that city. It's. it's been too long. I need to get back. there. >> It is. It's a cool city. It's it's. almost like it's got its own vibe, you.

know? Like there's no other place like. it. >> No other place like it, and one of the. friendliest like. if you're open to life and you go to New. Orleans, there's a 50% chance you're. going to end up in a stranger's home. like eating dinner with them or. something. >> 50% huh? >> 50%. >> Those are high odds. >> Uh all right, speaking of high, uh, maybe we should take a break. And we'll be right back after this. >> [music].

[music]. [music]. >> All right. So, New Orleans is there. Uh, it's a it's a very hot shipping port. Um, that's one of the pros, for sure. Uh, one of the downsides is is tons of. mosquitoes, meaning a lot of yellow.

fever, a lot of smallpox. Uh, but it was. great real estate, uh, obviously, you. know, with that port right there. So, around that time, uh, because of this, France starts looking back at New. Orleans. And Napoleon is in power by this point, 1799, and he was like, "Man, I really. want to get into the West. And New. Orleans is pretty great, man. They got. the mouth of the Mississippi right. there. If I can control New Orleans, then that would be really great for my.

interests on that side of the world.". >> Right. So, he goes back to Spain and. he's like, "Hey, I would love the. Louisiana territory back. What do you. say I give your son-in-law the throne of. Tuscany, right? And you give me back the. Louisiana territory." And so, Napoleon. and the King of Spain uh, came up with the Treaty of San. Ildefonso, which in English is the. Treaty of Saint Fonzie. And France suddenly had the Louisiana.

territory again. >> That's right. But, around the same time, uh, there was some, um, in French-owned. Hispaniola, which was, uh, Haiti and the. Dominican Republic is what we would call. it today. They were like they were farming sugar. and coffee and tropical produce. So that. was all great for. you know, for the French and for. Napoleon. Getting New Orleans would mean. you could trade that stuff much easier. >> Right. >> Or much more easily. And so he was like. this is all going to come together.

However, the enslaved people there had other. ideas and they led what is the only like. really successful slave revolt in. history. >> Yeah, the Haitian Rebellion led by. Toussaint Louverture. Which I I was like yes, that's going to. be an episode. >> Yeah, for sure. Put it on the list. >> Oh, good. >> But this is in Haiti, which at the time. was Saint-Domingue. Domingue? I don't. remember how to say it. Domingue? >> Yeah. >> Um and. Saint-Domingue was far and away the.

crown jewel of France's economic. holdings over in the West, right? In the. West Indies. And so. even if you had New Orleans, without the. the. country that was producing all the stuff. that you were going to take to New. Orleans and then ship around the world, you're just basically your whole Western. economic empire that that Napoleon was. going to build is just out the window. So he said, "You know what? I don't. think we really need Louisiana anymore.

The Brits are knocking at the door. again. We're going to have to fight. them. I'm sick of those guys. I need. some quick money. Let me see who wants. to buy the Louisiana territory." And in. walked Thomas Jefferson reading a Bible. that he edited himself. >> That's right. And Napoleon was like, "I. turns out I also hate Mondays.". And Thomas Jefferson said, "You know what? I love Mondays. And I love Louisiana. And I love New. Orleans. So TJ comes in is like, "I. don't want to fight with you guys.

So why don't we just see if we can work. this out in in a friendly way." So he He. James Monroe down there to the French. government, to buy just New Orleans. at this point for like 3 million bucks. He's like, that's as high as I'll go. >> Not a penny more. I'm not going to pay a. lot for this territory. >> That's right. >> So, so Monroe goes and talks to Napoleon and. is like, what do you think? And Napoleon. goes, how about this? Here's my counter offer. You have to buy.

all of the Louisiana territory and James. Monroe dropped his teacup. Luckily, there's somebody there to catch it. before it shattered on the floor. >> Uh-huh. >> He said, for 15 million dollars. And James Monroe did the math real quick. in his head and he's like, that's less. than 4 cents an acre. And he said, sold. >> He said, sold. Uh, yeah. So, he signed over to. Jefferson and you know, of course we did. a whole episode on the Louisiana. Purchase. >> That was a good one.

>> Yeah, the the nitty-gritty details. >> Mhm. >> Uh, but that basically doubled the size. of the country. Uh, and then, you know, if when I looked at this article and and. I might title it this too. Like, how did. a shipwreck. double the size of the United States? At the end of my first read through, I. was like, but wait, how did that happen. again? I guess the idea is, had that shipwreck. never happened, Spain would have been. able to deliver their silver and maybe. would have stayed in the Louis Louisiana. business. >> Exactly. >> Okay.

>> Yeah. >> So, I got it. >> Yeah, we you did. And I feel like we did. we did Congress article some justice. >> I hope so. Like I said, it was a really. great article and Kristen's awesome. >> Yep. It It was kind of one of our. drunk history style short stuffs. >> That's right. Except we're not [music]. drinking cuz it's. 2:15. >> Yep. Uh, [music] on a Thursday even. >> That's right. >> At any rate, I think short stuffs out, guys. >> [music].

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