What did Americans think of Napoleon Bonaparte while he was in power?

by coffeelabor
deserving_of_gold

Americans in general? That's difficult to say, there were no Gallup polls, obviously. The revolutionary leaders, it seemed, were generally in favour of the revolution (caused it followed theirs) but not Bonaparte himself. Thomas Paine was in France at the time of the French revolution but voted against beheading the royal family and eventually left before most of the Napoleonic saga because he didn't like the direction the French were taking.

Napoleon himself did a pretty good job of alienating the US, who didn't want too much involvement in European politics anyways. The XYZ affair led to the Quasi-War between the US and France in which Napoleon was a commander, not the leader though. He sold the Lousiana Purchase to the US, but history doesn't have a whole lot more to say about Franco-American relations that I know of after the Convention of 1800. I'm sure Napoleon was plenty busy with Europe during his time in power to concern himself with a fledgling nation.

EDIT: The wikipedia article I found on Franco-American relations has a brief section on Napoleon and the US, but it isn't much. It's not very well written. Hope that kind of answers it.

mikemcg

If I can, I'd like to jump in and ask the question more broadly and follow up by asking what the reactions to his wars was.

adamanything

Well, I cannot offer an explanation as to what the general population thought of Napoleon, but here is what Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote about him, and while literary or critical sources may not be the best for this type of "opinion poll" question, it might give you some idea of the general perception of Bonaparte, at least in Emerson's opinion.

Searocksandtrees

hi! there is some additional information in FAQ section Napoleon: opinions/assessment of, specifically this post:

What was the American opinion of Napoleon and the Napoleonic Wars?