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Why did the British send Napoleon I to St. Helena instead of allowing him to go to the United States?

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Jacques-Louis David: The Emperor Napoleon in His Study at the Tuileries — Napoleon I *The Emperor Napoleon in His Study at the Tuileries*, oil on canvas by Jacques-Louis David, 1812; in the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

After Napoleon I abdicated for the second time in 1815, he attempted to flee to the United States, but his plans were thwarted by a British naval blockade at the port of Rochefort.12

The British government and its allies were determined to prevent a repeat of his earlier escape from Elba, which had led to the conflict of the Hundred Days. They rejected the idea of allowing him to go to America, as they viewed him as a persistent threat to European stability. While some allies might have preferred that he be executed or fall victim to counterrevolutionary violence, the British government ultimately chose to send him to St. Helena, a remote island in the South Atlantic. Its extreme isolation ensured that Napoleon would be unable to return to power, providing the security the allied powers demanded.1324