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What difficulty did Jefferson face in purchasing the Louisiana Territory? the constitutionality of his actions
Louisiana purchase historical circumstance
What difficulty did Jefferson face in purchasing the Louisiana Territory? the constitutionality of his actions
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Our third president of the United States, Thomas Jefferson, had great intentions when he was elected into the presidency. The actions that took place during his eight years in office reflect the principles that Jefferson believed in, and that is what he wanted to achieve. One of Jefferson’s beliefs was having an agricultural-based economy and life, rather than commerce and federal power. “He believed a person who owned a farm and worked the land would be economically independent, and that independence would develop and preserve wisdom, self-control, courage, and fortitude.
Thomas Jefferson has also done and changed the country during his presidency. One commodity changed of the country, and possibly the largest, was Thomas Jefferson’s Louisiana Purchase. The Louisiana Purchase was an outstanding change to the country, this is because it nearly doubled the size of the United States. This also encouraged independence and agrarianism because with the immense amount of new land supposedly every man could have a small farm. The purchase allowed men to become more independent because they could grow their own crop and be self sustaining.
Dear. Editor I think that the United States, Thomas Jefferson and congress should buy the Louisiana territory because it would double the u.s in size and give us more opportunities like getting goods shipped to us from different countries. I have a few reasons why this would be a good idea one is that if they buy it, it will give us the whole territory, the New Orleans port and the Mississippi River and that is good because we will be able to get many different goods sent to us and that can help us a lot. It is a good idea because the land only coast 4 cents per Acre and it only coast $15 million for all of it and it comes with the Mississippi river and we .
The Louisiana Purchase was the purchase of the Louisiana territory by the United States from France in 1803. The U.S. paid fifty million dollars and a cancellation of debts worth eighteen million dollars which averages to less than three cents per acre. The Louisiana territory included land from fifteen present U.S. states and two Canadian provinces. The territory contained land that forms Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Nebraska, portions of Minnesota, large portions of North Dakota; large portions of South Dakota, parts of New Mexico, the northern portion of Texas, the area of Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado. The Louisiana Purchase was smart move by the United States.
In another letter Jefferson sends to John C. Breckinridge on 12 August 1803 clearly states that he was fully aware that he used the Executive powers casting the Legislature behind. Again in his words “it is a case of a guardian investing the money of his ward in purchasing an important adjacent territory and saying to him when of age, I did this for your good”. Jefferson fully agrees that he has crossed his line but at the same time recapitulates that “their act will confirm and not weaken the Constitution”.
Thomas Jefferson during the 1790’s-1800’s while working with federalists Alexander Hamilton, his viewpoints were different. During the 1790’s Jefferson was known to be in the democratic-republican party where he progresses an ideal structure of equivalencies between money and weight standards with the American/Spanish currency. Jefferson took charge of the republicans after a conflict created two parties, republican-democratic and the federalist, who empathized with the revolutionary cause in France. While attacking the federalist policies, Jefferson opposed a strong centralized government and granted the rights of states. While Jefferson was in presidency, he cut down on the Army and Navy expenditures, cut the U.S. budget, eliminated the tax
He was a strong believer in states' rights and thought that rights not explicitly stated in the Constitution should be given to the states. However, in writing the Constitution, there was no way to predict that a deal such as the Louisiana Purchase would ever be possible. Therefore, the power to purchase land from another government, thereby expanding the size of the United States, was never explicitly given to the federal government. Although Thomas Jefferson realized what a deal the Louisiana Purchase was, he had lots of moral doubts about completing the
The Louisiana Purchase was an agreement between the France and the US that involved giving the Louisiana Territory. This cost the US for $15 million dollars. The Federalists opposed this purchase that Thomas Jefferson made. The Federalists believed that the purchase of this territory would weaken their country and central government. Also, they felt that this decision to buy this territory was not very smart.
While the supporters of Thomas Jefferson believe that buying foreign land was necessary, those who are against him feel that what he did was unconstitutional. In the source, “Thomas Jefferson to John Breckinridge, 12 August 1803”, the text explains that what Jefferson did was allowed, as it had not mentioned that he couldn’t in the constitution. This controversy is huge, because some people believe that he did not have the right to do so. Jefferson made a point that it wasn’t mentioned in the constitution, so he decided to ratify it and pay for it. Some believe congress did not have the right to authorize this decision.
During the Jeffersonian Era, Thomas Jefferson declared that all Americans were Federalists, and Republicans which he claimed that Americans were diverse once he became president. John Marshall, who was Jefferson’s cousin strengthened the government. Through Marbury v. Madison in 1803 where he suggested that the Supreme Court should have judicial review which strengthened perspectives on whether a case was constitutional or not. For the McCulloch v. Maryland case, Marshall gave power of “loose construction” to interpret the constitution in court. Around 1811, Indians were also coexisting with the Americans, the Americans wanted all the land to themselves without having Indians on it so a war in 1812 was initiated which also demonstrated America’s
Jefferson’s dilemma in the Louisiana Purchase In April of 1803 Thomas Jefferson was faced with many moral dilemmas in the process of buying the Louisiana territory. Though the price for the territory was beyond generous, Jefferson felt that by purchasing the territory he would be going against his beliefs that the constitution should be followed word for word. The constitution said nothing of the president having the power to purchase land from another government, or to use money of the states for the same purpose (“the moral dilemma”). Another problem was once the land was purchased, there was a fear that it could have been a waste since they had no way to know the layout of the land, and what it would be useful for.
Thomas Jefferson faced a moral dilemma and had to contemplate many factors when deciding whether to execute the deal for the expansion of the newly formed country by the Louisiana Purchase. These factors include the cost of buying into the Louisiana Purchase and associated debt, funding a foreign country overseen by a dictator, and differing opinions and concerns from the American people about the potential purchase. The payment for the land that Thomas Jefferson purchased from France was an important part of his moral dilemma. Jefferson pondered whether the purchase of the Louisiana Territory was worth the risks it would bring to the people and the government or if it was too much to handle being a newly formed country that has not established
He believed that this deal was a necessity due to the fact that Spain and France had recently signed a clandestine treaty relinquishing Louisiana to France. This caused a latent threat to the United States and would indefinitely lead to a war if not handled immediately. One of the biggest ideas that Thomas Jefferson advocated was a diligent coherence with the Constitution itself. By proposing the idea of following through with the purchase, he was blatantly ignoring the fact that nowhere in the constitution did it allow for immediate procurements of any new land.
The Federalists obviously opposed the Louisiana Purchase for political reasons, not practical because they hated Thomas Jefferson. "I am disgusted with the men who now rule us. The coward at the head [Jefferson] is like a French Revolutionary," (Pickering, 1803) stated Timothy Pickering in a letter to Rufus King. This shows, clearly, that federalists only care about opposing Thomas Jefferson, not opposing the Louisiana Purchase. Most federalists, although some had very good reasons for opposing the constitution, only cared about hatred for Mr. Jefferson and with that hatred for all of his ideas.
It has come to my attention that there are a few disagreements over the issues concerning the event of the Louisiana Purchase. Whether the purchase was legal or not is one of them. The terms of the U.S. Constitution do not exactly define if the purchase was legal or not. In my opinion, the Louisiana Purchase, under the terms of the Constitution, is in fact illegal, due to various reasons. Doubling the size of our country, said purchase was definitely beneficial, but it was not legal.
