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Leading up to the louisiana purchase
Leading up to the louisiana purchase
Leading up to the louisiana purchase
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President Thomas Jefferson in 1804 elected as president. One day, he discovers that the French were selling the Louisiana Territory to Spain, he takes advantage of this and buys it instead, thus making the Louisiana Purchase to extend the U.S. two times its original size and to gain control of New Orleans Mississippi River. After the purchase, the Lewis & Clark Expedition was formed to discover more about the Louisiana Territory in which the Native Americans had dwelled. Lewis & Clark were respectful to the Native Americans they encountered during their expedition because they had to prevent future quarrels. Lewis and Clark were mostly friendly to the Native Americans due to a request from Thomas Jefferson himself to be kind to them.
The Louisiana Purchase The Louisiana Purchase was land in North America owned by the French and bought by the United States. Thomas Jefferson the current president in 1803 along with other U.S. ministers, negotiated with France for the purchase of the Louisiana territory. Not everyone agreed with the purchase since the U.S. was already in national debt; yet the buying of the Louisiana territory had more pros than cons. Once the territory joined the U.S., it would expand the USA land by twice its original size.
The 1803 Louisiana Purchase contributed to a greater sense of independence and nationhood in America because it granted America control of a vast amount of land, therefore, showing that it was becoming a world power. Once Spain ceded it to France, America bought it for fifteen million dollars. This meant that they had control of the navigation on the Mississippi River and access to the Gulf of Mexico. They were therefore able to navigate the Great Lakes and the Northeast to New Orleans without having to have another country’s permission to use the ports. The land purchased nearly doubled the size of the United States, providing more room and contributing to Jefferson’s view of an agrarian society.
In Document A: Alexander Hamilton, it states, “The purchase of New Orleans is essential to the peace and prosperity of out Western country, and opens a free and valuable market to our commercial states.” This means that if it wasn’t for the Louisiana Purchase that the United States wouldn’t be a
Thomas Jefferson during his time in office faced many challenges with the new country. One major challenge and one of the biggest accomplishments during his presidency was the Louisiana Purchase. This turned out to be a huge issue for Jefferson because of the ordeals and the way he wanted to run the government. This was a major conflict in interest for Jefferson because he was a strict constitutionalist and followed it word for word. In the end what he did was completely overstep his powers as president doing what he feared would happen by purchasing the Louisiana territory without any approval from congress for 15 million dollars.
Without the Louisiana Purchase, many major factors contributing to the growth of the U.S. would most likely never have happened, and it would still be a small, minor country rather than a major world power. “Americans might turn their eyes southward and create states out of Cuba, Central America, or even Latin America… The Civil War may even be avoided altogether with slavery being phased out in the late 19th century”(6). Most likely, the United States would press to find land in other areas, but none of them would be as beneficial and necessary as the Louisiana Purchase. Even without it, Jefferson would “Attempt to seize New Orleans, but if the French have a secure base to send troops to Louisiana to, it could get ugly for the U.S.”(7).
Napoleon fails to take back control of Santo Domingo, and as a result he no longer requires any of the land in Louisiana. On a whim, he sells the entire territory to America for $15,000,000. Napoleon withdrew French influence in the Americas to fight the war in Europe, and the British also had minimal political influence in the Americas. Spain lost most of it’s colonial power in the Americas, and was irritated at the purchase, because of the large amount of power it gave the United States.
Because, this purchase from France helped to magnify the nation by essentially doubling the size of it. However, Jefferson faced a serious problem against his own moral principal pertaining to the Louisiana Purchase because as someone who highly opposed of the federal government using their power over the common man by spending the nation’s money. Because the purchase of property such as land from a foreign government was not within the constitution, and to Jefferson the federal government’s rights were based on the words written within the constitution. Through this purchase he would be using his own presidency power going against the limits of what the federal governments rights according to the Constitution. Which to Jefferson was unconstitutional, his justification towards his decision to draft a treaty for the purchase against his moral principal was the reality that if not purchased then and there.
As much advantages that President Jefferson had with the Louisiana Purchase there was as much disadvantages. How did the Louisiana Purchase come about first? That’s what we all need to talk about so we know how it started? Well in 1802 a Spanish administrator in New Orleans did not allow Americans crop farmers to deposit crops from the port of New Orleans. So when that came to be known from all the farmers they believed it came from Napoleon.
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.
With the end of John Quincy Adams’ presidency came the end of the Virginia Dynasty of Presidents (meaning that all the previous presidents were originally from the state of Virginia). When the presidential election of 1830 had come around it seemed that another president would come about, but a man of the common man had come who would expand the United States and its borders beyond what they already were. This man was Mr. Andrew Jackson, the hero of the battle at New Orleans during the War of 1812. When Jackson had assumed the presidency he was faced with a momentous challenge. That being the United States was in current need of more land...
New Orleans was a port that controlled most of the economy of the US this port was found in the Louisiana Territory so Americans were talking about a future war was coming. Instead of a war, Jefferson sent James Monroe to France to help the American minister Robert Livingston in negotiating New Orleans, they got astonish when they discover that France was selling all 820,000 square miles to the United States for $15 million(4 cent the acre).Monroe signed the treaty and brought territory and peace to the nation, the thing was that this purchase from the Republicans was legally questionable, this was not in the constitution and their strict constructionism wouldn’t allowed, still Jefferson acquired
The Louisiana Purchase The Louisiana purchase was one of the biggest land purchases in history. In 1803, the United States paid around $15 million dollars for around 800,000 square miles of land. This was arguably the greatest achievement of thomas jefferson’s presidency. The louisiana territory was a wild card in the european game of imperialism.
In America’s history there have been many events or times that have in a way changed and shaped how we live today. The Louisiana Purchase could be recognized as one of the best and most impressive real estate purchases of Thomas Jefferson’s past. Also, this purchase could be looked at as one of the most important events in America’s past. Many historians would agree on this, but many opinions would be different on the fact if this purchase was actually worth the buy or not. Even Jefferson himself would have some doubts about the purchase.
The Louisiana Purchase Treaty was signed on April 30, 1803, in Paris, France, during Thomas Jefferson’s presidency. It was a significant milestone in our history and set a precedent for future generations. While people were not convinced that this was a good idea and felt it would be a waste of money, Jefferson envisioned more freedom from foreign superpowers, more land to farm, and unrestricted access to the Mississippi River which was controlled by the more-powerful France. Acquiring the Port of New Orleans and the Floridas from France was the biggest and most important real estate deal in history. It gave people opportunities to settle into unsettled territory, strengthened our nation and paved the way for future land purchases.
