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Jefferson's Decision To Purchase The Louisiana Territory

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The Louisiana Purchase was one of the largest land deals in history. In 1803, the United States paid approximately $15 million dollars for over 800,000 square miles of land from the French who originally owned it. This land deal was one of the greatest achievements of Thomas Jefferson 's presidency because it more than doubled the size of the United States at a time when the nation 's population growth began to quicken.
Jefferson’s decision to buy the Louisiana Territory doubled the size of the U.S., and its borders went from the Atlantic Ocean merged to the Rocky Mountains, north to Canada, and south to the boundary with Spanish Florida. This gave the U.S. complete control of the Mississippi River as previously France had rights to the …show more content…

boundaries, but it also forced migration of the Native Americans and the people of the lands made the natives get kicked out without a say because of the new land people started coming in and pushing the people out. This was a big problem to the natives because they had nowhere to go.

Fourth, Jefferson’s decision to buy the Louisiana Territory impacted trade by helping to secure the port of New Orleans and the use of the Mississippi river for us and helped/expanded westward trade.

Fifth, Jefferson’s decision to buy the Louisiana Territory impacted economics by gaining western half of richest river valley, laid foundations for future major powers, supported Jefferson’s idea for a “great agrarian society” (democratic republican / anti-federalist party goal), by establishing precedents for future expansion: the acquisition of foreign territory and peoples by purchase and their incorporation into the union not as vassal states but on a basis of equal membership (democratic imperialism), getting complete control of Mississippi River and Delta, and getting natural

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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.

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When purchasing the Louisiana Territory, President Jefferson faced the risk of being prosecuted for violation of the Constitution, which was different from Hamilton’s creation of a national bank because it was illegal. To begin, after the French acquired the Louisiana Territory 1802, Jefferson worried that the French would no longer allow American farmers passage on the Mississippi River or the right to trade at New Orleans, so he sent Robert Livingston to France to negotiate to purchase New Orleans. When Livingston arrived, he was surprised by France’s offer to sell the US the entire Louisiana Territory for just 15 million dollars. Livingston knew he was not authorized to purchase the territory but he also knew that if he waited to ask Congress, the deal might be gone already, so he purchased the territory.

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Jefferson along with many of Americans wanted the expedition to start so he tried many times and made many sacrifices for it to be started. Thomas and Jefferson had tried many times to get the journey started to explore westward but everyone he sent before Lewis and Clark had died so he did not want to start another expedition but America needed to expand and needed the resources that could have been westward so he allowed Lewis to start the expedition. The north and the south had different views of what the new land westward could be used for, the majority of the south said, “They looked to west for new and cheaper lands, especially in the rich virgin soil beyond the mountains.” and the north also said, “western empire could serve as a vast reservation for the Indians displaced from the east of the river. There they could learn to farm and become civilized, so that they could be incorporated into the body of the politic.”

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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.

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Also, with the control of the Mississippi river we could now have stronger trade and be able to use the Mississippi river for different things. This evidence supports that it was a very smart move that the United States decided to make the Louisiana Purchase with France. To conclude, the Louisiana Purchase was a very smart move by the United States because this allowed many positive thing to happen. First, it allowed the western country to have peace and prosperity mainly with the Indians and opened a free and valuable market. Second, it doubled the size of the United States making it a bigger and stronger nation.

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north of north of the Arkansas River. He argued that would serve as crucial buffer between French Louisiana and British Canada. Many Americans opposed the Louisiana Purchase. Both houses of congress worried that the Louisiana Purchase would reduce clout. Only one federalist supported the Louisiana Purchase treaty which was passed by a vote of 24 to 7.

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One positive aspect of acquiring land was the advantages from Louisiana Purchase. In 1803, Thomas Jefferson purchased the Louisiana territory from France. Lewis and Clark described the land they saw and told Jefferson details about the interactions with the Indians, the landscape, and the creatures of the western world. Maps Clark made throughout the journey were later used to navigate the new terrioty. (Doc A)

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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

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After the Civil War ended many people were in hope of finding land since population was increasing. Since the West was underdeveloped and uncivilized, many decided to expand the land. First the Louisiana Purchase increased the opportunity of expansion. Then industrialization and the Homestead Act also caused many companies encouraged to move West due to the low cost of land and that the transportation was provided through the railroads. In order to complete such goals, something had to be done with the Natives since it conflicted with their home area.

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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.

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