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Louisiana Purchase Essay

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During Thomas Jefferson’s presidency, the Louisiana Purchase became one of the most important events during the time according to World Book. The purchase not only heightened the amount of economic resources, but it also doubled the size of the U.S. Many different events led up to the 15 million dollar purchase of the Louisiana territory. As stated in American History, we are all still uncertain if the U.S had demonstrated signs of wanting to purchase the territory or if France proposed to sell the land to the United States. But as soon as Jefferson started his political career, he began to become more and more interested in learning more about the uncovered lands that lied West of the Mississippi River. Problems with his plans of this emerged …show more content…

Senate. With a slight problem of worry that the treaty may be illegitimate, Jefferson suggested that making changes to the constitution in order to make it lawful would be a good idea before he presented it for a vote. Members of Jefferson’s cabinet responded and urged that Napoleon “would not wait for the for the United States to ratify a constitutional amendment.” (Fact Cite) But in the end according to Fact Site again, “Jefferson decided that the Louisiana Territory had such great value for the United States that future generations of Americans would not quibble about the way he went about acquiring it.” On October 20, 1803, the treaty was agreed upon by the U.S. Senate and was signed. Though America was beyond happy when they had first came into possession with the Louisiana Territory, they didn’t really know that much about it and had only heard rumors. So Jefferson figured that holding an expedition to find out more information about the sweeping lands West of the Mississippi River would give everyone the information that they wanted. Following up with his plan, Thomas Jefferson presented his ideas for the expedition to Congress on January 18, 1803. He explained that his plans with this expedition could and would lead to many new advantages to many new things including more facts about the climate, the cultures of others who were once there, and many other things. The journey would

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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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Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr were nominated to run on the Republican side in the election of 1800. He had many fervent views on what he intended to change that, remaining true to his political party, were Republican in nature. However, many Americans still supported John Adams, the Federalist president antecedent to Jefferson, for another term, so Jefferson had to campaign well. To conclude months of working, Jefferson came out victorious after multiple ties, which was the event that inspired the twelfth amendment, stating electors had only one vote for president and another for vice president. This opposed the previous method in which they would cast two votes without specifying which position the candidate should take.

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This purchase would double the size of the US. This negotiation had to be ratified by end of October and was ratified on October 20 with a vote of 24 to 7. Spain gave Louisiana to France on November 30 and France transferred territory to Americans on December 30. During this purchase of the Louisiana Territory, Thomas Jefferson abandoned his political ideals to secure the purchase. One way Jefferson abandoned his political ideas was that the way he purchased the Louisiana territory was not listed in the Constitution.

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Prior to the Purchase of the Louisiana Territory, Thomas Jefferson was desired to explore the area to see if there was an all-water route to the Pacific Ocean and claim that land for the United States. The main goals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition was to map the region, collect information on new species, and to establish contact with the Native groups and make peace with them. In document 1, the map reveals that one goal of Lewis and Clark’s expedition was to find a waterway from the US to the Pacific Ocean. They did not find this route, but they did successfully navigate the Missouri River.

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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.

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Also, Jefferson completely ignored his original views when confronted with the purchase of the Louisiana Territory. The Louisiana Territory was a large mass of land acquired from France in 1803. Napoleon wanted to sell the land due to the fact that he no longer saw the possibility of a French Empire in North America, so he planned on selling it to the United States. Jefferson completely agreed to the purchase. However, many saw this as unconstitutional as the Constitution does not explicitly allow the government to purchase foreign

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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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One of the most influential decisions made in the history of The United States was the infamous Louisiana Purchase. The Louisiana Purchase was a deal made in 1803 between Napoleon, a French emperor and Thomas Jefferson, the current leader of America, in acquiring a whopping 825,000 square acres of land. This investment would double the amount of land and profit America would hold. 15 states were eventually created from the land deal and became one of the few greatest occurrences during Thomas Jefferson’s presidency. Although this opportunity seemed undeniably beneficial, many other citizens at the time, most often Federalists, exposed the numerous flaws that came with this transaction.

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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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Neglecting the fact that there is no article within the Constitution authorizing him to acquire land, Jefferson used Napoleon’s distraction (which was the conquest of Europe) to buy the Louisiana territory. It helped Napoleon to get rid of his New World worries. Napoleon compared this settlement to saying to your child when they are of age, “I did this for your good. I pretend to no right to bind you, you may disavow me, and I must get out of the scrape as I can. I thought it my duty to risk myself for you” which is a quote found in Document

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These factors include the cost of purchasing the land, not only in a the physical cost but also a mental state it place on the people of this new founded country. The fact that if Jefferson went through with the purchase of this new expansion territory he would be funding Napoleon Bonaparte, the French ruler who ruled in a dictatorial way, who needed the money to support his army as he tried to conquer England harming people in the process. Additionally, the opinions of his own people differed, all did not agree with the idea of the Louisiana Purchase, some people even believed it to be unconstitutional. Jefferson had to figure all of these factors in when he was making the decision on whether he was going to accept Napoleon ’s offer on the land within the Louisiana Territory or whether he had to much to risk within his

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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.

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The Louisiana Purchase was historic and significant event to the United States because, under President Thomas Jefferson, it basically added tremendous land opportunities to the colonists' farmers and provided property to many buyers. This moment in history was essential because the Jefferson saw it necessary to literally buyout France occupation of the territory. Jefferson knew that his presidency didn't limit his power to make such a huge achievement. "... Jefferson had to abandon his conviction that the federal government was limited to powers specifically mentioned in the Constitution, since the document said nothing about buying territory from a foreign power"(304). The Louisiana Purchase provided a new chance for total power through land.

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Often referred to as the greatest real estate deal in history, at least for the Americans, Jefferson purchased 828,000 square miles for $15 million. Historian Henry Adams wrote: “The annexation of Louisiana was an event so portentous as to defy measurement; it gave a new face to politics, and ranked in historical importance next to the Declaration of Independence and the adoption of the Constitution – events of which it was the logical outcome; but as a matter of diplomacy it was unparalleled, because it cost almost nothing.” (LehrmanInstitute.org) All of a sudden, Americans had oodles of unsettled land to be explored, expanded into and exploited for profit (this was the American perspective at the time.

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