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Thomas Jefferson And The Louisiana Purchase

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Thomas Jefferson believed that the Constitution should be interpreted strictly, but his actions with the Louisiana Purchase showed him to be a hypocrite. The same man who argued that only Congress had the power to enter into treaties decided to enter into a treaty with France on his own, without the consent of Congress. Jefferson was a strong supporter of limited federal government. He warned, “To take a single step beyond these boundaries [of the Tenth Amendment], is to take possession of a boundless field of power.” Yet this man, when he had the opportunity, abused his power to purchase the territory from France. The Louisiana Purchase was a large area of land that the French Empire had originally claimed from the native population.
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The Federalists opposed the Louisiana Purchase for many practical reasons and not for practical reasons. The document, A said that Federalists thought that American Indians in the area could cause problems and kill some colonists moving into the area. Document A said that the Federalists suspected new states formed in the Louisiana Territory would be Republican. Document A said that the Federalists thought that probably no one would settle there so the land purchased would be useless. Document A said that they(the Federalists) feared that the new national government would be too powerful and thus put at risk individual liberties.

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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 .

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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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In the era before the Civil War America was expanding westward. The Louisiana Purchase and other lands gained help to give America new land to expand on, but this leaded to issues with the division of free and slave states. As Missouri became a state they wanted to become a slave state, which caused trouble. In order to keep equilibrium between the states, Congress came up with the Missouri Compromise of 1820.The Missouri Compromise made Missouri a slave state and Maine a free state. The Treaty also made a line within the Louisiana Territory to keep slavery from moving up the

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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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I believe that Thomas Jefferson did the right thing even though he might have thought it went against the constitution. I also believe that if an offer comes up that you cannot refuse then you need to take it no matter what the consequences. The rest will work its self out. In 1803, Thomas Jefferson took the offer and bought the Louisiana

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818 Words | 4 Pages

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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I agree that Jefferson feared all southern states would be at Napoleon’s mercy if he settled in New Orleans. However, Napoleon’s intentions of the New World backfired as yellow fever, other diseases, and rebels revolting assisted in Napoleons decision to cut his losses. Furthermore, I also want to add that another reason the Louisiana Purchase came about was because Jefferson envisioned a country large enough for all descendants and felt the land of America allowed this, but Jefferson realized the nation’s current condition was too small. Therefore, he knew if he could somehow acquire rights to the land west of the Mississippi, it would provide people with enough land to prosper forever.

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Also, powers that aren’t authorized to the United States in the Constitution, constrained by it to the States, are subsequently for the people or the States. Since the power of buying land isn’t directly admitted to the Federal Government in the Constitution, the tenth amendment states that the Federal Government doesn’t have the power to purchase land. Jefferson also believed that the Federal government shouldn’t spend money if they did not have it, and the Louisiana Purchase very much contributed to the insufficiency. Thus violating at his own risk, he purchased Louisiana

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The United States purchased the Louisiana Territory in 1803. It had 828,000 square miles and most of the inhabitants in the region had a French, German, or Spanish background. The residents of the territory believed they would immediately be admitted to statehood and would have the same rights as those in the 1787 Northwest Ordinance, but the United States leaders thought otherwise. How did the Louisiana Purchase help the United States form a new notion about citizenship? The Louisiana Purchase helped the United States form a new notion when discussing the legality of the territory and how they would achieve statehood.

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I agree with the view that the Louisiana Purchase of 1803 contradicts Jefferson’s stance on not granting the federal government too much power because in fact, the purchase of this vast territory by the government did give federal authorities more power than was acceptable to the people. Additionally, purchasing new land was not stated in the Constitution; therefore, government did not have the right to take this course of action. As stated in “Jeffersonian Ideology” from Jefferson’s point of view: “Limiting the federal government flowed from his strict interpretation of the Constitution.” Jefferson had always been known to make strict interpretations of the federal government’s powers, but because of his desire to acquire new land in the

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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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928 Words | 4 Pages

The Louisiana Purchase was land that was bought by America from France. By purchasing this land it opened new opportunities for faster trade and more land that they could use to colonize. The two famous explorers that were able to discover and chart new routes that could be used. For example on one of their journeys they were able to find an overland route that would get them through the mountain range. Drafted and put into act by the U.S president Thomas Jefferson and Secretary of State James Madison the Embargo Act of 1807 would control the trade in and out of the U.S. “during the continuance of the, act laying an embargo on all ships and vessels in the ports and harbors of the United States (Embargo Act 1807).”

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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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685 Words | 3 Pages

The Louisiana Purchase The Louisiana Purchase was a major purchase for the United States in 1803 in which the United States acquired approximately 827,000 square miles of land West of Mississippi River for $15 million dollars. When Jefferson became president in 1801, Louisiana Vast territory included the most important port of New Orleans which was the mainly used for shipping in the south. The western expansion by United States was hindered by the loss of rights to the Mississippi River and the port of New Orleans which in this case threatened the American economy as a whole. Louisiana was first given to Spain by France in 1963, but due to the circumstances that succumbed Spain, it had to return the Louisiana land to France.

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