Thomas Jefferson's Contribution Of The Mississippi River To France

In the 1760’s, Spain granted the territory west of the Mississippi River to France. This was a success for France because this territory held the powerhouse of trading along the river. New Orleans, the key city, and Louisiana rested in this territory. France began to take the United States permission to use the river for trading. This was a huge drawback for the U.S. because goods would be floated to New Orleans along the river and then shipped overseas. Thomas Jefferson knew he must gain control over the territory before France completely took over. “Jefferson in January 1803 recommended that James Monroe join Livingston in Paris as minister extraordinary” (Monticello.org). He asked Congress to fund this exploration that later came to be known as The Lewis and Clark Expedition. The

This included approximately 827,000 square miles of land, which doubled the current size of the United Sates at the time. The treaty was ratified by October 1803, which solidified the agreement. At this time, the importance of having access to the Mississippi river was tremendous. The river could float goods to New Orleans so that they can be shipped to countries overseas. By France having this territory, that gave them control over a key part of the new world. If the United States would have never gained this territory, everything could be different now. Some say that Jefferson overstepped his constitutional authority as president. The Constitution did not grant presidents to buy and add land to the United State, but it did not say they couldn’t either. Jefferson was known for being overly strict when it came to people following the Constitution. When people found out he was making this deal to buy the Louisiana territory, they viewed him as a hypocrite. Many of those in the Federalist party (the opposing party to Jefferson’s Democratic-Republicans) believed that he would have objected on Constitutional