Thomas Jefferson's Purchase Of The Louisiana Territory

Thomas Jefferson’s first term as President of the United States have been considered free of excitement, except for the addition of the Louisiana Territory. The Louisiana Territory was a large area of unexplored land through the Mississippi River. At the end of the Mississippi River lies the port of New Orleans. Whoever controls New Orleans, rules the Mississippi, and holds North America. Owning this part of the land would be crucial for the United States because it would give American farmers the ability to use the New Orleans port tax-free. The French got control of the Louisiana Territory by forcing Spain to hand it over to them with force. Napoleon Bonaparte, the political leader of France, wants to get rid of the Louisiana Territory because

Jefferson is known for thinking about the people of his state first, but by purchasing the Louisiana Territory, he goes against the good for the country. Jefferson only wanted to help the people of the Democratic-Republicans and excluded the Federalists. The first reason why I think the purchase of the Louisiana Territory was not a wise decision is because of the finances that the United States had at the time. Another reason is that buying the foreign land, it went against the Constitution. Finally, it will cause further tension between the Federalists and the

However, I do agree that more land for farming and controlling the New Orleans are both positive effects for the United States. By adding these two attributes, the nation becomes stronger, but now it is even more likely for European countries to attack. For example, Great Britain and France will both want power in North America and will fight over the western land. The United States have not built up a strong reputation for a strong military, so they might get tested to defend their land. Also, the United States is a threat to the Native Americans and Spain because of their growing size. Going back to my position on the Louisiana Territory purchase, paying 15 million dollars during the time in which the United States was already in severe debt, because of not enforcing taxes and going into war, was a poor decision to do so. But in order for the deal to go through, Jefferson would have to go against the constitution. Nowhere in the constitution does it say that a president could purchase foreign land. Jefferson is seen as a hypocrite because a few years before, he went after Alexander Hamilton's national bank proposal because Jefferson said that nowhere in the constitution did it say that you could create a national bank. The decision to purchase of Louisiana was unconstitutional. Furthermore, Jefferson said that if the