ipl-logo

What Was The Louisiana Purchase

685 Words3 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.
New Orleans was becoming inaccessible, and in 1975 a treaty was founded which gave t the United States the rights to use the Mississippi River and deposit their goods in New Orleans for transfer to vessels crossing the ocean. This was achieved through a letter President Jefferson wrote Minister to France Robert Livingston. In this letter it gave the United States ground that it might be able to take some of Spain’s land possession because it was Vulnerable and weak. Because of the situation Spain was in, Spain’s ruler …show more content…

In 1803, President Jefferson Stroke a deal with James Monroe to join Robert Livingston in assisting in the negotiations. Jefferson writes Robert Livingstone, “…we must learn at once whether we can acquire New Orleans or not.” This negotiations that President Jefferson ordered were for the purchase of New Orleans, and or part of Florida, and if that was not possible, then they would have to purchase only New Orleans, and if that was too not possible, they would try and secure the United States access to the Mississippi River and the port of New Orleans. Acquisition was apparently difficult because of the more powerful Napoleon. He was targeting to retake victory in the continent when he took power in

Show More
Related
334 Words | 2 Pages

The Louisiana Purchase Dear Editor: I think that Thomas Jefferson and the United States Government should buy the port of New Orleans because they need the get the port so that we can trade and expand the United States. One of the vast reasons that we bought the hefty territory was that we wanted total control of the New Orleans port so we could further our trade. We wanted to be in total control of the port because they stopped our trade and we needed to import and export goods. Another reason was the we wanted the port so we could trade whenever and no one could stop out trade.

Read More
368 Words | 2 Pages

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.

Read More
1604 Words | 7 Pages

Have you ever wondered how we stumbled upon and acquired Florida? The fight over Florida extended across many decades and had many changes in who had control over it. The Adams-Onis Treaty (also called Transcontinental Treaty) settled the disputes. It was “Done at Washington, this day of February, One Thousand Eight hundred and Nineteen.” (sonsofdewittcolony.org).

Read More
662 Words | 3 Pages

The issue was with whether the purchase of the land was necessary and proper or if it fit in the guidelines of the tenth amendment. The President only has certain given powers and that includes executive orders, signing and vetoing legislation, war powers, and reprieves, and pardons. Although the purchase of Louisiana in 1803 seemed unconstitutional and was largely controversial with the federalist party, it was completely constitutional under the elastic clause and the implied powers that the executive branch of the federal government

Read More
818 Words | 4 Pages

It was obvious to Jefferson that there was a fundamental political dilemma in running on a platform that advocates for a lesser role in government only to increase it in the purchase of the Louisiana Territory. Jefferson now hesitated with his decision due to the political

Read More
733 Words | 3 Pages

They would ultimately lose the territory and whoever does purchase Louisiana could cause war and division among the nation. However, even though it was against his principal, buying this land from France was ultimately his greatest achievement by far as he not only provided the nation land but in doing so pushed its

Read More
171 Words | 1 Pages

When Thomas Jefferson was introduced on March of 1801, he received troubled relations with Barbary states, and the Ottoman Regencies of the Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli, and along with independent Morocco. The U.S. Had treaties with all four of them, but tension was high and rising. The American representatives in the region wanted an American Navy presence. They regularly, is less spoken, echoed the 1793 view of their worker in Lisbon, they said When we can appear in the Ports of the various Powers, or on the Coast, of the Barbary, with their ships of such force as to talk those nations that We are able to protect our trade, and to control them if necessary to keep faith with Us, then, and not before that, We may probably secure a big share

Read More
1205 Words | 5 Pages

, during Jackson’s presidency, “the federal government sold almost 50 million acres to the public out of the 88 million acres sold from 1820 to 1849” (Whaples 548). This shows just how much land Jackson granted his citizens within just 8 years, with his policy causing even more land to become available in years following his presidency. All this new land tremendously aided the American economy, as its agricultural production grew

Read More
1057 Words | 5 Pages

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.

Read More
1013 Words | 5 Pages

The Louisiana purchase happened when Thomas Jefferson was interested in New Orleans, which belonged to France at that time. New Orleans was a major seaport that was helpful to many American businesses and was helpful for trading. Louisiana was a huge piece of land that contained 828,000 square miles. France had owned this land up until the French and Indian War, when France had to give up this land to Spain and the rest of it’s remaining lands to Great Britain. When Spain ruled over the Louisiana territory, it did not affect the United States, however in 1799, Napoleon Bonaparte took power over France.

Read More
1494 Words | 6 Pages

He then ordered Congress to sort exactly two million dollars aside in case of unexpected raises in the price during the agreement. Even though the original plan was just to purchase West Florida and New Orleans, the moment that Monroe had arrived in France, First Consul Bonaparte had planned to sell all of the Louisiana area to the United States in attempt to get more than enough funds for his war to reconquer the land in Haiti. On April 12, 1803, the United States had purchased the entire Louisiana Territory (about 828,000 square miles) for fifteen million dollars. 3.5 million of which went to help settle the remaining of America’s claims and debt from the Quasi War with France. This purchase not only granted the United States more land to expand too, but also the citizenship rights to the inhabitants of the land, the right to more French trading rights, as well as the right to acknowledge the Indian rights, which the natives rightfully deserved.

Read More
186 Words | 1 Pages

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.

Read More
465 Words | 2 Pages

Not only did Monroe succeed in protecting his country from foreign powers, but he also succeeded in expanding it. He saw that Spain was struggling to hold onto the Florida territory, so he made a deal with them. He bought the entire area from them for only $5 million in 1819. He established a peaceful relationship with

Read More
1018 Words | 5 Pages

That act ultimately led to the United States gaining Florida from Spain. These acts, on top of Jackson’s relatability with the common man are the reasons people admired Andrew Jackson and thought of him as an American

Read More
668 Words | 3 Pages

As soon as the United States officially bought the Louisiana Purchase, settlers began to spread west. Even more settlers moved after hearing about the discoveries Meriwether Lewis and William Clark told of the western region of the continent. When the nation grew its population towards the Pacific Ocean, the government began to establish states in the land; Louisiana emerged, followed by many more western and southern states. Trappers, traders, miners, ranchers, and multiple Native American tribes brought attention to Montana’s locality. After railroads began to cross the area, President Abraham Lincoln officiated Montana’s statehood on November 8, 1889.

Read More

More about What Was The Louisiana Purchase

Related Topics

Open Document