The purchase of Louisiana was both beneficial to President Thomas Jefferson as well as detrimental in many ways. The ordeal started in October of 1802, where Joseph Harris of smithsonianmag.com states that the Spanish administrator, Juan Ventura Morales, who was administering New Orleans until the French administrator Laussat arrived, said that the terms of 1795 treaty had expired and the Americans had lost their right to store American merchandise in warehouses located in New Orleans. Another right lost to the Americans was free access to pass through the Spanish territory on the Mississippi River. The United States depended on New Orleans and the Mississippi River for trading, as Jefferson wrote “There is on the globe one single spot, …show more content…
Joseph Harris of smithsonianmag.com goes on to state that despite his brothers wishes, Napoleon had decided to sell all of Louisiana to the United States as he was in need of money for his war with Britain, as well as the fact Louisiana was not as important to him as Saint Domingue was. After battering about the price, the purchase of Louisiana was agreed to cost $15 million from the United States. While some Americans rejoiced in this purchase, not all agreed with the price paid, even if it was less than four cents an acre. Smithsonianmag.com writes that The Boston Columbian Centinel published that “We are to give money of which we have too little for land of which we already have too much.” Schmoop.com states that the constitution does not authorize anywhere for the executive branch to use the public funds to pay for the expansion of the United States. The purchase of Louisiana was the opposite of the political philosophy that the Americans Elected President Thomas Jefferson for. Jefferson “emphasized small government, low taxes, and ‘strict construction’ of the constitution.” Therefore, the purchase of the territory was unconstitutional by President Jefferson’s standards himself. At first, Jefferson wanted to draft a new amendment to the constitution that would make his actions legal, but he did not know if this process would be finished in time. Not wanting to miss the opportunity,
While the Spanish surrendered the trans-Mississippi region to the French in 1800, Jefferson decided to acquire more territory at once. He feared that French territory in the United States would bring British war on American soil. As a result, President Jefferson sent James Monroe and Robert Livingston to Paris. Monroe's was given a maximum of ten million dollars to buy New Orleans and as much land east as possible. However, in opposition to Jefferson's wishes, Monroe purchased all of Louisiana for a hefty fifteen million dollars. Although the Democratic-Republicans were in favor of the Louisiana Purchase, Jefferson, still in shock of Monroe's settlement, questioned the constitutionality of the treaty. This purchase did not specifically empower the president or Congress to annex foreign territory. This event inevitably led to the Hartford Convention of 1815, in which contradicted Jefferson's purchase(Doc E).
The Louisiana Purchase formed both negative and positive impacts for President Jefferson and the expansion of the United States; dealing with both agricultural and economic reasons. On April 30th, 1803 the United states representatives paid fifteen million dollars to the French for over eight-hundred-twenty-eight-thousand square miles of their territory. This segment of land stretched from the Mississippi river to Rocky Mountains, and also from the Gulf of Mexico to Canada. Both negative views of the Louisiana purchase reflected ill on President Jefferson.
Even though Jefferson was very opposed to loose interpretation of the constitution and judicial expansion under John Marshal, he did discard his strict principles from time to time when it became necessary. “Self-preservation—the first law of nature and nations—took precedence over the constitutional limitations that he scrupulously observed in peacetime.” This is especially true in the case of the Louisiana Purchase. Americans were expanding westward and needed a port for transport on the Mississippi, so Spain allowed them to use New Orleans. In 1801 Louisiana was ceded to France by Spain. France was not as cooperative as Spain and closed the port of New Orleans to the U.S. Therefore, a sudden disruption in trade was a legitimate cause for tension between the U.S. and France, and many people believed that a war would break out if the Americans did not buy New Orleans. Thomas Jefferson himself thought troubles were
The Louisiana Purchase was a portion of land west of the mississippi. It was purchased from Napoleon (French) by the U.S. for 15 million dollars in 1803. The U.S. wanted new orleans because then The United States would have a faster route to get to the coastal states. The federalist had legitimate problems with the Purchase and expressed them openly.
Jefferson was troubled by the fact of France owning the land, because it might scare people away to settle in the land. In response James Monroe was sent to France along with Robert Livingston to negotiate a trade for the New Orleans territory. Jefferson limited the cost to $10
At the commencement of the 17th century, successions of westward expansion had already begun to take place. In 1803, Thomas Jefferson, who was president at the time, purchased the Louisiana territory from France. Several citizens did support Jefferson’s purchase in virtue of the many
With all of the social and economic rifts in America, Napoleon saw a perfect opportunity to capture the sugar colony of St. Domingue from their slave rebellion and establish Louisiana as a part of his American empire. After having purchased Louisiana from France in 1800, Napoleon sent his troops to St. Domingue, preparing to acquire New Orleans. New Orleans had been a major trading port for America, dealing with almost half of America’s import and exports, and Thomas Jefferson began to question his trust in France when Napoleon threatened to take it. Jefferson decided to discretely handle the matter by approaching the situation as it came rather than taking a rash action that would surely create dissonance between France and America. Thomas Jefferson knew that the American West would be put into jeopardy if France captured it as they would have the same commercial rights and privileges as they did whilst under the Spanish. Jefferson issued a warning to Napoleon and treated to side with Britain if France captured New Orleans. As Napoleon’s army weakened and his fear of American attack grew, he decided to sell Louisiana to Thomas Jefferson for a mere 15 million dollars. This made Jefferson reevaluate his strict interpretation of the Constitution as he had to create his own rules with the Elastic Clause in order to obtain the land and secure American safety. Napoleon was not American and therefore did not hold an opinion on federalism and different interpretations of the Constitution. However, he had a major impact on the politicians of the Jeffersonian Age and made people reevaluate how they viewed America. The whole transaction also made America a more powerful force who was willing to side with their long-term enemy with due cause. Napoleon challenged Federalists and Democratic-Republicans as they scrambled to save Louisiana from French rule and
Thomas Jefferson faced a multitude of complications and benefits throughout the endeavor of the Louisiana Purchase. The Louisiana Purchase is highly regarded as the greatest achievement of American expansion since the establishment of the country. This transaction between France and America gave the necessary requirements to recover and even advance the weak U.S. economy. America paid France $15 million for an estimated 800,000 acres of land; making this the largest land deal in history. Despite the many advantages that the Louisiana Purchase had to offer, Thomas Jefferson, the current president of the time faced many conflicts in the process of retrieving the land. The whole ordeal offered a combination of advantages and disadvantages that spanned from political, financial, and philosophical.
Jefferson faced a political dilemma by having to make a difficult decision with purchasing the Louisiana. He was a very strict person involved in the constitution. The federal government had a very hard time dealing with the constitution. The constitution would not give the federal government enough power to purchase it from France. Jefferson was an anti-federalist, although he wrote the constitution he did not agree to author it. He also faced the fact about deciding whether purchasing and acquiring land was even legal. On top of that there was also cons Jefferson dealt with. A con was that the United States would have to protect a larger nation with purchasing the Louisiana. The United States would also have to be careful with how the Americans explored the land and settled. Thomas Jefferson had a lot going on after
The Louisiana Purchase was a land sale between France and the United States in the year of 1803. In our history it is known as one of the largest land transactions to ever occur. The United States Congress decided to pay, “approximately $15 million dollars to France for over 800,000 square miles of land”. (www.thoughtco.com/jefferson-and-the-louisiana-purchase-104983) This became Thomas Jefferson’s greatest accomplishment through his presidency. By achieving this purchase it also posed a huge problem for the president. He knew the purchase would not be easy as it brought many dilemmas for him. His strong beliefs in “strict constructionism” brought about problems with the Constitution and money issues while trying to purchase. As well as hypocritical arguments with Alexander Hamilton over their opposed views.
Imagine you are the President of a rapidly expanding country. If you got offered 530 million acres of land for $15 million, would you buy it? President Thomas Jefferson and his advisers were faced with this exact decision. Thomas Jefferson, envious of France’s New Orleans, sent Monroe and Livingston to Paris with the hope of at least getting the port rights to New Orleans, if incapable of buying it with a budget of $9.3 million. When Livingston and Monroe reached Paris, they were surprised to find Napoleon and his French government not only willing to sell, but almost forcing a sale on the American ambassadors. Not only that, they wanted to sell all 830,000 square miles of the Louisiana Territory, including New Orleans. Constantly expanding and exploring, Livingston and Monroe knew America needed more room to grow. 530 Million acres worth of land would be more than sufficient for 1803 America. At 3 cents per acre, the Louisiana Purchase was a great deal as far as cost is concerned. Before they had even signed the contract sealing the deal, President Thomas Jefferson had already recruited a close friend and fellow botanist, Meriwether Lewis to explore the new Territory. Before the public even knew about the Louisiana Purchase, the Lewis and Clark Expedition had set out. The Louisiana Purchase was a good idea because it provided room for rapidly-expanding America to grow and explore at an incredibly low price but also increased America’s global prowess.
The Louisiana Purchase was a “land deal” made between France and the U.S. in December of 1803, where France sold America 828,000 miles of land along the west side of the Mississippi River for 15 million dollars (approximately 4 cents per acre). People regard it as Thomas Jefferson’s greatest achievement because of how drastically it changed the United States. The purchase greatly expanded America and brought many other benefits along with it. Although it was definitely a major benefit to the United States, even Jefferson had his doubts about the purchase. But despite their many doubts, the U.S. made the decision to ratify the purchase, and because of that decision, America has changed for the better.
Thomas Jefferson had mixed emotions about the Louisiana Purchase. On one hand, he knew it would be a grand opportunity, and the United States would be assured free navigation of the Mississippi River. Also, it would double our nation in size and be considered one of the largest, if not the largest, land transaction in history. On the other hand, he was conflicted whether or not to buy the Louisiana Territory because of guidelines set forth in the Constitution. The Constitution did not specifically
The Louisiana Purchase was the most important event of President Thomas Jefferson's first Administration. In this transaction, the United States bought 827,987 square miles of land from France for about $15 million. This vast area lay between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains, stretching
Some argued that the purchase was unconstitutional because the Constitution didn’t say that Jefferson could purchase the land. Others argued that the purchase was indeed constitutional because the Constitution didn’t say Jefferson couldn’t purchase the land. Also, like said above, Jefferson had an aversion to big moves by the central government. Again, he compromised his beliefs by purchasing a territory from a foreign nation (obviously a huge move by the central government (not by the states)). It is seemingly understandable, however, that Jefferson decided to compromise his beliefs. He was afraid that the French would give up the deal in the time it would take to pass an amendment saying that he could purchase the land. Jefferson also resolved the issue (of constitutionality, his personal beliefs, etc.) by deciding that the growth of the nation (at a modest price) was more important than his own political aversion to big moves by the central government. In addition, Jefferson seemed to have purchased the land in order to protect the United States. First off, Spain’s agreement to give Louisiana back to the French compromised Pinckney’s Treat, which gave the United States access to the Mississippi River. Also, he feared that Napoleon, if he had control over the territory, would close off New Orleans to the United States