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Louisiana Purchase Analysis

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The United States acquired 828,000 square miles of territory from France for $15 million, thereby doubling the size of the nation with the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. The Louisiana territory included the area from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains in the west and from the Gulf of Mexico to Canada, which had previously been owned by Spain. However, in 1802, the Spaniards at New Orleans revoked the right of deposit guaranteed by Pinckney's Treaty of 1795. Such deposit privileges were vital to frontier farmers who floated their produce to oceangoing vessels at New Orleans.With Spain at weak control of Louisiana, Jefferson sought to seize that territory and purchase the port of New Orleans when the time was ripe. Considered the greatest …show more content…

Napoleon Bonaparte, ruler of France had secretly induced the king of Spain to cede France for the trans-Mississippi river region of Louisiana, which included New Orleans. Spanish authorities withdrew the right of deposit assured by the Pinckney Treaty of 1795 and for many Americans, this so-called right of deposit was important enough that talk of war began proliferating when it was revoked in 1802. These farmers talked of marching to New Orleans to violently get back what they deserved, an action that would have plunged the nation into war with Spain and France.This situation was also threatened by Napoleon's plans to revive the French empire in the New World. In response, Jefferson sent James Monroe to join forces with the regular minister there, Robert Livingston in early 1803 to buy New Orleans and as much land to …show more content…

He was willing to forgo the passage of an amendment to validate the purchase. The Senate quickly approved the purchase with Jefferson’s urging, and the Louisiana Purchase became the biggest bargain in history, averaging 3 cents per acre.This decision established a precedent that was to be followed:the acquisition of foreign territory and peoples by purchase. The extent of the vast new area proved of significance and value. By obtaining the Louisiana territory, America got the richest river valley in the world at the time and further laid the foundations of a future major power. The purchase provided the United States with a number of advantages such as ensuring the free navigation along the Mississippi River. It connected the rich, fertile farmlands of the Ohio, Missouri, and Mississippi River valleys and later manufacturing centers along those rivers to the port of New Orleans and from there to the larger world. They provided the United States with extensive grazing and farming lands and put large swaths of western mineral lands within U.S. control as

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