Christian Ruiz
Mr. Kelley
Period1
14 February 2013
Louisiana Purchase On April 30,1803 the Louisiana territory, which was a third of the land for the new nation we call America, was purchased from France for fifteen million dollars. This helped fund Napoleon’s war against Great Britain. Thomas Jefferson made this decision because Jefferson did not want any other nation ruling in that territory, because Jefferson did not want to feel threatened with natives from the new land and France trying to take over America. Another reason for this decision was because Congress pressed Jefferson to see if Jefferson wanted to either expand land or have other nations rule in the new mother land. After the purchase was done Thomas Jefferson had
…show more content…
After giving them the land in the first place, “in 1800, Napoleon Bonaparte of France persuaded Spain to return the Louisiana Territory” (Danzer et al. 201). Fortunately Napoleon got his way, “in 1801, Spain signed a secret treaty with France to return Louisiana Territory to France” (Monroe 4). France and Spain made a secret treaty behind the United States to give all the land back to France. With all the secretive meetings and untrustworthy treaties, “to settle the matter by peaceful measures, President Jefferson in January 1803 appointed Monroe envoy extraordinary to France to aid Robert R. Livingston...in purchasing the territory at the mouth of the Mississippi” (Monroe 4). Needing a companion on this important trip, “Monroe joined Livingston in Paris on April 12, and the two ministers, on finding Napoleon willing to dispose of the entire province of Louisiana, decided to exceed their instructions and effect its purchase” (Monroe 4). Jefferson made Monroe envoy extraordinary to France to solve the whole treaty issue that France made with the United States. Getting there just a little too late, “by the time that Monroe arrived in Paris in April 1803, Napoleon had decided to sell the entire Louisiana Territory to the United States” (Danzer et al. 201). Making things short and sweet, “on May 2, 1803, they signed a treaty and two conversations whereby France sold Louisiana to the
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).
Entering his presidency, Thomas Jefferson did not intend on expanding the land of the newborn country, the United States of America, but soon discovered a deal in his hands that was too good to refuse. The Louisiana Purchase of 1803, was debated as unconstitutional or illegal. Secondly, the Louisiana Purchase was a vast area of land that stretched approximately 820,000 square miles, the territory reached from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains, to the Gulf of Mexico, and Canada impacting thousands different groups of people. The Louisiana Purchase of 1803, was debated as unconstitutional or illegal. The Louisiana Purchase territory was one of the biggest land sales in World History causing heated debates as on how unconstitutional it and President Jefferson were at the time, it’s vast area of land it covered effected multiple groups in the country, and still to this day the purchase affects American lives.
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
The United States was interested in the purchase of Louisiana for a number of reasons; to protect the citizens’ of the United States right to trade through the Port of New Orleans, to ensure that the British did not establish a new colony in the new land, and to allow the United States’ farmers and merchants to move westward. In 1682, the French discovered a large piece of land in North America which they named Louisiana after their king, King Louis XVI. Following the French and Indian War, King Louis XVI thought this land was a useless piece of uncharted wilderness. The king decided to give this enormous section of land to his cousin, King Charles III of Spain as a “reward” for Spain’s support
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
After breaking away from a king, earning their independence. Thomas Jefferson believed that it was beneficial for a young republic to grow, this deal starting the Louisiana purchase landless of the Mississippi bought for 15 million dollars because one, he needed the money for is soldiers and a war, two he was already at war with Europe and had his hands tied. Also he knew he could control the land from afar, pushing him to not only give away the land but for a cheap price.This act was an influence to westward expansion because it almost doubled the size of a young
President Jefferson’s major personal moral dilemma was actually purchasing the territory of louisiana from the french. Jefferson was a strong Democratic-Republican. This party was founded by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, This party was created in opposition of the federalist party which was led by Alexander Hamilton. The Democratic-Republican party believed that a strong central national government would deplete and completely rid the rights of states. The party strongly disapproved of the national Bank Of The United States stating that the bank was taking away power that belonged to the states. Among many of the views of the Democratic-Republican the strongest belief was to strictly abided by the constitution, so when the opportunity arose to purchase the French owned territory, the constitution did not state whether the government could or could not acquire any new land
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
United States was no longer able to use the ports in New Orleans after the French-Spanish treaty. President Monroe who planned to negotiate for the land of Louisiana in Paris, before his arrival, Livingston who was already there was asked by Talleyrand how much he would pay to have the land. The negotiation, resulted in selling the land back to
While Thomas Jefferson was president, France and Spain secretly signed a treaty which returned ownership of the Louisiana Territory, back to France. When word reached Jefferson, the entire state of Washington erupted, because of the fact that the United States had spent thousands of dollars, in food goods, and shipped them into New Orleans located in the Louisiana Territory.
In order to provide the citizens of the United States with enough land, Thomas Jefferson purchased Louisiana. Known as the Louisiana Purchase of 1803, the United States was able to acquire about 827,000 sq. miles
At this time France was in war and needed to pour more money into his country, so Napoleon offered the entire territory and at a very low price. Jefferson could not pass up the opportunity. It was a substantial piece of land and it gave them the perfect path to transfer the people’s products to market. Jefferson was unsure if purchasing the land was unconstitutional. Nowhere in the Constitution does it give the power to buy land from a foreign country. This was troublesome for Jefferson. He purchased because he needed New Orleans port for the people of the frontier to transfer their products down the Mississippi
Jefferson conducted one of the largest territory gains in United States history with the Louisiana Purchase. Louisiana was France territory, originally from Spain; and Napoleon was already eager to sell because his empire was expanding and needed money, especially from the loss at Santo Domingo. France did not want Britain to take Louisiana because they controlled the seas.
In 1803, the Louisiana territory impacted the United States of America with the acquisition of land all across North America. “Immediately after the ratification of the present Treaty by the President of the United States…the commissary of the French Republic shall remit all military posts of New Orleans and other parts of the ceded territory to…the President to take possession”. The Louisiana territory was purchased from the French for fifteen million dollars. This was after the Spanish had sold the territory to France. Unlike the United States, France had not realized the great significance of this land and all the opportunities it could have potentially opened to their own