Throughout the history of The United States, geography has impacted many government decisions and actions, gradually shaping the country to the great nation known today. Geographic factors such as location, migration, natural resources, climate, and topography have determined these events. The Proclamation of 1763 and the Louisiana Purchase are two specific events in history which illustrate this relationship between geography and government actions.
The Proclamation of 1763 was formed after the French and Indian War, in which Great Britain was victorious against the French. Though Britain had obtained a vast amount of territory and power over the Native Americans, the kingdom was still in great debt. Furthermore, the Native Americans disliked
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After the decree was issued, many colonists were outraged; they wanted their freedom of traveling wherever they pleased and disliked the idea of the government controlling their actions. Colonials who had occupied the western section of the Appalachian mountains were forced to leave their settlements and those who had hoped to explore or inhibit the lands were now prohibited to do so. Therefore, many colonists chose to disobey and continued venturing into the territory, interfering with the Native Americans. As a result, the English sent men to patrol the mountain-borders and increased tax on the colonists to compensate for the troops. This enraged the colonists even more, and the proclamation sparked a common hatred among them, driving them forwards towards …show more content…
Prior to the land deal, as Americans had began to expand westward, exploration of the Mississippi River and free access to the port of New Orleans was necessary for easier trade and transport of goods. In addition, France was in a war against Great Britain and managing this territory overseas was difficult. Consequently, when Jefferson requested the purchase of New Orleans, Napoleon being the current ruler of France, offered the entire territory of Louisiana for only 3¢ per acre. The newly gained territory had added 828 million square miles of land to the United states, doubling the size of the colony for an amazing bargain. Furthermore, Americans had gained access to the Port of New Orleans, unlocking entry to the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico. This would grant various trade opportunities and ease transportation of goods in the United States. Thus, it is clear that these factors had made this territory very desirable for Americans and impelled president Jefferson to defy his own beliefs to acquire the
This inspired the Lousisiana Purchase, which was a brilliant diplomatic achievement. The purchase of the Louisiana territory from France for $15 million, doubled the size of American territory. It did however leave Jefferson with a constitutional dilemma. He admitted that the purchase was not authorized by the Constitution, but he allowed his desire to expand the American Republic to trump his legal concerns. The purchase was supported by other Republicans for several reasons. Acquiring more territory would serve "the immediate interests of our Western citizens" and promote "the peace and security of the nation in general" by removing French control and creating a protective buffer separating the United States from the rest of the world. And in the time it would've taken to make the purchase constitutional, the opportunity the buy the land could've
In the eyes of several, the Louisiana Purchase may well be recognized as one of the all-time greatest real estate deal. As Paul Leicester stated in his work of The Works of Thomas Jefferson “Jefferson at the stroke of a pen essentially doubled the territorial extent of the United States.” On April 30, 1803, U.S. representatives located in Paris approved to purchase 828,000 square miles at the very cost-efficient amount of fifteen million dollars that spread from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains, and from the Gulf of Mexico all the way north to Canada. To better realize how inexpensive the United States purchased that land for was about eighteen dollars and some change per square mile. Soon enough, the newly purchased land of western territory became six states and portions of nine present-day states. As one could imagine this great purchase did not happen without a buildup of time, and without many factors leading up to the Louisiana Purchase. Below are a couple of factors such as the Spanish control of New Orleans and Napoleon’s burning desire for the Caribbean Island of Haiti.
The Louisiana Purchase is seen today as one of the most important events in our nation's history. It helped us to acquire about 828,000 square miles (“Louisiana
In 1803 Thomas jefferson made a life changing decision that altered the course of America for the better. He purchased 828,000 square miles of land for 15 million dollars from France. France sold the land to the United states because they needed money to pay their debt, to pay for the war they were in, and they didn’t want an alliance between Great Britain, the country they were in a war with, and the United States to form. The land that was bought is known today as, ”Arkansas, Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, parts of Minnesota and louisiana west of Mississippi, including New Orleans, big parts of North and northeastern New Mexico, South Dakota, northern Texas, some parts of Wyoming, Montana, and Colorado as well as portions of Canadian provinces Alberta and Saskatchewan.” This historical event is known as the Louisiana Purchase. Although the Louisiana purchase is referred to as “Thomas Jefferson’s greatest achievement,” Jefferson had struggles and doubts about purchasing the land.
While for a majority of the time, Jefferson was a known federalist, but when purchasing the Louisiana territory, he went against his own beliefs. Yet, it was a good decision that he had made. To exemplify, he had made the purchase owing the French $15 million, which ended up being about 3 cents per acre. Moreover, there were many goods and resources that had been within the newfound territory, which they would have never had the chance to exploit if Jefferson had never bought it. Furthermore, this new land helped the American citizens to expand their territory to nearly twice the size then it originally had
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,
The Proclamation of 1763 was put in place to control and slow the westward expansion of the land-hungry American colonists. The British thought that a slow and limited westward expansion would reduce the clashes with the Indians and also prevent migration away from the heavily invested eastern seaboard. A demarcation line along the Appalachian Mountains was negotiated, somewhat begrudgingly, with the Indians of the region. The Proclamation of 1763 was almost wholly ignored by the colonists who continued to push west in search of new land.
It has offered the United States citizens with new natural resources and new land for farming and housing. The Louisiana Territory offered some of the richest land for farming. The Louisiana Purchase is one of the most important land deals in the United States history, Even though many Americans were wary about the large addition to the United States. Many Americans were worried about defending the new addition to the United States and worried about boundary disputes with Spain. But not only did the Louisiana territory offer new space but it provided new information about new animal species and plant species. Many Americans celebrated the transfer of power of Louisiana from France to the United States. The Louisiana Purchase allowed the United States to have unlimited access to the Mississippi river which is a very important natural resource. According to the article, The Louisiana Purchase was probably Thomas Jefferson’s greatest achievement as a president. This purchase shows the power of the federal government and the presidency. This purchase helped the United States gain wealth and stature. The United States continued to grow throughout the nineteenth century. (American Eras: Primary
This included the Mississippi river which gave the southern United States a trade way to the rest of the commercial United States. Thomas Jefferson was upset about the land being given to France and expressed his thoughts as Spain and France leaving the United States in a bad position. James Monroe was sent to France in 1803 to negotiate the purchase of Louisiana from France. Louisiana was sold to the United States for only 15 million and it marked the peak of Jefferson’s first term and secured his reelection almost certainly. Hamilton argued that this had nothing to do with Jefferson’s doing and it was something that was going to happen regardless of his actions going as far as to state, “...not to any wise or vigorous measures on the part of the american government.” (pg
Besides that, Thomas Jefferson had a big interfere that France might dominate New Orleans and soon with other states nearby. Therefore, in order to improve trade market,get more goods as well as get easier access to Mississippi River, he decided to buy New Orleans from Napoleon. Louisiana was purchased to reduce the power of Spain from nearby colony. From the 15 states of Louisiana Purchase, US wanted to get resources such as gold,silver , copper which were used for jewelry mainly ,investing and money. Timber and lumber is vital for manufacturing and economy. Louisiana captivated Americans from 13 colonies to West for bigger opportunies as it gave more land for construction and plantation. Also, United States was able to navigate and study the climate or plants along the Mississippi River and Missouri River. Last and foremost, Manifest destiny which means God has given right to eduacate the outsiders caused the colonists started to explore more land in West. Throughout the thinking of Napoleon, Napoleon thought it’s a right to sell New Orleans because he chose not to have a war with British or US. Also, the slave rebellion made Napoleon to raise on his hackles. Therefore, it was beneficial that he sold New Orleans and earned more profits rather than lost in the war with death and
The proclamation of 1763 is the most influential restriction placed on the colonists after the Seven Years War. In an attempt to avoid conflict with the natives parliament made expansion past the Appalachian Mountains illegal for the colonists. Being that expansion westward was the whole point of the French and Indaina war, colonists developed their hatred towards Great Britain. The proclamation showed how much more power Britain had over the colonists and started to journey towards
At the time of the movement, it faced clam resistance as being possibly unlawful. Jefferson decided to gain Louisiana because he felt anxious about France and Spain having much more power over the American trade access than he did. New Orleans was meaningful for transporting goods to and from the United States. On October 27, 1795, American merchants had the “right of deposit.” They also used this right to to ship
During the early nineteenth century, Napoleon Bonaparte had intentions to create a new French Empire in the new world. His plan was to take away America’s ability to use the Mississippi River. Thomas Jefferson, president at the time, was upset over this as he wanted the Mississippi to be the spine of America, not the border of it. Napoleon threatened American access to the port of New Orleans, jeopardizing the access to global markets for American farm goods. The threat was so serious that Jefferson considered changing the nation’s foreign policy to an alliance with the British including an anti-France approach. Jefferson sent James Monroe, top negotiator in Paris, and Robert Livingston to France to purchase New Orleans and western Florida for America for between two and ten million dollars. At the same time, he sent diplomats to Britain to discuss the other policy. In response to his offer, Napoleon proposed all of Louisiana for fifteen million dollars. Although this proposal greatly surpassed their orders, Monroe and Livingston agreed. Back in America, the west was delighted to hear the news, but Jefferson questioned the decision.
As the British and Colonists were engaged in the Seven Years War against the French and Indians, the colonists were slowly building up feelings for their removal from under the British crown. There had been several uprisings to overthrow the colonial governments. When the war ended and the British were victorious, they declared the Proclamation of 1763 which stated that the land west of the Appalachians was to be "reserved" for the Native American population. The colonists were confused and outraged and the now ambitious social elite were raring to direct that anger against the English since the French were no longer a threat.
At first France rejected these offers, but as Napoleon began herding for money, he started considering it. Finally in 1803, President Jefferson sent James Monroe to negotiate with the French. As a result, Napoleon finally agreed to sell New Orleans and also included the entirety of the French territory into the offer for only five million dollars more. The territory was sold for fifteen million dollars, making it only four cents per acre. Around 826,000 square miles, it essentially doubled the size of America’s territory. This area was full of fertile soil, grazing land and much more. It would make up parts of fifteen new states. The Louisiana Purchase Treaty is very significant to America’s history. It added to the agricultural power of the United States, and the amount of slaves in the states also increased because of the extra