Essay about The Formative Years of The Louisiana Purchase

Did Thomas Jefferson give up his deeply held political values in order to purchase the Louisiana Territory from the French (P. 2)? This is the major question that has led to much debate within the early history of America (P. 1). Some historians argue that Thomas Jefferson did, in fact, throw away his commitment to states’ rights and constructionism by the large purchase of Louisiana for the U.S. (P.1). On the other hand, some believe that President Jefferson supported his political beliefs, the fortification of the republican government, with the Louisiana Purchase (P. 1).

The Louisiana Purchase was the largest land transaction for the United States, and the most important event of President Jefferson's presidency. Jefferson arranged to purchase the land for $11,250,000 from Napoleon in 1803. This land area lay between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains, stretching from the Gulf of Mexico to the Canadian border. The purchase of this land greatly increased the economic resources of the United States, and proved Jefferson had expansionist dreams by doubling the size of the United States. Jefferson believed that the republic must be controlled by ambitious, independent, property-holding farmers, who would form

The Decisions made to buy the Louisiana Purchase were tough; however, in the end the Louisiana Purchase was the most important land purchase in American history. In 1803 the United States had seventeen states along with the Northwest Territory. America still had not reached its potential growth, even though the states were still growing with settlers, until after the Louisiana Purchase. The president at this time was Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson’s decision would soon be the birth of our nation, as well as be the largest land purchase in American history.

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

Thomas Jefferson’s ideals were split when it came to the purchase. At first he fought against loose interpretation of the Presidential Powers which were found in the Constitution but also believed that, “if a power could not specifically be found in the Constitution, it did not exist and automatically reverted to the interests of the individual Sovereign States”. (www.shmoop.com/louisiana-purchase-lewis-clark/politics.html) Take into consideration that Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence which was very strict with order and anything that dealt with the United States. This thinking was argued multiple times with Alexander Hamilton

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

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

The Louisiana purchase occurred in 1803 when Thomas Jefferson, a Democratic-Republican president, purchased the Louisiana Territory for $15 million. His action illustrates the assimilation of Federalist ideals into the Democratic-Republican ideology because buying the Louisiana Purchase was not explicitly allowed by the Constitution. By buying Louisiana Territory, Jefferson championed the loose construction that he originally opposed.

There was not specific language in the Constitution that authorized the government to make such acquisitions of foreign territory, so many people viewed Jefferson’s actions as unconstitutional. They also viewed it as hypocritical, given his previously strict constructionist stance and heavy criticism of others for stepping beyond the bounds of the Constitution. Jefferson made many attempts to validate the authorization, arguing, for instance, that “What is practicable must often control what is pure theory.” He meant that the practical benefits of the purchase were more important than his own personal constitutional beliefs. Certainly, although controversial, the purchase of Louisiana allowed the United States to flourish in ways that one could not have

At first the United States wanted to buy only New Orleans and the land around it. The purchase met with the strong opposition in the United States on account of being unconstitutional. Those accusations were correct to some extent. President Jefferson couldn’t deny that the Constitution of the United States did not provide for buying new territories but still he decided to proceed with the purchase since the removal of French presence in the region was such an important issue.

The Purchase of Louisiana posed several important moral dilemmas for American President Thomas Jefferson; among these were the means of achieving Republican government states’ rights and strict constructionism which he relented. Constructionist and a strong supporter of states ' rights and, therefore, the action of purchasing Louisiana presented a moral dilemma, he was either to stick to his principle or compromise and save the Republican government. President Jefferson believed following the principles of constructionism and the rights of the constitution, therefore acquiring Louisiana land made him unable to decide whether to uphold the principles compromise (Balleck).

Jefferson was delighted with the deal. At the same time, he had a problem. The Constitution nowhere states that the President has the power to purchase land from foreign countries. Adding the huge Louisiana Territory would drastically change the nation. In the end, Jefferson decided that he did have the authority to purchase Louisiana. The Constitution allowed the president to make treaties. The Senate approved the treaty, and Congress quickly voted to pay for the land.

One of the biggest dilemmas that Thomas Jefferson faced throughout his presidency was the purchase of Louisiana from France in October of 1803. He was cautious about what would happen in the sense that there would be collisions on whether it was the right or wrong choice. From the beginning, Thomas Jefferson had always been a strong advocate of strict interpretation and that if not listed in the Constitution, the U.S Government had no right to exercise a certain power. But when the Louisiana territory was offered to the United States for only $15 million, Thomas Jefferson could not resist the “irresistible” offer. While the Constitution stated that new states could be bought and added, many people argued that the Louisiana Purchase was considered unconstitutional because it was foreign land (www.billofrightsinstitute.org). Many viewed Thomas Jefferson as hypocritical in the sense that he went with loose constructionism instead of what he preached. The purchase treaty was soon ratified on October 1803 and officially declared Louisiana as American territory in December 1803 (www.monticello.org). Although it was quite controversial, Jefferson knew that the Louisiana Purchase would demonstrate many advantages and disadvantages for the United States.

During Thomas Jefferson’s presidency he faced a huge moral dilemma concerning the Louisiana Purchase most predominately from the concerns that the purchase could be considered unconstitutional because nowhere in constitution did it grant power for the president to make land acquisitions.