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The French Of New Orleans

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In 1803, Thomas Jefferson was sent as the Secretary of State to negotiate with the French in regards to the city of New Orleans --it was a prime trading dock since many waterways would intersect at the port. However, when Jefferson met with Napoleon discussing the plans, the French offered him the Louisiana Purchase that spanned west of the Mississippi River for quite a miniscule price. The context behind such a deal is that the French were fighting in the Napoleonic Wars, trying to fight England; the battle was not in favor of the French, and Napoleon feared that war retributions would require the French to give the Louisiana Purchase to England without getting anything in return. The French obviously wanted to gain as much of an edge as possible in the war so they sold the Louisiana Purchase for quick, liquid money that could be devoted towards the war and the French also hoped that they would be able to buy the Louisiana Purchase back from the United States when the French are in a more stable time. Even with such an amazing deal, Jefferson had internal conflictions when purchasing the land. He believed in the policy of strict construction and felt the government was restricted to only the powers explicitly granted by the U.S. Constitution. However, the Constitution does not mention anything about the government being able to purchase land. In the end, Jefferson did buy the land, and it doubled the size of the United States.
However, what if Jefferson never bought the

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