The Legacy Of Louisiana Purchase

The Louisiana Purchase formed both negative and positive impacts for President Jefferson and the expansion of the United States; dealing with both agricultural and economic reasons. On April 30th, 1803 the United states representatives paid fifteen million dollars to the French for over eight-hundred-twenty-eight-thousand square miles of their territory. This segment of land stretched from the Mississippi river to Rocky Mountains, and also from the Gulf of Mexico to Canada. Both negative views of the Louisiana purchase reflected ill on President Jefferson.

In 1803, a significant occurrence happened. The purchase of 827,000 square miles of land for approximately 4 cents an acre or 15 million dollars was made. This purchase was unlike any other, for it would have the most importance of any other purchase made in the United States. It is referred to as the Louisiana Purchase. The land that was purchased was known as the Louisiana Territory. Also, this territory wasn’t just bought. It was exchanged, for an important reason. The Louisiana Purchase is known as one of the most significant purchases or exchanges of money in the history of the United States of America. Additionally, the Louisiana Purchase was made for many important reasons, and was influenced by certain factors. Without the help and guidance of important influential people and countries, war and conflict, and exploration and discovery, the Louisiana Purchase may not have been as important is it is today, or may not have even been made.

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.

The Louisiana Purchase opened a window of opportunity to the Americans, as the purchase expanded the nation further west. Evidently, the purchase of this land mass created a need for new technology and transportation. Throughout the period of 1800-1853, changes in technology and transportation further developed the Northern and Northwestern states, while the Southern states continued with a similar way of life aided by advancements in technology and transportation. Advances in technology and transportation dictated the opportunities presented to Northern and Northwestern society and settlement, but preserved continuity in Southern labor systems.

Thomas Jefferson faced a multitude of complications and benefits throughout the endeavor of the Louisiana Purchase. The Louisiana Purchase is highly regarded as the greatest achievement of American expansion since the establishment of the country. This transaction between France and America gave the necessary requirements to recover and even advance the weak U.S. economy. America paid France $15 million for an estimated 800,000 acres of land; making this the largest land deal in history. Despite the many advantages that the Louisiana Purchase had to offer, Thomas Jefferson, the current president of the time faced many conflicts in the process of retrieving the land. The whole ordeal offered a combination of advantages and disadvantages that spanned from political, financial, and philosophical.

The Louisiana Purchase was a land sale between France and the United States in the year of 1803. In our history it is known as one of the largest land transactions to ever occur. The United States Congress decided to pay, “approximately $15 million dollars to France for over 800,000 square miles of land”. (www.thoughtco.com/jefferson-and-the-louisiana-purchase-104983) This became Thomas Jefferson’s greatest accomplishment through his presidency. By achieving this purchase it also posed a huge problem for the president. He knew the purchase would not be easy as it brought many dilemmas for him. His strong beliefs in “strict constructionism” brought about problems with the Constitution and money issues while trying to purchase. As well as hypocritical arguments with Alexander Hamilton over their opposed views.

Imagine you are the President of a rapidly expanding country. If you got offered 530 million acres of land for $15 million, would you buy it? President Thomas Jefferson and his advisers were faced with this exact decision. Thomas Jefferson, envious of France’s New Orleans, sent Monroe and Livingston to Paris with the hope of at least getting the port rights to New Orleans, if incapable of buying it with a budget of $9.3 million. When Livingston and Monroe reached Paris, they were surprised to find Napoleon and his French government not only willing to sell, but almost forcing a sale on the American ambassadors. Not only that, they wanted to sell all 830,000 square miles of the Louisiana Territory, including New Orleans. Constantly expanding and exploring, Livingston and Monroe knew America needed more room to grow. 530 Million acres worth of land would be more than sufficient for 1803 America. At 3 cents per acre, the Louisiana Purchase was a great deal as far as cost is concerned. Before they had even signed the contract sealing the deal, President Thomas Jefferson had already recruited a close friend and fellow botanist, Meriwether Lewis to explore the new Territory. Before the public even knew about the Louisiana Purchase, the Lewis and Clark Expedition had set out. The Louisiana Purchase was a good idea because it provided room for rapidly-expanding America to grow and explore at an incredibly low price but also increased America’s global prowess.

The Louisiana Purchase was a key point in The United States of America’s history that without it, the country as we know it would be completely different. The Louisiana Purchase may have been a controversial decision, but it was a good on that put America on track to becoming a superpower. Almost half of America was included in the Purchase and the rest on the west coast is separated by the land included in the Purchase. So, if the purchase had never happened America would still be confined to only the east coast that borders the Atlantic and we’d be a much smaller country. However, since the Louisiana Purchase did happen, the country spans from both the west and east coast. The Louisiana Purchase is the treaty that lead America to be one of the three largest countries in the world. Along with the land came the things that are within nature and can only be created by nature which are natural resources. Included in the Purchase made between Jefferson and Napoleon was everything on and in the ground, that was bought. This means that all of the gold, oil, wood, and any other useful resources that could be found on the land was included in the deal. America was then opened up to many more riches to help their economy. This could also comprise of the new land that could be used for farming of many different plants and foods. So, not only did the territory grow so did the wealth in natural resources.

The Louisiana Purchase is arguably one of the best decisions a president has ever made for the United States, although it caused a lot of controversy. It also was a lot of work and was extremely rushed due to fear that France would retract their offer at any time. The purchase caused President Jefferson a lot of mental agony, but in the end it was definitely worth it. Without the purchase of the land we would not be the great country that we are today. Somehow Thomas Jefferson got the deal of the century when he made the Louisiana Purchase, 800,000 square miles of land from the French. This essentially doubled the size of the United States at the time. Approximately 15 states in today’s day and age were made out of this mass amount of land. The original treaty was created and is dated April 30th. The treaty was then officially signed on May 2nd. Then, in October 1803 the United States ratified the treaty and purchase and the land was transferred from France powers to the United States. The United States paid just a mere $15 million dollars for all of the land. That’s less than three cents per acre of land. This is arguable one of the best purchases America ever made for itself.

The Louisiana Purchase was a “land deal” made between France and the U.S. in December of 1803, where France sold America 828,000 miles of land along the west side of the Mississippi River for 15 million dollars (approximately 4 cents per acre). People regard it as Thomas Jefferson’s greatest achievement because of how drastically it changed the United States. The purchase greatly expanded America and brought many other benefits along with it. Although it was definitely a major benefit to the United States, even Jefferson had his doubts about the purchase. But despite their many doubts, the U.S. made the decision to ratify the purchase, and because of that decision, America has changed for the better.

The year of 1803 significantly changed our nation eternally. It stunned many people. In no way, shape or form, did we ever believe that our nation would expand so rapidly. What started with the small purchase of New Orleans led into the substantial purchase of the Louisiana Territory. This was a purchase that will make Thomas Jefferson a man to be remembered. Although, he wasn’t the only man who impacted the United States during this time period. Meriwether Lewis and William Clark are the two men that are greatly known for their expedition across the Louisiana Territory. These two subjects, the Louisiana Purchase and the Lewis and Clark Expedition, altered our nation immeasurably.

When choosing a great accomplishment that occurred in America before 1876, you will have a lot of choice in the matter whether it be the turntable flow of the revolutionary war, the wonder of exploration and explanation, maybe even the signing of the Constitution or the amendments that lead up to it, the reasons for long winded geopolitical debates, and economic troubles. I chose something that made America what it was and what it encapsulates most of all, exploration, explanation, geopolitical tensions, and economic revival, The Louisiana purchase. The Louisiana purchase has what put President Thomas Jefferson in the history books and made him regarded as one of the best Presidents in history. When the economy was in shambles after the war,

The United States as a nation physically grew to almost twice its previous size chiefly due to the Louisiana Purchase of 1803. For a relatively small asking price of $15 million, the 828,000 square miles was bought from France after renewed conflict with Great Britain prompted Napoleon to sell the land to the United States. The purchase proved to be a critical expansion for the United States not only in that it doubled the nation’s size, but it sparked a

Imagine America, but half the size, imagine the country stops at the Mississippi River, that's what the country was like before the Louisiana Purchase. The benefits of American Expansion have outweighed the cost because the Louisiana purchase and has given us more opportunities for economic and agricultural advantages. While we have paid a lot to buy the land and make it the best we can for American citizens to live there, adding the West to the original states made it possible for more people to live in America which also opens up new job opportunities. When we added the Louisiana Territory to the country it more than doubled in size, giving us more room for people to live and travel too. According to Investopedia, “With land costs today averaging between $1,000 and $4,000 per acre in the continental U.S., the total value of the Louisiana Purchase is therefore likely to be near $1.2 trillion.” We bought the western land for $15 million although it was quickly given back for even today the western land continues to flourish with agriculture and economic advantages.

The Louisiana Purchase was, without question, Jefferson’s greatest achievement during his presidency. However, Jefferson faced a few moral dilemmas during this time, such as his devotion to strict constructionism, his credibility as the President, and political pressure from other parties. On the other hand, the purchase did provide some advantages to the Union, such as greatly increasing the size of the country, and gaining the support of many Americans.