The Purchase Of Louisiana Posed Essay

Even though Jefferson was very opposed to loose interpretation of the constitution and judicial expansion under John Marshal, he did discard his strict principles from time to time when it became necessary. “Self-preservation—the first law of nature and nations—took precedence over the constitutional limitations that he scrupulously observed in peacetime.” This is especially true in the case of the Louisiana Purchase. Americans were expanding westward and needed a port for transport on the Mississippi, so Spain allowed them to use New Orleans. In 1801 Louisiana was ceded to France by Spain. France was not as cooperative as Spain and closed the port of New Orleans to the U.S. Therefore, a sudden disruption in trade was a legitimate cause for tension between the U.S. and France, and many people believed that a war would break out if the Americans did not buy New Orleans. Thomas Jefferson himself thought troubles were

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

Primarily, Thomas Jefferson’s essential idea of purchasing the Louisiana Territory was crucial. He understood that

With all of the social and economic rifts in America, Napoleon saw a perfect opportunity to capture the sugar colony of St. Domingue from their slave rebellion and establish Louisiana as a part of his American empire. After having purchased Louisiana from France in 1800, Napoleon sent his troops to St. Domingue, preparing to acquire New Orleans. New Orleans had been a major trading port for America, dealing with almost half of America’s import and exports, and Thomas Jefferson began to question his trust in France when Napoleon threatened to take it. Jefferson decided to discretely handle the matter by approaching the situation as it came rather than taking a rash action that would surely create dissonance between France and America. Thomas Jefferson knew that the American West would be put into jeopardy if France captured it as they would have the same commercial rights and privileges as they did whilst under the Spanish. Jefferson issued a warning to Napoleon and treated to side with Britain if France captured New Orleans. As Napoleon’s army weakened and his fear of American attack grew, he decided to sell Louisiana to Thomas Jefferson for a mere 15 million dollars. This made Jefferson reevaluate his strict interpretation of the Constitution as he had to create his own rules with the Elastic Clause in order to obtain the land and secure American safety. Napoleon was not American and therefore did not hold an opinion on federalism and different interpretations of the Constitution. However, he had a major impact on the politicians of the Jeffersonian Age and made people reevaluate how they viewed America. The whole transaction also made America a more powerful force who was willing to side with their long-term enemy with due cause. Napoleon challenged Federalists and Democratic-Republicans as they scrambled to save Louisiana from French rule and

Thomas Jefferson a leader of the Republican Party had long imagined an empire of Liberty that would span “North America.” (Sparknotes.com, 2014) Thomas Jefferson probably never knew beforehand that acquiring that empire would require a great deal of strain that would test his ability to make America great. Jefferson wanted America to be great and he knew that in order to do that he had to somehow act in the best interest of America to acquire Louisiana. In the midst of acquiring Louisiana Jefferson had to find the balance between the French and New Orleans.

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.

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

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.

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

time the French were very poor and needed the money so Jefferson knew he would get

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

To buy or not to buy, that is the question. Although it was the greatest “real estate” deal, the Louisiana Purchase of 1803 was perhaps one of the most controversial events in American History. President Thomas Jefferson, although he was a Founding Father and the primary writer of the Declaration of Independence, faced major opposition with his decision to purchase the Louisiana Territory from the French. Most of the opposition he faced, however, was domestic.

The Louisiana Purchase is the biggest exchange of land in history. Jefferson’s acquisition of this big piece of land doubled the United States’ size for 15 million dollars. The Louisiana Purchase would have not happen without Napoléon’s loss of interest in the french american empire. At the time, Thomas Jefferson was in office,the president’s political beliefs opposed this to happen, what convinced him? As the United States started to expand, gaining alliance with the most powerful forces on the planet, business and influence started to flourish. New Orleans became the most diverse place in the country both socially and politically.

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 political problems for Thomas Jefferson in acquiring the Louisiana Territory were an international issue and not a distinct domestic one. The biggest component of the situation was Napoleon, and his dreams.