Us History Essential Questions on Thomas Jefferson Essay

Americans were able to ship their goods peacefully through New Orleans until 1801. Thomas Jefferson had found out that Spain had secretly given France New Orleans and the Louisiana Territory. The French ruler Napoleon Bonaparte was trying to conquer all of

The British chose New Orleans as their major objective, because of different reasons. One being they hoped they could separate Louisiana from the rest of the United States, also wanting control of the Mississippi river valley. Another main reason why they attempted to take over New Orleans was because they wanted to teach the United States a lesson. The British wanted to try and prove that they were the strongest military in the world. Then when they found out about the Louisiana Purchase from Napoleon, who they had captured and defeated. They really got upset because they felt like Louisiana should be part of their ally’s territory, Spain.

The Louisiana Purchase was a seminal event for a new nation that caused heated debates to just how constitutional this deal of land was. Due to Jefferson’s familiarity with the French during his time in France as an American envoy. Another factor that led Jefferson to purchase of this vast land, was his understanding of the potential dangers of the French military. Posted on the Mississippi River, controlling the ports, and what can enter and leave, this would make trade for the United States much more difficult. The deal was instantly popular but soon found

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

To conclude, the Marbury v. Madison case has greatly impacted the way the Supreme Court makes decisions. Marbury v. Madison had incorporated the process of Judicial review, which allows courts to review the laws to see if they are being violated. Judicial review was utilized in countless cases, such as, Cohens v. Virginia, Ladue v. Gilleo, and McCulloch v. Maryland. To this day, the Supreme Court has utilized the Marbury v. Madison decision as a model for future

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.

The Louisiana Purchase was an acquisition of a significant portion of North America; larger than the size of fifteen current states in the U.S. according to Encyclopedia Britannica, the deal was, “at less than three cents per acre… the greatest land bargain in American history.” The United States purchased this territory from Napoleon, and thus doubled the size of the republic. This newly acquired territory went from the Mississippi River, all the way east to the Rocky Mountains, and then into the Gulf in Mexico. The United States came to the realization that the land was an absolutely essential necessity if they were to later form a trading post. The city of New Orleans, which began in this new land began growing rapidly in population. As the population and job market grew, New Orleans opened as an important seaport that “served as a distinctive cultural gateway to North America, where peoples from Europe and Africa initially intertwined their lives and customs with those of the native inhabitants of the New World.” America was flourishing, but the tension was rising in other nations. Great Britain, for instance, battled France and defeated Napoleon in Europe, and then decided to pursue the U.S. The rooted cause of the War of 1812 began when Britain launched a series of three invasions on the U.S. “The War of 1812 is often called the Second War for Independence, for despite granting the United States its independence in 1783, the British continued to station British forces

After France took over the Mississippi, Westerners were left without a port to export goods. There were only two choices, war or diplomacy. This document reflects its time period because it shows how the power of one nation can overrule the power of another and cause problems for its people. According to Document B, it says that “The purchase of New Orleans is essential to the peace and prosperity of our Western country, and opens a free and valuable market to our commercial states.” The purpose of this document was to show that the US expansion to the west was beneficial to the US because it would preserve the peace and prosperity of this nation and that it would open a free and valuable market to our commercial states which would improve our economy. This source reflects its time period because it shows that since the United States was still young, their leaders wanted the nation to become what it is today. These documents are similar because both document show that the motives for the United States expansion was for the benefit of the nation. In conclusion, the United States expansion was motivated by many reasons such as the desire for more land, to prevent conflicts with

At first, France was in control of the Louisans territory but they ceded the territory west of the Mississippi to Spain in the Treaty of Fontainebleau: they gave the land to Spain in an effort to keep Spain from rebelling against Britain (“Spanish Colonial Louisiana”). Three decades later in 1801, the land was returned to France in a secret treaty because Spain had done little to develop the Louisiana territory during the thirty year period (“Louisiana Purchase concluded”). Jefferson knew that obtaining this territory would be beneficial for American trade and the growth of our country. One of Jefferson’s goals was to obtain control of the port of New Orleans, an essential trading and transportation port for the United States. Jefferson sent two delegates over to France in order to negotiate with Napoleon and he offered to sell the territory for fifteen million dollars, equating to only a few cents per acre (“Louisiana Purchase”). This event is known today as Thomas Jefferson’s greatest accomplishment throughout his entire two terms as

Napoleon owned Louisiana and threatened to block American access to if that deal was broken Napoleon would block American access to the port in New Orleans. The importance of this port is crucial to the American providence because any other export method is impractical, costly, and most of all time consuming (this is an age where your mail will take at least 3-4 months). Due to the circumstance of access to international markets, a crucial need for expansion and a general threat to American interests Jefferson considered going to join Britain for an anti-France alliance. But before the threat of war, he sent diplomats to France to bargain for access and relations and diplomats to Britain to pursue more options. Luckily James Monroe and Robert Livingston were there to negotiate with France on the issue of buying New Orleans and West Florida for about two million dollars, but that was rejected and later bargained up for 10 million dollars. Thankfully Napoleon was desperate from overextending his military and offered to sell the entire Louisiana territory for 15 million (a couple cents an acre). This was probably the best

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.

After Jefferson bought Louisiana from Napoleon for fifteen million dollars, the United States was in the position of domination. The United States was slowly beginning to not only grow geographically but politically as well. However, there is an important question to be asked, Why would Napoleon give up so much for so little? As the Documentary, How the States Got Their Shapes “The answer: Haiti. When the slaves in Haiti overthrew France that, basically, took France out of the game in North America. Haiti is the crown jewel of the French Empire. It 's where all the sugar comes from. It 's where all the money comes from. The only reason you need New Orleans and all that land to the west is to provide food for Haiti.” Therefore, since Haiti no longer belonged to France, France was out of the competition. It is important to pinpoint that before the United States (the 50 states) America shared land with the Spaniard, English, and Native Americans. Thus, the Haitian Revolution gave the United States more land, and power to conquer land. Through the Haitian revolution United States was closer to be “destined to secure territory from "sea to sea," from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean” as the political cartoon American Progress, from John Gust illustrates.