Why Is It Important To Purchase Louisiana Territory

In “When the Ends Justify the Means,” Barry J. Balleck debates that President Jefferson did not abandon his political ethics by purchasing the Louisiana Territory (P. 14). Balleck states that the Louisiana Purchase was “the greatest achievement of Thomas Jefferson’s presidency” (P. 14). With the addition of the new territory to the United States, President Jefferson secured the nation “for generations, if not centuries to come” (P. 14). Jefferson was confident that purchasing the Louisiana Territory would encourage the development of an upright Republican populace (P. 14). Surprisingly, he had many reservations about his authority to purchase Louisiana, but that did not stop him from laying the treaty before Congress (P. 19). He also knew that, by purchasing Louisiana, the Federalists power might be lost, but he still pushed forward with the treaty (P. 19). Although many historians criticize President Jefferson for giving up his most visible political convictions by purchasing Louisiana, he knew that it would double the size of the United States and ensure much land expansion for the country (P. 20). He strongly believed that the new territory was “essential to national security” (P. 21). In President Jefferson’s mind, purchasing Louisiana secured the “virtues of Republicanism in an ‘Empire of Liberty’” (P. 22). “The Louisiana

Entering his presidency, Thomas Jefferson did not intend on expanding the land of the newborn country, the United States of America, but soon discovered a deal in his hands that was too good to refuse. The Louisiana Purchase of 1803, was debated as unconstitutional or illegal. Secondly, the Louisiana Purchase was a vast area of land that stretched approximately 820,000 square miles, the territory reached from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains, to the Gulf of Mexico, and Canada impacting thousands different groups of people. The Louisiana Purchase of 1803, was debated as unconstitutional or illegal. The Louisiana Purchase territory was one of the biggest land sales in World History causing heated debates as on how unconstitutional it and President Jefferson were at the time, it’s vast area of land it covered effected multiple groups in the country, and still to this day the purchase affects American lives.

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

Also if purchased it will be admitted into the union, but as a slave state. As stated in a letter from Rufus King to Timothy pickering, “Congress may admit new states, But can the President sign treaties forcing Congress to do so?[...] Since slavery is legal and exists in Louisiana,... Won’t we be forced to admit the new states as slave states[…] Doing so would worsen the problem of unequal representation”(Document B). Because the new states will be slave states, it will cause unequal representation to occur at an even greater scale. Also it is not right for the treaty to be forced upon the congress to sign. The Federalist problems with the new purchase that was being signed were practical reasons and not just because Jefferson had made the

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 was one of the first acts of nationalism in the United States. It was a “land deal” between France and the United States. At first France had the territory but lost it to Spain in 1762. Later, in 1800, France took back this territory and had it till 1803 when the United States bought it from them in the Louisiana Purchase. This was considered “the greatest real estate deal in history” where the United States bought over 530,000,000 acres for $15 million dollars. This

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.

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.

This inspired the Lousisiana Purchase, which was a brilliant diplomatic achievement. The purchase of the Louisiana territory from France for $15 million, doubled the size of American territory. It did however leave Jefferson with a constitutional dilemma. He admitted that the purchase was not authorized by the Constitution, but he allowed his desire to expand the American Republic to trump his legal concerns. The purchase was supported by other Republicans for several reasons. Acquiring more territory would serve "the immediate interests of our Western citizens" and promote "the peace and security of the nation in general" by removing French control and creating a protective buffer separating the United States from the rest of the world. And in the time it would've taken to make the purchase constitutional, the opportunity the buy the land could've

Other than the East, current (2017) America’s Midwest, Northwestern States, and Southern States belong to the Europeans (French, Spanish), according to Document 4B. What caused the American Government or shall I say some to be fascinated and eager to gain the Louisiana Territory was its’ region being in the same area as the Mississippi River. In Document 4A, it states “It is New Orleans, through which the produce of our territory must pass to market, and from its fertility it will ere [before] long yield more than half of our whole produce and contain more than half our inhabitants…”. The quote, written by President Thomas Jefferson, speaks about New Orleans and how it can benefit and assist with their economy because of its’ land can be used for agriculture and hold more American citizens. On the other hand, the Federalist Party opposed the purchase of the Louisiana Territory. In Document 6, it states “Jefferson’s political opponents in the Federalist Party argued that the Louisiana Purchase was a worthless desert, and that the Constitution did not provide for the acquisition of new land or negotiating treaties without the consent of the Senate.”.

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 the government’s eyes whoever had power over the port of New Orleans and the Mississippi River was a humungous threat to America. President Thomas Jefferson knew that he had to take action very soon. America knew that if France ended up owning the port of New Orleans and the Mississippi River, it would allow them easy access into any

Each party handled the occurrence of this event differently from one another. During the time frame of the purchase, the current president, Jefferson, was offered $15 million by Robert Livingston. Jefferson was taken back by the proffer investment. He was authorized to offer $10 million worth of New Orleans and Florida. In comparison, the Louisiana distribution was a preferred opportunity than his $10 million contribution. Foreshadowing to present day, Jefferson`s vision was to spread to the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean. According to the constitution, Jefferson has an arousing problem. He was not fully authorized to purchase the land. Subsequently, a treaty was retrieved by Congress to gain access to Louisiana which contradicts specifics about Jefferson. He wanted a weak central government and strong state governments, but the purchase required the Congress. John Adams spoke of this,“Their principle now is old Federalism, vamped up into something bearing the superficial appearance of republicanism” (Doc F). Jefferson did not desire government having too much power because of increase government spending. “Our country is too large to have all its affairs directed by a single government”, said Jefferson passively (Doc A). During the presidency of Jefferson, Madison, Secretary of State, favored the Louisiana Purchase. Founders of the Jeffersonian Republicans, Madison and Jefferson still supported it. On January 4th, in 1815, States were required two-thirds vote of both houses to allow new states to be admitted to prevent the Louisiana Purchase recurrence (Doc