How Did Thomas Jefferson Purchased The Louisiana Territory
Kimberly Nguyen
October 2017
Swanson 9:30
US History
Unit 2 First Draft
In 1803, Thomas Jefferson purchased the Louisiana Territory, a land deal between the United States and France. “The U.S. acquired approximately 827,000 square miles of land west of the Mississippi River for $15 million.” Jefferson sent James Monroe along with Robert Livingston to Paris to negotiate. Jefferson gave them a mandate to negotiate up to $10 million for purchase of New Orleans and all or part of the Floridas. If they weren’t able to do this, they would try negotiate for US access to Mississippi and the port. When Monroe and Livingston arrived in Paris, they learned there was a different deal happening. Napoleon could not afford to have troops occupy the entire
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This purchase would double the size of the US. This negotiation had to be ratified by end of October and was ratified on October 20 with a vote of 24 to 7. Spain gave Louisiana to France on November 30 and France transferred territory to Americans on December 30. During this purchase of the Louisiana Territory, Thomas Jefferson abandoned his political ideals to secure the purchase. One way Jefferson abandoned his political ideas was that the way he purchased the Louisiana territory was not listed in the Constitution. In Article IV of the Constitution, it stated that “new states could be added, but made no provision for taking on foreign territories.” The Louisiana territory was considered foreign territory since it was owned by France. However, when France offered the U.S. the Louisiana territory, “the two American ministers seized the opportunity, going beyond their mandate.” Jefferson tried to make an amendment but when Congress disregarded his draft, he authorized the purchase anyways without the amendment in place. Jefferson wasn’t sure what he wanted to do about adding more territory to the United States so he asked his cabinet for advice. Attorney General Levi
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