The Louisiana purchase was one of the biggest land purchases in history. In 1803, the United States paid around $15 million dollars for around 800,000 square miles of land. This was arguably the greatest achievement of thomas jefferson’s presidency. The louisiana territory was a wild card in the european game of imperialism. The land mass was first claimed by france, ceded to Spain in 1762, and then ceded back to France nearly 40 years later.
Americans were looking for new land, so they traveled West. The land of the United States was only to the Mississippi River. On the west side of the Mississippi was the Louisiana Territory. This area belonged to spain. The Louisiana Territory went from the Mississippi River all the way to New Orleans. Some pioneers were able to make farms in the upper part of the river. Spain allowed Americans to sail down and trade with New Orleans. The French take over the Louisiana Territory and don’t have much use for it so they offer it to America. The United States bought the land for $15 million.
He was a strong believer in states' rights and thought that rights not explicitly stated in the Constitution should be given to the states. However, in writing the Constitution, there was no way to predict that a deal such as the Louisiana Purchase would ever be possible. Therefore, the power to purchase land from another government, thereby expanding the size of the United States, was never explicitly given to the federal government. Although Thomas Jefferson realized what a deal the Louisiana Purchase was, he had lots of moral doubts about completing the
From the time of the Louisiana Purchase in 1803 to the time of the Gadsden Purchase, westward expansion was a fuel to the issue of slavery extension to the West, causing sectionalism to increase between the North and South. Although westward expansion was one of the factors that accelerated sectionalism between the North and the South, other factors such as the imbalance between the states, the gag rule, the Missouri Compromise of 1820, the Compromise of 1850, the tariff of Abomination, popular sovereignty, and many more played their roles in the sectionalism between the North and the South. The more the United States grew and expanded westward, more factors appeared to hinder the growth of slavery, causing the South to threaten to secede from the Union due to their pro-slavery views.
Now was the time for America’s third president to take action and get back what belonged to his nation. Jefferson would begin his attempt to continue trade access along the Mississippi by sending diplomats to bargain with France. He looked to France as a friend to America but due to a potential crisis from Napoleon, Thomas would empower James Monroe in 1803 for assistance. Monroe had a negotiation amount up to 10 million from Jefferson to go with Livingston to buy the land east of the Mississippi.
In April of 1803 Thomas Jefferson was faced with many moral dilemmas in the process of buying the Louisiana territory. Though the price for the territory was beyond generous, Jefferson felt that by purchasing the territory he would be going against his beliefs that the constitution should be followed word for word. The constitution said nothing of the president having the power to purchase land from another government, or to use money of the states for the same purpose (“the moral dilemma”). Another problem was once the land was purchased, there was a fear that it could have been a waste since they had no way to know the layout of the land, and what it would be useful for. What's more
When purchasing the Louisiana Territory, President Jefferson faced the risk of being prosecuted for violation of the Constitution, which was different from Hamilton’s creation of a national bank because it was illegal. To begin, after the French acquired the Louisiana Territory 1802, Jefferson worried that the French would no longer allow American farmers passage on the Mississippi River or the right to trade at New Orleans, so he sent Robert Livingston to France to negotiate to purchase New Orleans. When Livingston arrived, he was surprised by France’s offer to sell the US the entire Louisiana Territory for just 15 million dollars. Livingston knew he was not authorized to purchase the territory but he also knew that if he waited to ask Congress, the deal might be gone already, so he purchased the territory.
The Louisiana Purchase Treaty was signed on April 30, 1803, in Paris, France, during Thomas Jefferson’s presidency. It was a significant milestone in our history and set a precedent for future generations. While people were not convinced that this was a good idea and felt it would be a waste of money, Jefferson envisioned more freedom from foreign superpowers, more land to farm, and unrestricted access to the Mississippi River which was controlled by the more-powerful France. Acquiring the Port of New Orleans and the Floridas from France was the biggest and most important real estate deal in history. It gave people opportunities to settle into unsettled territory, strengthened our nation and paved the way for future land purchases.
It has come to my attention that there are a few disagreements over the issues concerning the event of the Louisiana Purchase. Whether the purchase was legal or not is one of them. The terms of the U.S. Constitution do not exactly define if the purchase was legal or not. In my opinion, the Louisiana Purchase, under the terms of the Constitution, is in fact illegal, due to various reasons.
I think that the United States, Thomas Jefferson and congress should buy the Louisiana territory because it would double the u.s in size and give us more opportunities like getting goods shipped to us from different countries.
All this leads us to The Louisiana Purchase. On April 30, 1803 the nation of France sold 828,000 square miles (2,144,510 square km) of land west of the Mississippi River to the young United States of America in a treaty commonly known as the Louisiana Purchase. President Thomas Jefferson, in one of his greatest achievements, more than doubled the size of the United States at a time when the young nation 's population growth was beginning to quicken. This could not have happened unless all that blood shed had not
As previously mentioned, the Louisiana Purchase had significant impacts on the size, territory and history of the United States. The purchase that would currently translate to 50 cents per acre (in dollars) increased the size of the United States by 828,000 square miles. Through this purchase, the country increased by ten states and parts of three more states (Wills par, 1). The Louisiana Purchase reflected the increased measures to ensure the growth of the United States and its eventual control and rise to become the world’s super power. Prior to the Louisiana Purchase, many Americans were dreaming of having a bigger country and believed that the United States would grow to become an even greater nation (Landau, p.5). Based on their dreams
History is a complicated and controversial subject. Robert Morgan makes that point clear throughout his article titled “There Is No True History of the Westward Expansion.” Many people associate history with a few well known names or faces, but they don’t realize that there are hundreds of thousands, even millions of other less prominent characters. This point is evident when discussing the topic of westward expansion. Thomas Jefferson, Meriwether Lewis, and William Clark are three big names that come to mind when thinking about the westward expansion of the United States. However, without the average citizens, “on foot and on horseback, in wagons and ox carts” (Morgan 2), the deed would not have been accomplished. Based on my research and
We have just confirmed that Thomas Jefferson has signed a treaty of the giant purchase of the Louisiana territory from France in May 2, 1803. This purchase has now given us 827,000 square miles of land leading to land west of the Mississippi river. This deal has been discovered by James Monroe and Robert Livingston who are now giving us the story of how they helped acquire the land. Hello Mr. Monroe and Mr. Livingston can you explain how you both found this extraordinary offer. “Oh yes of course we will tell you, This is how it started.
As soon as the United States officially bought the Louisiana Purchase, settlers began to spread west. Even more settlers moved after hearing about the discoveries Meriwether Lewis and William Clark told of the western region of the continent. When the nation grew its population towards the Pacific Ocean, the government began to establish states in the land; Louisiana emerged, followed by many more western and southern states. Trappers, traders, miners, ranchers, and multiple Native American tribes brought attention to Montana’s locality. After railroads began to cross the area, President Abraham Lincoln officiated Montana’s statehood on November 8, 1889.