Louisiana Purchase Essay

north of north of the Arkansas River. He argued that would serve as crucial buffer between French Louisiana and British Canada. Many Americans opposed the Louisiana Purchase. Both houses of congress worried that the Louisiana Purchase would reduce clout. Only one federalist supported the Louisiana Purchase treaty which was passed by a vote of 24 to 7. Jefferson had doubts about legality of the Louisiana Purchase. The treaty did not state the boundaries that both countries had. Jefferson requested for congress to approve a $2,500 for the exploratory expedition to the west. The Lewis and Clark Expedition was a way that Jefferson would hope that Lewis and Clark would find a water route that linked the Columbia and Missouri rivers. At that time

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.

This was a purchase of all land west of the Mississippi river. The U.S. was Originally going to just buy New Orleans. There plans for New Orleans were so that farmers west of the Appalachian Mountains would now have a trade route. After the U.S. asked France for New Orleans they offered all the land west of the Mississippi river for just $5 million more. This raised the price of this trade to now $15 million which was $7 million dollars over budget because the U.S. was already cutting into the funds for the next year. Jefferson believed that this deal was way too good to pass up. This was declined by the rest of the constitution. To make sure that he got his way Jefferson made this a trade deal and sent it to the senate to get ⅔ approval. This trade deal was approved and they bought all land west of the Mississippi. This was a good way to use the constitution because the U.S. now had much more land to expand their country now. “ He shall have power by and with evidence and consent of the senate,to make treaties.” This is saying that Jefferson has the power to make treaties with the consent of senate. This was very effective because the U.S. had much more land and might eventually lead to more

"Give me liberty or give me death.", Patrick Henry eloquently stated, this was the sentiment that colonists strongly felt during the American Revolution. This is but one of the many influential phrases voiced throughout the war that occurred between American colonists and Great Britain. The American Revolution began once all delegates from the continental congress signed the Declaration of Independence authored by Thomas Jefferson. Thomas Jefferson was born in Shadwell, Virginia on April 13, 1743. He was the the third eldest out of six children and his parents were wealthy plantation owners. He was married to Martha Skelton who bore six children with him, however only two of them lived more than a few years.("Thomas Jefferson")

In the act of the purchase, Jefferson was increasing the power of government. The Louisiana Purchase was an example of large government using its federal power to create action. In purchasing Louisiana, it was undecided with the other branches of government. The Legislative Branch did not negotiate with the French government and did not approve of the sale. The treaty and understanding to purchase Louisiana was pursued by the Executive Branch, an example of active government which is far from limited. It was obvious to Jefferson that there was a fundamental political dilemma in running on a platform that advocates for a lesser role in government only to increase it in the purchase of the Louisiana Territory. Jefferson now hesitated with his decision due to the political

The Louisiana Purchase was the purchase of the Louisiana territory by the United States from France in 1803. The U.S. paid fifty million dollars and a cancellation of debts worth eighteen million dollars which averages to less than three cents per acre. The Louisiana territory included land from fifteen present U.S. states and two Canadian provinces. The territory contained land that forms Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Nebraska, portions of Minnesota, large portions of North Dakota; large portions of South Dakota, parts of New Mexico, the northern portion of Texas, the area of Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado. The Louisiana Purchase was smart move by the United States.

America is popularly known for its fifty states that span across the North American content. All the states are governed by autonomous state governments that are all under the central authority of federal government. The history of how America came to unite the fifty states is fascinating considering that the means of acquisition of these states were not similar. The content of this paper will compare and contrast the acquisition of two major territories by the United States commonly known as the Louisiana Purchase and the Mexican Cession.

After the Treaty of Paris in 1763, which ended the Seven Years War between the French and the British as well as all of their allies, the French lost claim to all of their land. The English being the winners of the war claimed the majority, and what they did not seize was given to the Spanish for their support and help in the war. In 1802 France and Spain signed a secret treaty called The Treaty Of Ildefonso. Once the treaty was fulfilled, Spain gave the Louisiana territory back to France (“Background”). Napoleon had interest in Louisiana for the purpose mainly to ship supplies to the French colonies in the Caribbean islands but also as a source of food and trade. New Orleans being a port city, it was a good passage for trade. Despite this, a rebellion in Haiti had shifted his focus off of the territory. Now that the land held no benefit to him, and was a large mass just taking up space, he decided his best option was to sell the land and gain the money for France (“Background”). Jefferson's only concern was securing the waterway into the Gulf of Mexico. He offered a sum of two million dollars for the port city alone. France came back with the counter offer of the whole Louisiana territory for a little more than a nickle a square mile (“background”). This was an offer that would be very beneficial to capitalize on, yet it went against Thomas Jefferson’s beliefs in the

Thomas Jefferson always viewed slavery as a “moral depravity and a hideous blot.”(5) Jefferson felt it also was a great threat to the nation 's survival and opposing the laws of nature, which every person had the right liberty. When the American Revolution was taking place, Jefferson was connected with the legislation in hopes it result in abolishment of slavery. In his attempts to abolish slavery Jefferson drafted the Virginia law in 1778 “that prohibited the importation of enslaved Africans.”(6) In 1784 he also “proposed in an ordinance that would ban slavery in the Northwest territories.”(7) These were steps towards the abolishment of slavery, but for it to be successful it had to part of a democratic process Jefferson believed. It would take something like the Emancipation Proclamation to make his beliefs come true.

While this was a plus of the purchase, allowing the country to grow so big would also bring along some cons too. As a country grows to be the size America did, this made governing for all of that land difficult. Also, considering that this took place in the very early 1800’s which means that they didn’t have the same technology, transportation, or transmission that we have today. This means as settlers started to move out west, many would start to not completely follow all the laws because there wasn’t as much government power in the west back then. As stated above, another concept that Jefferson and America had to take into thought was this purchase would put America into a huge amount of debt. Having the land come at about four cents an acre wasn’t too bad, but because the vast size of the land that America was acquiring, it was not the best situation for the debt of America. Just this outcome alone will become one of the few reasons why the Louisiana Purchase could be viewed as one of the poor decisions made back in the

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.

These factors include the cost of purchasing the land, not only in a the physical cost but also a mental state it place on the people of this new founded country. The fact that if Jefferson went through with the purchase of this new expansion territory he would be funding Napoleon Bonaparte, the French ruler who ruled in a dictatorial way, who needed the money to support his army as he tried to conquer England harming people in the process. Additionally, the opinions of his own people differed, all did not agree with the idea of the Louisiana Purchase, some people even believed it to be unconstitutional. Jefferson had to figure all of these factors in when he was making the decision on whether he was going to accept Napoleon’s offer on the land within the Louisiana Territory or whether he had to much to risk within his

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

It was a controversial debate on whether the Louisiana purchase would be a good investment or not. In attempt to gain the ownership of the mississippi, necessary for trade and transportation, Thomas Jefferson offered Napolean 10 million for the French Orleans territory. The Louisiana purchase was a benefit to the long development of the now, United States of America. The purchase helped the united states because it was very cheap and a big section of land, it more than doubled the size of it, and it helped them gain worldly power. The purchase was beneficial to to the United states for these main reasons.

The Louisiana Purchase was a very imperative moment during Thomas Jefferson’s presidency. He concluded that he would buy all 827,000 square miles of Louisiana, land west of the Mississippi River, for approximately 15 million dollars in 1803. Jefferson knew about the rights of the federal government and the strict interpretation in the Constitution, but regardless he still continued on with the Purchase of Louisiana. During that time, it was said to be unconstitutional. Even though having felt that The Constitution didn’t include any provisions for obtaining territory, Jefferson wanted to purchase Louisiana because he felt troubled over