The Louisiana Purchase

The Louisiana purchase was a “watershed” event. This purchase nearly doubled the land mass of a new nation. We got this area from France in 1803. We purchased the Louisiana territory for 15 million dollars and increased in size by 828,000 square miles stretching from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains. In 1802 Jefferson predicted that Spain would retrocede to France, the vast area of Louisiana. From the deal that was made 15 states were eventually created. Since France was so slow at making the Louisiana area a slave area they asked the US if we wanted to purchase all if the Louisiana Area. 9 years after the US purchased Louisiana, the first state to be created was Louisiana

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.

In my personal opinion, the moral dilemma that Jefferson faced resided in political reality. Jefferson had always advocated a very strict platform of Republican values up until this point. This position had been seen early on in his disagreements with Alexander Hamilton in President Washington's cabinet. In the election of 1800, Jefferson was able to articulate a new type of government that was filled with Republicanism. Jefferson took office and acted as if he was the epitome of Republican values. Republicans believed that the role of government needed to decrease. Jefferson tried to minimize federal control through reducing its reach and scope. He pursued a laissez- faire approach to governance in his time as President, which meant that

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

When France and Britain went to war in 1793, the Americans feared that the turmoil and violence would destroy the young American republic. Monroe learned that Napoleon Bonaparte wanted to sell the entire Louisiana territory to present day Canada. He acted quickly and signed the Louisiana purchase agreement before any other nation in order to double the size of the United States. It was the right decision at the right time. Meanwhile, French armies were sent into Spain to help King Ferdinand suppress the liberal movements while Austria conquered Naples and Piedmont. This constant turmoil further aggravated President Monroe’s worries. Concurrently, Great Britain was actively seeking new, more profitable markets in South America, therefore refraining to offer any help to Spain to regain its

Louisiana is a state in the southern region of the United States enriched with dozens of different cultures. The state is strongly influenced by a mixture of 18th-century French, Spanish, Native American, Asian and African cultures. Native Americans first inhabited Louisiana in the early 16th-century. It wasn’t until 1528 that the first European explorers visited Louisiana. The first to visit Louisiana was the Spanish, who came on an expedition. They lost interest and left.

In the 1680s, Sieur de La Salle became the first European to discover the mouth of the Mississippi River. However, he failed to establish a permanent settlement there, so he left a letter to a group of Native Americans from the Mongoulacha tribe and told them to keep it until the French returned. Eventually, the dream of establishing a colony on the Mississippi River Valley would be fulfilled in Fort Maurepas. Fort Maurepas was the first European settlement in what would become the Southeastern United States, and was crucial to determining the fate of the region for centuries to come.

When Louisiana was first settled in 1699 by French immigrants, the colonies of the newly formed state were in an impoverished, unprofitable position. The colonies' destitution was due to the lack of resources provided by their new land and government, as well as France's political and economic negligence. However, after long years of poverty, the colony would one day turn a profit by trading their naturally occurring precious metals for paper money and land.

Around the 18th century, France controlled more of the United States than any other European power from New Orleans northeast to the Great Lakes and northwest to modern-day Montana. In 1762, during the French and Indian War France ceded French Louisiana west of the Mississippi River to Spain and in 1763 transferred nearly all of its remaining North American holdings to Great Britain. Spain, no longer a dominant European power, did little to develop Louisiana during the next three decades. In 1796, Spain allied itself with France, leading Britain to use its powerful navy to cut off Spain from

Napoleon was a french military man and political leader who needed money. His recently purchased island country (now known as Haiti) had revolted sending him into debt. Because Napoleon saw no purpose in keeping the land he decided he would sell it. Napoleon’s ease in selling the land made the United States apprehensive that he would change his mind, but the deal went through.

One of the problems was that if he made the deal it could be unconstitutional. That meant if it was unconstitutional he would have to draft an amendment that would allow him to make the deal. So if that’s what he had to that’s what he did. He went ahead and drafted an amendment that would allow him to make the deal. The deal being allowed for him to get new lands and settlement of the territory. Another problem that faced him was that the amendment could take time that they did not have. If they didn’t have time they knew that if they didn’t make the deal fast it would slip right from under them with a blink of an eye. What he did was he did not sent the amendment and instead sent a treaty that would provide him with the Louisiana Purchase. Now with that solved there was quickly another problem that came to them. American did not have any money to pay Napoleon for the territory. Without any money there is no purchase and no land. What they did was they had to find a way to get the money. So what they did was they looked towards Great Britain for some help. What they did was they went ahead and they borrowed they money from them with a 6% interest. Now with some of the problems solved they were to make the