The Pros And Cons Of The Louisiana Purchase

In April 1803, the negotiation was concluded and the entire region of Louisiana was ceded to the United States for the sum of $11,250,000 dollars (LeFeber 182). The American negotiators seized the favorable circumstances to urge the claims of American merchants on the French government for $3,750,00. This important acquisition more than doubled the territory of the United States. The great majority of the nation received the treaty with jubilation, but there were some particularly in the eastern States that disclaimed strenuously against it. They saw in the great enlargement of our territory and was nogthing more thatn a great waste, a wilderness unpeopled with any beings except wolves and wandering Indians. We are to give money of which we have too little for land of which we already have too much (LeFeber 183).

A Wilderness so Immense by John Kukla explores the events leading up to and the enduring effects of the Louisiana Purchase of 1803. Kukla begins his story almost twenty years before Jefferson bought the Louisiana territory from France and analyzes how factors ranging from major revolutions to personal relationships all culminated to make the most famous land acquisition in American history possible. He argues that the Louisiana Purchase was not only a case a good luck on Jefferson’s part or solely the result of Napoleon’s failed caribbean ambitions, as some historians that came before him argued. Rather, Kukla explains that the roots of American expansionism are older than the republic itself. American politicians worked and made very

It was interesting to me to read about Thomas Jefferson’s leadership style in the CNN article and hear about it the video “The Louisiana Purchase.” One of the things in the video that really interested me was how the presidents and politicians would use their own code. I was surprised when the video mentioned how Jefferson purposely sent a letter that was not coded so that Napoleon could hear rumors of America thinking about allying with British. I did not know Thomas Jefferson had it in him to bluff like that. It all makes me wonder, though, who was reading the letters and how many people talked about it for Napoleon himself to end up hearing about the contents of the letter?

President Thomas Jefferson faced many moral dilemmas during the process of deciding to purchase the territory, the moral predicaments that president Thomas Jefferson faced was going against the constitution, going in major debt to pay for the territory, and also faced many issues with foreign policy almost exclusively between the countries Spain and France. President Jefferson was put in a situation that no other leader of our young country had ever been in, and he stressed about breaking his own moral code to make the correct decision for his nation.

In 1803, President Thomas Jefferson negotiated the Louisiana Purchase with France despite personal qualms of its constitutionality. The Louisiana Territory nearly doubled the size of the United States, including the major port city of New Orleans. Despite his personal reading of the Constitution, Jefferson understood that it was more important for the country to act decisively and buy the land than to await an amendment to the Constitution. Jefferson, acting within the right of the president to negotiate treaties, pursued the Louisiana Purchase primarily due to the political threat of the nearby French territory and the economic importance of New Orleans.

While for a majority of the time, Jefferson was a known federalist, but when purchasing the Louisiana territory, he went against his own beliefs. Yet, it was a good decision that he had made. To exemplify, he had made the purchase owing the French $15 million, which ended up being about 3 cents per acre. Moreover, there were many goods and resources that had been within the newfound territory, which they would have never had the chance to exploit if Jefferson had never bought it. Furthermore, this new land helped the American citizens to expand their territory to nearly twice the size then it originally had

President Thomas Jefferson had a dilemma. His country The United States was no longer allowed to use the waterway that kept his growing nation alive. He knew the danger of not having access to the waterport; so he made his controversial decision of the “Louisiana Purchase.” This decision had a lasting effect on The United States. Thomas Jefferson’s decision on the “Louisiana Purchase” had a positive impact on history.

On April 30, 1803, the United States purchased the Louisiana Purchase from France. The Louisiana Purchase was territory from the west of the Mississippi River to the border of the western territories of Spain and Britain. The purchase was “less than three cents per acre for 828,000 square miles (2,144,520 square km), it was the greatest land bargain in U.S. history.” The grand total of the purchase was 15 million dollars and “doubled the size of the United States, greatly strengthen the country materially and strategically, provided a powerful impetus to westward expansion, and confirmed the doctrine of implied powers of the federal Constitution.” The president at the time, Thomas Jefferson, pushed for the Louisiana Purchase because his “plans

It goes without saying that the legacy of Thomas Jefferson as President has been an intellectually consistent one throughout American History. Of his many accomplishments- from being the primary drafter of the Declaration of Independence, to being a man of enlightenment- Jefferson's impressive guidance of foreign diplomacy resulting in the Louisiana Purchase was one of the most iconic events throughout the first administration of his presidency. Since Thomas Jefferson upheld the agrarian ideal, he had desired to expand the United States; and with the purchase of the Louisiana territory, not only did the expansion nearly double the amount of United States territory , but it further established his vision of a “New Empire of Liberty.” More importantly, after the Louisiana Purchase of 1803, this led Jefferson to commission the iconic expedition of the American West, the Corps of Discovery, commonly popularized throughout American lore as the Expedition of Lewis and Clark.

The Louisiana Purchase was a major event in the growth of the United States of America. Purchased from France for 15 million by Thomas Jefferson in 1803, it gave America twice the available land, adding 827,000 square miles. Some may argue the Louisiana Purchase is unconstitutional, but Jefferson found a way around that. The Constitution says land may be acquired through treaties such as the Louisiana Purchase. After the accusation of the Louisiana Territory, Jefferson had an expedition lead by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark. The goal of the expedition was to map the new territory and find a quicker path to the Pacific Ocean. The entire expedition lasted a little longer than two years to complete.

What comes to mind when the Louisiana Purchase is mentioned? Is it images of vast, rolling plains, Thomas Jefferson, the Lewis and Clark expedition, or perhaps just the shear, untapped potential and pride? It is widely accepted that the acquisition of the Louisiana territory shaped America, but why was it so significant? The answer lies in the many benefits it bestowed to the suddenly great nation, from the numerous new resources to the international authority and even a revision in reasoning and perspective. The Louisiana Purchase is considered one America’s most important and prosperous investments.

In 1803, Thomas Jefferson was sent as the Secretary of State to negotiate with the French in regards to the city of New Orleans --it was a prime trading dock since many waterways would intersect at the port. However, when Jefferson met with Napoleon discussing the plans, the French offered him the Louisiana Purchase that spanned west of the Mississippi River for quite a miniscule price. The context behind such a deal is that the French were fighting in the Napoleonic Wars, trying to fight England; the battle was not in favor of the French, and Napoleon feared that war retributions would require the French to give the Louisiana Purchase to England without getting anything in return. The French obviously wanted to gain as much of an edge as possible in the war so they sold the Louisiana Purchase for quick, liquid money that could be devoted towards the war and the French also hoped that they would be able to buy the Louisiana Purchase back from the United States when the French are in a more stable time. Even with such an amazing deal, Jefferson had internal conflictions when purchasing the land. He believed in the policy of strict construction and felt the government was restricted to only the powers explicitly granted by the U.S. Constitution. However, the Constitution does not mention anything about the government being able to purchase land. In the end, Jefferson did buy the land, and it doubled the size of the United States.

More than two centuries ago, in 1803, the United States undertook a transaction that increased its territory by almost double. The event took place within a short notice, without engaging in war and with the briefest negotiations. Hailed as the most significant achievement of the Thomas Jefferson administration, the purchase of Louisiana expanded the US territory by about eight hundred and twenty-eight million square miles. Thomas Jefferson, the president at the time, purchased Louisiana for approximately four cents an acre. The territory stretched from the Rocky Mountains in the west to the Mississippi river in the east and from the Canadian borders in the north to the Mexican gulf in the south.

Today we take for granted all that Minnesota has to offer. We never stop to think why or who. There are many significant people we have to thank for what we have here in Minnesota. Zebulon Pike, Josiah Snelling, Henry Sibley, Alexander Ramsey and Dredd Scott are individuals who politically economically and culturally identified Minnesota.

In order to purchase Louisiana and make the inhabitants of Louisiana citizens, it is to go against my own beliefs of a strict constitution. Since the constitution does not grant me the power to do so it would be hypocritical of me to go ahead and do as I please. However, if I do not act it is to my concern that France might attempt to dominate the Mississippi river and cut off settler’s access to the Gulf of Mexico.