While the supporters of Thomas Jefferson believe that buying foreign land was necessary, those who are against him feel that what he did was unconstitutional. In the source, “Thomas Jefferson to John Breckinridge, 12 August 1803”, the text explains that what Jefferson did was allowed, as it had not mentioned that he couldn’t in the constitution. This controversy is huge, because some people believe that he did not have the right to do so. Jefferson made a point that it wasn’t mentioned in the constitution, so he decided to ratify it and pay for it. Some believe congress did not have the right to authorize this decision. Beginning in the 17th century, France discovered the Mississippi River valley and established scattered settlements in
The experiences that Jefferson includes in the document are harsh, and leave the people believing that they are being abused instead of protected. One example of this is, “accordingly all experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms in which they are accustomed.” (Jefferson, 2) Jefferson is talking about how the government system is corrupt, no one rises up against it or does anything about it. The experiences that the people have had allow them to place what they believe the “evils” that are “sufferable” are, which for most people in the U.S, that would be the King and the way Britain is treating them. This unites the people under that common hatred.
The Louisiana Purchase was a “land deal” made between France and the U.S. in December of 1803, where France sold America 828,000 miles of land along the west side of the Mississippi River for 15 million dollars (approximately 4 cents per acre). People regard it as Thomas Jefferson’s greatest achievement because of how drastically it changed the United States. The purchase greatly expanded America and brought many other benefits along with it. Although it was definitely a major benefit to the United States, even Jefferson had his doubts about the purchase. But despite many doubts, the U.S. made the decision to ratify the purchase, and because of that decision, America has changed for the better.
One of the most influential decisions made in the history of The United States was the infamous Louisiana Purchase. The Louisiana Purchase was a deal made in 1803 between Napoleon, a French emperor and Thomas Jefferson, the current leader of America, in acquiring a whopping 825,000 square acres of land. This investment would double the amount of land and profit America would hold. 15 states were eventually created from the land deal and became one of the few greatest occurrences during Thomas Jefferson’s presidency. Although this opportunity seemed undeniably beneficial, many other citizens at the time, most often Federalists, exposed the numerous flaws that came with this transaction.
Jefferson’s election in 1800 marked the first peaceful transfer of power between political parties in U.S. history. This showed that the country could transition power without getting into violence or conflict. Jefferson believed in limited government and states rights, which means that he thought the federal government should have less power and the states should have more. Jefferson's purchase of the Louisiana land in 1803 doubled the size of the United States and expanded executive power by allowing the President to make large land purchases without approval from Congress.
Also, powers that aren’t authorized to the United States in the Constitution, constrained by it to the States, are subsequently for the people or the States. Since the power of buying land isn’t directly admitted to the Federal Government in the Constitution, the tenth amendment states that the Federal Government doesn’t have the power to purchase land. Jefferson also believed that the Federal government shouldn’t spend money if they did not have it, and the Louisiana Purchase very much contributed to the insufficiency. Thus violating at his own risk, he purchased Louisiana
Also, Jefferson completely ignored his original views when confronted with the purchase of the Louisiana Territory. The Louisiana Territory was a large mass of land acquired from France in 1803. Napoleon wanted to sell the land due to the fact that he no longer saw the possibility of a French Empire in North America, so he planned on selling it to the United States. Jefferson completely agreed to the purchase. However, many saw this as unconstitutional as the Constitution does not explicitly allow the government to purchase foreign
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
France controlled a very large, sparsely settled colony, which stretched from Louisiana through the Mississippi valley and Great
The first people to explore the Louisiana Territory were the Spaniards. Even though they discovered the land, France took most of the land
The Louisiana Purchase 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.
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.
Former member of the U.S. House of Representatives William Jefferson, while maybe not so known, was able to use his political power to gain for himself. He was a bribe taker during his terms in office making him a grafter. A grafter is someone who secretly takes money for political favors. These types of actions when discovered can get the person who has done them in many different kinds of trouble, including loss of job and even charges pressed. This crime by many is seen to be corruption, rightfully so, as things happen that might not have happened if money was not involved.
“Done at Madrid, this 11th date of August, 1803,”. When Thomas Jefferson and James Monroe bought the land from France in eighteen o’ three they together changed the lives and cultures of hundreds to thousands of native americans, frenchmen, and even current and future americans by starting land battles and century-long feuds. Along with these bad things they also started some good things like increasing trade, mining, and agriculture. Jefferson and Monroe more than doubled the size of America for the small price of $fifteen million dollars, but also for the larger price of more wars, deaths, and greed on american soil. Some people however still believe that the price of the land was too big of a price to pay for what we received in the end,
Thomas Jefferson during his time in office faced many challenges with the new country. One major challenge and one of the biggest accomplishments during his presidency was the Louisiana Purchase. This turned out to be a huge issue for Jefferson because of the ordeals and the way he wanted to run the government. This was a major conflict in interest for Jefferson because he was a strict constitutionalist and followed it word for word. In the end what he did was completely overstep his powers as president doing what he feared would happen by purchasing the Louisiana territory without any approval from congress for 15 million dollars.
Jefferson’s dilemma in the Louisiana Purchase 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.