How Is The Louisiana Purchase Justified

In Article IV of the Constitution, it stated that “new states could be added, but made no provision for taking on foreign territories.” The Louisiana territory was considered foreign territory since it was owned by France. However, when France offered the U.S. the Louisiana territory, “the two American ministers seized the opportunity, going beyond their mandate.” Jefferson tried to make an amendment but when Congress disregarded his draft, he authorized the purchase anyways without the amendment in place. Jefferson wasn’t sure what he wanted to do about adding more territory to the United States so he asked his cabinet for advice.

Napoleon Bonaparte intended to continue war in Europe and needed money; therefore, the American representatives and the French government decided on a price of $15 million for the whole Louisiana territory. This acquisition, known as the Louisiana Purchase, basically doubled the land of the United States at a price of thirteen and one-half cents per acre before interest costs. Jefferson was trapped between his morals and reality, as the Constitution never directly granted the government authority to obtain new territory, but the land would assure the agricultural business’s growth. The Federalist Party opposed the Louisiana Purchase because it would diminish the significance of their strongholds on the east coast, and Republican Jefferson decided against giving them an issue by lingering over the treaty’s

The Federalists opposed the Louisiana Purchase due to political reasons. In document B it states, “The cowardly wretch at their head [Jefferson]”. This quote displays how low the Federalists thought of Jefferson. The document also states, “an infernal pleasure in the utter destruction of his opponents”, showing that Jefferson is thought of as a man with demonic pleasures against the Federalists. Further reasoning is that if they denied him an amendment to buy Louisiana, he would be stuck in a dilemma.

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.

In 1802, Spain had returned back the Louisiana territory to France, which stopped America's access to the port. In 1803, Thomas Jefferson had sent the United States Minister Robert Livingston to try and buy the land from French Emperor Napoleon, who refused as he wished to create a huge empire that would include the Americas. Emperor Napoleon would soon run into money problems when he decided to offer the entire Louisiana territory for $15 million. This purchase of land would double the growing country, but many leaders of the United States opposed this idea of buying the Louisiana territory. Congress held a meeting to choose whether the purchase of the Louisiana territory would happen or it would be canceled.

Thomas Jefferson was one of the founding fathers to buy land totaling 828,000 square miles and that was the Louisiana purchase on top of that. The Louisiana Purchase stretched from the Mississippi River in the east to the Rocky Mountains in the west. The Louisiana Purchase in 1803, the United States acquired a large area of land from the French. It was the single largest purchase of land ever by the United States and doubled the size of the country. And, in 1803, Napoleon offered to sell the entire Louisiana Territory to the United States for $15 million.

Thomas Jefferson was able to accomplish the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. Thomas Jefferson wanted to purchase the settlement of New Orleans from the French. Jefferson wanted this territory for new land to plant crops and raise livestock. At the time, the U.S Minster of France was sent by Jefferson to try and buy the land from the Napoleon. The Napoleon refused to sell at first, however in the same year ,1803 Jefferson and James Monroe fortunately arranged a deal with France.

The government should not do things that are not explicitly stated as a power they possess. The Louisiana Purchase was actually a direct violation of the 10th Amendment. Despite Jefferson's desire to never violate the Constitution, it seemed he had crossed his own line. According to the 10th Amendment, the government cannot be granted powers not delegated to it by the Constitution and nowhere is it stated in the Constitution that the president has the ability to purchase land from foreign powers. Jefferson knew this was an amendment to the Constitution.

So this was a problem for him. Jefferson said that the general government didn’t have enough power under the constitution to be able to buy foreign territories. The way he solved this problem was that the senate voted and a treaty was signed. After it was signed people still thought that the purchase was unconstitutional. Another problem was that the South states wanted to continue with slavery but the North strongly didn’t agree.

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.

Thomas Jefferson knew what that 828,000 square miles of land would do for America so he was immediately intrigued by the idea. The Louisiana territory was a huge piece of land that ended up being calculated as larger than Great Britain, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, and Portugal combined. So the US gaining the territory would be highly beneficial economically, strategically, and materially. At first, Jefferson was a bit doubtful about the purchase but the bargain he was being offered was not an offer he could pass up.

The United States acquired new territory from France as the result of the Louisiana Purchase. The

The Federalists opposed the Louisiana Purchase because of practical reasons. It increased conflict with American Indians. The Louisiana Purchase was also opposed because of the constitutionality. It was opposed because of the political balance in the new territory. Hamilton states “the territory is not yet populated”.

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.

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.