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Exploring the Louisiana Purchase & its Impact
Exploring the Louisiana Purchase & its Impact
The importance of Louisiana Purchase
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The Louisiana Purchase of 1803 was a large expansion to the United States. With the country nearly doubled in size, the Louisiana Purchase brought up many debates on constitutionality, questions of what was in the new land, as well as questions about the existence of slavery within the newly acquired land. The look of the United States changed forever with this large amount of land, both geographically and politically. The Louisiana Territory was originally claimed for France by the explorer Rene- Robert Cavelier La Salle in 1682 (Nelson). French King Louis XV gave the territory to his cousin Charles III of Spain in 1762 after the defeat of the French in the French and Indian War. This transition was to ensure that the British would not …show more content…
The background behind the Louisiana Purchase stems back to one of the key points of the Jeffersonians. The Jeffersonians longed for pro-French foreign policy during the debates on how the United States Constitution should be perceived. In 1789 George Washington became the first president of the United States, and one of the four members in his cabinet is none other than Thomas Jefferson, to whom was appointed as Secretary of State. Jefferson favored a strict interpretation of the United States Constitution, and the Louisiana Purchase treaty was a target of Federalist legislators in 1803 (Carson). Eight months before the purchase of the Louisiana Territory, came the issue of judicial review during the case of Marbury v. Madison (Theriault 294). William Marbury sued the federal government for commission as a judge, which was held by the current Secretary of State James Madison. Chief Justice John Marshall dismisses the lawsuit, and Marshall rules the Judiciary Act of 1801 as unconstitutional. As a result of Marbury v. Madison, the Supreme Court determines constitutionality. The addition of new territory was not formally stated in the United States Constitution, and the members during the eighth session of Congress thought that it would disrupt the balance of power in favor of the Southern and Western states
David A. Carson argues in “Blank Paper of the Constitution: The Louisiana Purchase Debates” that Thomas Jefferson did abandon his political ideals when purchasing Louisiana (P. 1). The Louisiana Territory gave the United States control of the Mississippi Valley and the mainland of North American, and it opened the doors for the expansion of slavery across the country (P. 3). Although the acquisition of Louisiana was important to the success and growth of the United States, Carson states that President Jefferson, “Saw that it threatened to make “blank paper” of the Constitution since it expanded the powers of the national government further than even the most die-hard Federalists could have imagined” (P. 3). On the 16th of July, two days after Jefferson received the purchased treaty, he called together his cabinet to help plan the course of the agreements through Congress (P. 4). The cabinet agreed to assemble Congress on the 17th of October to give both houses enough time to act before the closing day of October 30th (P. 4).
This was something that was really important for trade and the extension to westward. In the 1800s, the Louisiana Purchase is still considered the most important occurrence in the westward being spread out of the U.S. and is a trial to include a different ethnic group. This was the starting point of the encounter with multi-ethnicity boarders. The Louisiana Purchase the way that the nation used to be and had a intense result on what the nation would become later on. The new regions of the purchase demonstrated a notable obstacle to the essentially Anglo-Protestant, young nation known as America. The more south part of the purchase was in result an overseas region. Many the people residing there's origin was African, Mediterranean, and Caribbean. Most of them had a divergent viewpoint of race, law, and government. Admittedly the Louisiana Purchase began the nation's experience with a variety of races that went on and on across the next couple centuries and is still going on to this
One action taken by the United States government that was influenced by geographic factors was the Louisiana Purchase. There were many historical circumstances that resulted in the government’s action. Louisiana was originally owned by the French until France sold it to the United States. Thomas Jefferson bought Louisiana in 1803. The influence of this geographic factor occurred because as the United States had expanded westward, navigation of the Mississippi River and access to the port of New Orleans had become critical to American commerce. The purchase of the Louisiana territory, including New Orleans, was for $15 million. The acquisition of approximately 827,000 square miles would double the size of the United States. This also gave the United States control of the Mississippi River. This had a lot of impacts on the United States. It increased western expansion which was included in the Manifest Destiny. The Manifest Destiny was a 19th-century doctrine that the United States had the right and duty to expand throughout the North American continent. But, this expansion did lead to conflicts...
The United States acquired the Louisiana Territory from France in 1803, thereby gaining control of the Mississippi River, and its watershed at the golf of Mexico. The U.S. government realized how important this was and its potential of becoming a great trading post. By 1812 this area called New Orleans grew as expected in size and importance. In peace it was a commercial outlet and trading center of the western United States.
This transaction would come to be known as the Louisiana Purchase and nearly doubled the size of the new nation. While George Washington and John Adams made efforts at westward expansion, Thomas Jefferson secured the Louisiana Purchase and initiated the Lewis and Clark expedition. According to Wulf, “maybe Lewis would find the huge mastodon roaming across the plains; discover profitable crops, flowers in exotic shapes and sizes, and trees that would soar even higher than those already encountered. Jefferson planned this expedition in the name of science, but it would also be the beginning of a distinctly American glorification of the wilderness” (Wulf, 157). The Lewis and Clark expedition and the Louisiana Purchase had such a significant impact on America’s identity.
The Loose construction of the elastic clause gave more power to the congress and allowed Thomas Jefferson to purchase the Louisana territory. The Louisiana Purchase was more than 530,000,000 acres of territory purchased from France in 1803.
Jefferson recognized that the purchase would be “beyond constitutional,” (Jefferson) but his desire to expand America undermined his “legal scruples” (book). The Republicans and Thomas Jefferson supported the acquisition, because it was favorable to the “immediate interests of” the “western citizens” (book). The also believed it would create a more safe and peaceful environment, in a way that would separate French and American authorities. The federalists on the other hand, disagreed with the treaty for various reasons. They were worried that westward expansion would increase wages on the Atlantic coast by “reducing and lowering the value of real estate in their region” (book). The federalists knew that the states to that would be created from the new land would be settled by Jeffersonian Republicans, ultimately establishing a stronger Republican foothold in the country. Despite the feuds between the two groups, the Senate ratified the treaty with a vote of twenty-six to six, and on December 20, 1803, America took possession of the Louisiana
Madison as he was in the Louisiana Purchase, he was still a key player in this episode that redefined the Judiciary branch of American government. Jefferson had just taken over the presidency from John Adams, a member of the rival Federalist Party, who, during his last days in office, had many of his fellow Federalists assigned offices in the Judiciary, including the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, John Marshall (Goldfield 277). Jefferson and his Secretary of State, James Madison, resented this Federalist grab for power and refused to give one of the appointees his position. This appointee, William Marbury, used the Judiciary Act of 1789 to take the issue to court (277). However Marshall, did not rule that Marbury be given his appointment by Jefferson, who had been actively removing Federalist Judges and would likely choose not to acknowledge Marshall’s authority (277). Marshall took a different approach, instead of giving Marbury his appointment, he declared the Judiciary Act of 1789 unconstitutional because it gave the Supreme Court authority that was beyond what was outlined in the Constitution (277). By taking away some of his own authority, Marshall gave the Supreme Court the formidable ability to declare laws unconstitutional (277). Interestingly, it would never have happened if Jefferson and his administration had not have taken action (or in this case lack of action) against the appointment
The year of 1803 significantly changed our nation eternally. It stunned many people. In no way, shape or form, did we ever believe that our nation would expand so rapidly. What started with the small purchase of New Orleans led into the substantial purchase of the Louisiana Territory. This was a purchase that will make Thomas Jefferson a man to be remembered. Although, he wasn’t the only man who impacted the United States during this time period. Meriwether Lewis and William Clark are the two men that are greatly known for their expedition across the Louisiana Territory. These two subjects, the Louisiana Purchase and the Lewis and Clark Expedition, altered our nation immeasurably.
The Louisiana purchase was a very significant event in the United States of America that changed the country we live in today. Since, “1762, Spain had owned the territory of Louisiana, between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains” (Office of the Historian). This purchase led to many great things due to the French now having possession over it. Even though the French sold major land in the Louisiana Purchase, the money gained by France and the land acquired by America was a win for both sides of the deal.
The Louisiana Purchase was the most important event of President Thomas Jefferson's first Administration. In this transaction, the United States bought 827,987 square miles of land from France for about $15 million. This vast area lay between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains, stretching from the Gulf of Mexico to the Canadian Border. The purchase of this land greatly increased the economic resources of the United States, and cemented the union of the Middle West and the East. Eventually all or parts of 15 states were formed out of the region. When Jefferson became president in March 1801, the Mississippi River formed the western boundary of the United States. The Florida's lay the south, and the Louisiana Territory to the west. Spain owned both these territories.
There wasn’t much issue surrounding the purchase of the Louisiana Territory. A war wasn’t even required to acquire the land as document 5 explains. The major problem was that the Federalist Party argued that the Louisiana Purchase was a worthless dessert, and the constitution did not provide for the acquisition of new land or negotiating treaties without the consent of the Senate (Document 5).
to Europe to try to persuade the British to accept a military alliance should the
Though initially his decision was criticized, Thomas Jefferson 's pursuit of the Louisiana Purchase doubled the size of the United States, as well as impacted the economy, religion, and race of the nation.
In 1803 the United States would make the largest and possibly most controversial land purchases in American history, the Louisiana Purchase. During the years leading up to this event the United States was still trying to solidify a national identity. There were two subjects that were causing for division of the new national identity, one being westward expansion. The Northern states and Federalists opposed the idea of westward expansion while the Southern States and the Jeffersonians backed this purchase. Although there was a struggle for a single national identity and this controversial purchase did not aid in finding that single identity, it was still the right decision for the United States. By purchasing this land from the French the United States would not share a colonial boundary with the French who were continuing to gain power under Napoleon. Purchasing the Louisiana Territory would prove to be beneficial for the United States for more reason than one.