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Historical circumstances surrounding the the louisiana purchase
Historical circumstances surrounding the the louisiana purchase
Historical circumstances surrounding the the louisiana purchase
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The Louisiana Purchase began long before 1803 with conflicts between Spain, France, and the United States of America. One of many disputes began in 1754 with the beginning of the The French and Indian War, which was the result of ongoing frontier tensions between the French and the British, and ended with The Treaty of Paris in 1763. Great Britain’s victory at the end of the French and Indian War resulted in the writing and signing of the Treaty of Paris, 1763, which forced the French to surrender all of their North American territory. Until 1799, France had been controlled by a monarchy, but from 1789 to 1799 there was a revolution in France that led to the people seizing control of the government and placing Napoleon Bonaparte in charge. …show more content…
Napoleon coveted the land taken as a result of the French and Indian War and wanted to restore France’s presence in the Louisiana Territory. President Jefferson wrote a letter in April of 1802 to Samuel de Pont, who had emigrated to the United States of America after the French and Indian War, amidst rumors that Spain would return the territory of Louisiana to the French. Jefferson considered the Louisiana territory critical to trade in the United States, so rumors of transferring authority concerned Jefferson. Jefferson later wrote the United States Minister of France, Robert Livingston, “Every eye in the US. is now fixed on this affair of Louisiana. Perhaps nothing since the revolutionary war has produced more uneasy sensations through the body of the nation.” In October of 1802, a crisis point and one of Jefferson’s worst fears was reached when the King of Spain, Charles IV, signed a treaty, the Treaty of San Ildefonso, that transferred land in the Louisiana territory to France, cutting off the United States’ access to various ports and warehouses. Thomas Jefferson considered this a serious threat to American interests as American settlements west of the Appalachian Mountains depended on the Mississippi River and the port of New Orleans to import and export goods. Jefferson began to send diplomats to France to bargain for access to the Louisiana territory, but at the same time he was sending diplomats to Britain to pursue other options, he even considered changing his foreign policy stance to one allied with the British and anti-French. James Monroe, the diplomat Jefferson sent to France, was given power to purchase the Louisiana Territory, including New Orleans and West Florida, for an amount between two and ten million dollars. Coincidentally, at this time Napoleon Bonaparte was losing an interest in re-establishing a French colony in the United States and required funds to fight the British and did not want to waste time defending territory in the United States when he had a war to fight in Europe. However, Thomas Jefferson and his diplomats had no idea of Bonaparte’s situation and were surprised when Napoleon Bonaparte offered all of the massive Louisiana territory, which stretched from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains. This territory would more than double the size of the United States, but Jefferson and the Federalists had some concerns about the constitutionality of the new addition. Thomas Jefferson was troubled as he followed a strict interpretation of the Constitution and believed that without a specific enumeration of his right as president, the purchase of the Louisiana territory could be unconstitutional. He even argued that an amendment to the Constitution was needed, writing in 1803,” The General Government has no powers, but such as the Constitution gives it… it has not given it power of holding foreign territory, and still less of incorporating it into the Union. An amendment of the Constitution seems necessary for this.” Jefferson, himself, even drafted an amendment that would allow the purchase of the Louisiana territory, but his cabinet members believed that Jefferson’s new amendment was not necessary and disregarded it. Federalists directly opposed the Louisiana Purchase as they believed that adding more land to the South and West would increase the number of slave states accepted into the union, which would in turn add to the political power of Jefferson and end in the reelection of Jefferson. Some Federalists even spoke of secession over the issue since they figured that the purchase would minimize their political power. In contrast, southerners approved of the idea of more western lands to colonize. In the end, Jefferson was troubled by discrepancies in the Constitution, but decided that the Constitution’s treaty making allowances permitted him to purchase the Louisiana territory. But, Thomas Jefferson’s diplomats, James Monroe and Robert Livingston, in Paris decided that receiving Jefferson’s opinion would take too long, it would have taken two months, so they accepted the deal and signed the Louisiana Purchase Treaty for fifteen million dollars on April 30, 1803. However, it would take more than just a few signatures and a treaty to complete the Louisiana Purchase.
The authorization of the Louisiana Purchase Treaty would involve more than a years worth of negotiating, fund raising to finance the purchase, and the transferring of documents that would complete the deal. Speculation of the signed treaty preceded the arrival of James Monroe and Robert Livingston, as they notified officials of the treaty on July 4, 1803 in Washington, D.C. However, Jefferson did not receive the official documents from his diplomats until July fourteenth. During this time, there was minimal opposition from the people of the United States as many had begun to understand how crucial the Louisiana territory was to the success of the commerce system of the United States of America. On the contrary, the Spanish greatly opposed the purchase, declaring that the French did not have a clear title of the territory and had promised never to sell it. Luckily, the Spanish objection was not supported by the French and Napoleon Bonaparte was still in agreement with the Louisiana Purchase Treaty. Napoleon was, however, becoming restless and threatened to void the treaty. Before Napoleon’s impatience got the best of him, Jefferson and the American government had plenty of time, the ratification date was not expected for several years, to get the purchase treaty ratified and to negotiate boundaries with Spain and Great Britain, but now they had until the end of October …show more content…
and speed was essential. Jefferson and his Cabinet’s counsel understood that the ratification date of the Louisiana Purchase Treaty was quickly approaching and with this in mind Jefferson assumed,” it is the case of a guardian, investing the money of his ward in purchasing an important adjacent territory; & saying to him when of age, I did this for your good.” The United States’ Senate approved the Louisiana Purchase Treaty on October twentieth with a vote of twenty-four to seven. The Spaniards were upset by the United States’ ratification of the treaty, however, they did not have the military prowess to deny France’s right to sell the territory of Louisiana and formally returned the Louisiana territory to France on November thirtieth. The next day in Washington, D.C. copies of the ratified Louisiana Purchase Treaty were exchanged between diplomats of France and the United States of America. Following the Senate’s ratification, both houses of Congress passed regulations, on November 3, 1803, that would allow Thomas Jefferson to take ownership of the Louisiana Territory. France officially consigned the Louisiana territory to the American government on December twentieth and on December thirtieth the United States would take formal possession. The Louisiana Purchase more than doubled the size of the United States of America.
Even by today’s standards, it is one of the largest land transactions in history, measuring in at 828,000 square miles and stretching from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains. States such as Arkansas, Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, and parts of northern New Mexico, South Dakota, northern Texas, Wyoming, Montana, and Colorado were gained as a part of this land deal and greatly strengthened the country materially and strategically. The Louisiana territory was rich in gold, silver, and other ores, along with huge forests and endless plains. This prosperous new land was predicted to make the United States extremely wealthy and as Jefferson said,” The fertility of the country, its climate and extent, promise in due season important aids to our treasury, an ample provision for our posterity, and a wide-spread field for the blessings of freedom.” However, the country was not the only one to prosper as a result of the Louisiana Purchase as Thomas Jefferson won the 1804 presidential election by a landslide, getting one hundred and sixty-two votes out of the one hundred and seventy- four votes that were cast. In order to explore all of the new territory gained by way of the Louisiana Purchase, Jefferson decided to send to United States Army volunteers, Captain Meriwether Lewis and Second Lieutenant William Clark, to explore the new territory, begin peaceful trade with western
natives, affirm the supremacy of the United States in the west, and to search for a waterway connecting the United States to the Pacific Ocean. As it can be seen above, the Louisiana Purchase strengthened the United States by increasing the land area and the amount of raw materials, provided a driving force for westward expansion and settlement, or Manifest Destiny, and it gave future presidents, legislators, and judiciary officials the ability to apply the implied powers of the Constitution of the United States of America.
Tempers raged and arguments started because of the Missouri Compromise. The simple act caused many fatal events because of what was changed within the United States. It may not seem like a big thing now, but before slavery had been abolished, the topic of slavery was an idea that could set off fights. The Missouri Compromise all started in late in 1819 when the Missouri Territory applied to the Union to become a slave state. The problem Congress had with accepting Missouri as a slave state was the new uneven count of free states and slave states. With proslavery states and antislavery states already getting into arguments, having a dominant number of either slave or free states would just ignite the flame even more. Many representatives from the north, such as James Tallmadge of New York, had already tried to pass another amendment that would abolish slavery everywhere. Along with other tries to eliminate slavery, his effort was soon shot down. The fact that people couldn’t agree on whether or not slavery should be legalized made trying to compose and pass a law nearly impossible.
The longer Jefferson was in office, the more the Democratic Republicans started to go against their own principles. The acquisition of the Louisiana territory, in 1803, was the most notable achievement of Jefferson's presidency, yet it showed the inconsistency between his actions and his beliefs. Jefferson realized that there was no time for strict constructionalism due to the slow process of the amendment. This purchase violated his constitutional morals and his belief in a weak central government.
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
It also allowed for continued easy trade through New Orleans, which was a major motivation to make the Purchase (History). However, it did have its negative consequences, namely that, while France may have sold the land, many Native Americans still considered it their home, and for Jefferson’s plan to fill the land with farmers to succeed, they would have to be removed, additionally much of the wildlife on this frontier suffered. Though this probably would have happened even if Jefferson did not make the purchase, his action did speed up the
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.
result of this purchase, the U.S. population was able to expand and increase. The Federalist favored the sale of large land parcels to wealthy speculators instead of small parcel sales to farmers and contributed to the inflation of land values. Federalists were in control so they could determine anything that they wanted as far as the land goes. Thomas Jefferson was aloud to spend 10 million dollars on the Louisiana Purchase. However, he spent 15 million dollars putting the US in a 5 million dollar debt. “In a government which is founded by the people, who possess exclusively th...
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.
To own land, that is the privilege of whom? To Andrew Jackson the Cherokees current homesteads where on his country’s land. For whatever reason at that time some people living in America weren’t treated as good as there white counterparts. Meanwhile the Cherokees principal chief John Ross felt like that land belonged to his people. If you want to get technical he was speaking on the behalf of a tribe that made up a mere one-eighth of his ancestry. Not exactly a full blooded leader. He also was one of the main reason the “trail of tears” was as hostile and brutal as it was on his people. Its ironic, even as hard as Jackson pushed and deceived the Cherokee, the Cherokee people in turn pushed back, but past the point of being rational.
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.
After Thomas Jefferson, who served as president from 1801 to 1809, made the Louisiana Purchase on April 30, 1803, the U.S. gained 828 thousand square miles of territory from France. In 1817, the Missouri territory assembly applied for statehood. Missouri was slated to be the first state, other than Louisiana, to be created from the purchase. Considering there was slaves already in Missouri territory, it was clear that Missouri was going to enter the Union as a slave state and have implications on the rest of the new territory from the Louisiana Purchase unless congress opposed it (America Past and Present). Fear began to rise due to the unbalance of free and slave states. Fortunately, the Maine territory was separating from Massachusetts and requested for statehood. Correspondly, the senate passed the Missouri Compromise on February 1820, which allowed Missouri to enter the Union as a slave state and Maine enter as a free state, making the free and slave states balanced once again. Another amendment was passed to prohibit slavery in the rest of the Louisiana Purchase north of the southern border of Missouri. This event envisioned a possible threat on the relationship between the North and South.
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.
President Jefferson was instrumental in the Louisiana Purchase, which secured an area extending from Canada to the Gulf and the Mississippi to the Rockies, for fifteen million dollars. This purchase also led to the planning and organization of the Lewis and Clark expedition. However, the argument over whether or not Florida was included in the Louisiana Purchase caused many sarcastic attacks on Thomas Jefferson from members of congress.