Thomas Jefferson and His Moral Dilemma in the Purchasing of the Louisiana Territory
The Louisiana Purchase is arguably known by many to be one of Americas’ greatest accomplishments in the terms of westward expansion, and also one of Jefferson’s greatest achievements as president. Although, few are aware of the most difficult, if not hypocritical choices that challenged Jefferson and his morals. These dilemmas, which tested Jefferson’s authority as president, were unavoidable in order to accomplish the necessary expansion of the United States territory.
The Louisiana Purchase (1803) was a land deal between the United States of America and France, in which the young American Republic acquired over 800,000 square miles of land at four cents
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It stated that the right to the port of New Orleans was to be suspended, even after the privilege was guaranteed in the Pinckney Treaty of 1795. Without that allowance, the lower half of Mississppi would be virtually closed off to American shippers. Westerners clambered for any possible solution, even if it meant going to war with France. Jefferson, being completely aware of the actions that must be taken knew he was in a predicament. Even after threatening alliances with Britain, Jefferson still wasn’t keen on acting upon it; yet he wasn’t in favor of going to war with France after he had thoroughly advocated for their …show more content…
He requested these funds from congress in 1803, but was denied numerous times. Jefferson then decided to appoint James Monroe as a special ambassador to France. Due to his new authority, Monroe was then sent to try and buy land east of the Mississippi or the land in New Orleans itself. His goal was to at least secure the U.S. with the ability to access the river. Jefferson then authorized Monroe to offer up $10 million dollars for the purchase of New Orleans and part of the Floridas. If France were to refuse, they would then in return offer to only buy New Orleans. After Monroe and the Minister to France, Robert Livingston, learned that Napoleon had relinquished his desire to create an empire in North America. It then allowed them the daring opportunity to purchase the entire Louisiana territory all the way from Louisiana to the Rockies. This being the arrangement of a lifetime, Monroe and Livingston went beyond their mandate and seized the opportunity. Before the announcement of the purchase on July 4, 1803, they had already negotiated the entire treaty with
However, the author 's interpretations of Jefferson 's decisions and their connection to modern politics are intriguing, to say the least. In 1774, Jefferson penned A Summary View of the Rights of British America and, later, in 1775, drafted the Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms (Ellis 32-44). According to Ellis, the documents act as proof that Jefferson was insensitive to the constitutional complexities a Revolution held as his interpretation of otherwise important matters revolved around his “pattern of juvenile romanticism” (38). Evidently, the American colonies’ desire for independence from the mother country was a momentous decision that affected all thirteen colonies. However, in Ellis’ arguments, Thomas Jefferson’s writing at the time showed either his failure to acknowledge the severity of the situation or his disregard of the same. Accordingly, as written in the American Sphinx, Jefferson’s mannerisms in the first Continental Congress and Virginia evokes the picture of an adolescent instead of the thirty-year-old man he was at the time (Ellis 38). It is no wonder Ellis observes Thomas Jefferson as a founding father who was not only “wildly idealistic” but also possessed “extraordinary naivete” while advocating the notions of a Jeffersonian utopia that unrestrained
Did Thomas Jefferson give up his deeply held political values in order to purchase the Louisiana Territory from the French (P. 2)? This is the major question that has led to much debate within the early history of America (P. 1). Some historians argue that Thomas Jefferson did, in fact, throw away his commitment to states’ rights and constructionism by the large purchase of Louisiana for the U.S. (P.1). On the other hand, some believe that President Jefferson supported his political beliefs, the fortification of the republican government, with the Louisiana Purchase (P. 1).
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.
Jefferson had made promises to Americans, some of his promises in particularly the increase of land for the yeoman farmer and promised not kept were decreasing National debt and Federal power. Jefferson’s presidency was to a certain extent a “Republican Revolution” but at the same time it had also become a continuation of Federalists policies. While making decisions for the best interests of Democratic Republicans, Jefferson had chosen the same path of the Federalist in order to keep his promises, and had to sacrifice some of the ideals and promises of the “Republican Revolution.”
The Louisiana Purchase stands as an iconic event today that nearly doubled the size of America, ultimately introducing the United States as a world power. In 1762, during the Seven Years’ War, France ceded its control of the Louisiana Territory to Spain (Britannica). However, when Napoleon Bonaparte assumed control of France in 1799, France rallied as a world power once more. Bonaparte’s interest in the Louisiana Territory spiked, and he pressured Spain’s king, Charles IV to relinquish his control of the land on October 1, 1800. This was known as the Treaty of San Ildefonso (Britannica). In view of the transfer between France and Spain, president Thomas Jefferson sent Robert R. Livingston to Paris in 1801. Jefferson became worried, because
The states above 35 30 latitude line in the Louisiana purchase were all free states. States below the line were slave states. Former president Thomas Jefferson saw what the potential anger build up could lead to and tried to warn the congress. Henry Clay came up with the American System which is where the government paid for road and canals. Monroe took no time shooting this idea down. Monroe believed that states and cities should pay for the roads and canals.
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.
ideas of Hamilton destroyed that hope in the bud, We can pay off his debts
During the period 1800-1817, the Jeffersonians to a great extent compromised their political principles and essentially “out Federalized the Federalists”. While traditional Jeffersonian Republicanism advocated a strict interpretation of the Constitution and an emphasis on an agrarian economic system, the actual policies of Presidents Thomas Jefferson and James Madison were markedly different from their theoretical principles. This obvious compromise of Jeffersonian principles is evident in the Federal government’s assumption of broad-based political powers and institution of capitalistic Hamiltonian economic reforms, both of which stemmed from Jefferson and Madison’s adoption of broad constructionist policies.
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.
The Louisiana Purchase was the purchase of the Louisiana Territory by the United States from France in 1803. This purchase encompassed present day Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Nebraska as well as large portions of Texas, New Mexico,
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.
THESIS: Thomas Jefferson was a wealthy plantation owner and politician that would speak out about slavery on a regular basis but would still employ slaves for his own use.