Louisiana Purchase Research Paper

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In 1803, Thomas Jefferson purchased 828,000 square miles of land from the French. The territory stretched from the Mississippi River to the east of the Rocky Mountains and to the Gulf of Mexico. It more than doubled the size of the United States and allowed for a great westward expansion of settles. However, there were already countless people inhabiting the land. The Louisiana Purchase, although a great achievement for the United States, impacted the two groups of people living there already, without any forewarning. The territory was ceded to the United States, but the American Indians and European descendents who lived there did not ask to be apart of the United States, nor did they necessarily want to. Though the two groups shared similar…show more content…
The treaty ceded the territory to the United States. All of the inhabitants of the land would thus be incorporated into the United States as well. The treaty also stated that a governor would be appointed by the president of the United States to govern the territory for three years. The governor and a council were given full legislative power, under control of Congress. Finally, the treaty established a judiciary system, composed of the Supreme Court. The court would have exclusive jurisdiction without an appeal for cases exceeding one hundred dollars. Neither the American Indians nor the European descendants who were living on the territory at the time of the treaty wanted to be apart of the United States. They both retaliated against the treaty and the United States government. The American Indians responded with force; they were determined for war. But although the European descendents were tempted to, “ do as much injustice to [the United State’s] views”, they had respect for the United States. They were therefore more civil and polite in their way of protesting the…show more content…
They used a respectful tone in the petition, after all there was much respect given to the Americans because they were the leaders of a great revolution. Without them being successful in the Revolutionary War and wrote the first Declaration of Independence, France would have never revolutionized itself and created the Declaration Rights of Man and Citizen. The Americans started the revolution greatly influenced by the Enlightenment idea of “natural rights” and that if a leader was not protecting those rights; the citizens had a right for a better leader. The European colonists emphasized this point in their petition. They believed that the treaty and the incorporation of the territory into the United States took away their natural rights. They claimed that it would go against the ideal of the United States nation to allow that to happen. They stated that it would oppose the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, the writing of the revolutionary patriots and statesmen, public acts, and their own hearts. The petitioners therefore pleaded to the government to repeal the “act of erecting Louisiana into two Territories, and providing for the temporary government.” They also asked for immediate legal steps to be taken for the permanent division. Northwest of the Ohio river they agreed to have a governor, secretary, and judges be appointed by the President to govern the land.

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