Louisiana Purchase Research Paper

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Louisiana Purchase : Thomas Jefferson The Louisiana Purchase is considered one of President Thomas Jefferson's greatest accomplishments. By purchasing the Louisiana Territory, the United States more than doubled its size. So the question surrounding this acquisition of this property is, did President Jefferson face moral dilemmas from this act? Yes, but in the end it was one of his greatest contributions in his administration as president. I will discuss his moral questioning of being unconstitutional in some aspects, as well of the major advantages he set forth for the united States of America by doing so. First, let's look at Thomas Jefferson as president and how he came about his decision to acquire the Louisiana Territory. Jefferson…show more content…
Napoleon had plans to use this territory to build a French Empire in the new world, due to the fact that France was always waging war. This alarmed President Thomas Jefferson mainly due to trade routes in the Gulf of Mexico and the Mississippi River and the fear of not being able to use it. He had been setting on idle when Spain owned the territory, but now that France had obtained it he felt somewhat threatened. He sent his friend James Monroe and Robert Livingston to France to negotiate the purchase of the port of New Orleans and if possible, as much of Florida as possible. During this time Napoleon decided to sell the Louisiana Territory in order to fund his war against England. After some negotiation, the price was set at $15 million in April 1803, for which the United States gained an enormous, uncharted piece of land to the west of the Mississippi River. For the price of approximately 13.5 cents per acre, the United States had doubled its size (Spark…show more content…
Perhaps he was also a realist. The Spanish whom originally owned the Louisiana Territory offered no major threat to the United States. Once this land was turned over to France, President Thomas Jefferson could see the problems that would arise in the future. He wanted what was best for his Country, which included more states, farmland, waterways, easier access to transport and ship goods, etc. This apparently weighed heavy on his mind, to the point that he took it before his Republican colleagues to ask their thoughts. He was obviously not the only realist in the government body at the time, because the Republican senate passed the treaty quickly in order to rush the purchase before France backed out. This was not only a moral dilemma, but a life changing one as it turned

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