The Louisiana Purchase

The Louisiana Purchase

Several great American Statesmen were pivotal in shaping and molding the government of the United States. History has since forgotten some of these founding fathers. The ones remembered throughout history are those we hold up for their accomplishments. Thomas Jefferson is one of the American Statesmen that stands out from the rest as being one of the greatest contributors to our present form of government. Historian Robert Tucker described Jefferson's life as being a paradox. He was a slave holder that was not necessarily in favor of this form of servitude. He also associated himself with the yeoman farmer, yet he traveled in company with a cosmopolitan flair. So it is to this President that we look to as he faced one of his greatest dilemmas. Jefferson, the third President of the United States, remembered primarily for two great accomplishments: he authored the Declaration of Independence and made the greatest land acquisition in our nation's history, the Louisiana Purchase. Both subjects, have been written about extensively, yet one question persists, did Thomas Jefferson exceed his fiduciary duty to the Constitution of the United States when he started the proceedings that led to the Louisiana Purchase? Thomas Jefferson was a pragmatic, articulate, and, at times, capricious leader of a young nation that had recently gained its freedom from the monarchical Great Britain. Jefferson, a Democratic Republican, made his ascension to the presidency at a time when the Federalist Party was in decline. The Louisiana Purchase would bring a great deal of discomfort to the Party. The only opposition to the purchase would consequently be the Federalist Party which, ironically, had always been in favor of a broad construction of the Constitution. The broad constructionist believed that the Constitution held implied powers to the central government. The people who interpreted the Constitution in this fashion backed the notion of strong centralization of power.

The strict constructionist, like Jefferson, believed that if something in the Constitution was not described then it was unconstitutional. They also feared the abuse of power obtainable by the central government by a broad interpretation of the Constitution. Since 1493, France and Spain alternately held the Louisiana Territory.

Towards the end of the 18th century the jurisdiction of ...

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...ice during his presidency. The Louisiana Purchase effectively broadened presidential power and put more authority into the hands of the central government. The Louisiana Purchase doubled the size of the existing United States and set a precedent for expansion. It has been viewed as the progenitor of the Monroe Doctrine. Under provisions of the Doctorine, the American continents are not to be considered as subjects for future colonization. The constitutional issue, decided oddly enough by a man that Jefferson despised as much as he did Hamilton. Chief Justice of the Supreme Court John Marshall, viewed by Jefferson with a repugnance tinged by a shade of some deeper feeling, almost akin to fear. Marshall believed that by Jefferson weakening the office of President it would increase his personal power. In 1828 under the direction of Chief Justice John Marshall the Supreme Court found that the Constitution confers absolutely on the Government of the Union the powers of making war, and of making treaties; consequently, that Government possesses the power of acquiring territory, either by conquest or treaty. Thus the issue was finally put to rest after twenty-five years of uncertainty.