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Module 3 - The Formative Years of the New Nation, 1820-1860
The Louisiana Purchase
The Louisiana Purchase was the largest land transaction for the United States, and the most important event of President Jefferson's presidency. Jefferson arranged to purchase the land for $11,250,000 from Napoleon in 1803. This land 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 proved Jefferson had expansionist dreams by doubling the size of the United States. Jefferson believed that the republic must be controlled by ambitious, independent, property-holding farmers, who would form the incorruptible bedrock of democracy (LaFeber 179). In order to complete his vision the country needed more land.
The Constitution did not authorize the acquisition of land, but it did provide for the making of treaties, so that Jefferson felt the acquisition of new territory was constitutional, with an amendment. He had mixed feelings about this issue and warned that American liberty would be threatened if the Constitution was distorted (LeFeber 181). He was not willing to loose the opportunity to expand the United States. The purchase of Louisiana from France had long been a favorite project with Mr. Jefferson. He viewed it as essential to removing from the United States a source of continual conflicts with the European possessors of ...
...vide protection to the citizens, and to ensure a progressive future for the country. I believe he or she is appointed solely for the greater good of our nation. Although President Jefferson did go against his principles of having more states’ rights and a strict constructionism for the government, he purchased the Louisiana Territory because he saw how beneficial it would be to the growth of America. As President of the United States, Thomas Jefferson was not looking at the criticism he would face, but the broader picture of how the new territory would positively affect the country. With both historians providing a sufficient amount of facts to base their arguments on, my final opinion is that President Jefferson did indeed abandon some of his political beliefs in purchasing Louisiana, but I believe that he did it so in order to better America as a growing country.
The number 1 president of the U.S. Is George Washington. He was a commanding officer while the American Revolution was taking place and he is still one of the main authoritative and famous people in U.S. history. His benefaction stretches out really far out maybe even compared to others in the history of America. George was incorporated two different times in Germantown taking part in history. While the rebellion was taking place (1770s) George directed the U.S. forces in the Germantown war. The way to avoid the Yellow Fever Epidemic (1773), was that the statehouse had to move to Germantown, from Philadelphia. Inside of the Germantown homestead inhabitant Major Franks, George stayed there and encountered his council, that involved Alexander
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.
Thomas Jefferson had two options, to follow the constitution and what states has to say or to buy the Louisiana Purchase from France, and this was a dilemma. Not going through the states to get approval was a flaw saw by the people who were strong believers of the constitution. Though he himself was a strong believer in the constitution he chose to go ahead and buy the Louisiana Purchase. He knew he had to take this opportunity, for he wanted westward expansion. With that good of a mindset, Jefferson knew we would of course gain land, open up waterways, and help us grow as a country. He thought of things to benefit the U.S as a whole. He was not taking advantage of his power, nor was this was nothing as a selfish or conceited act. But was this the best for the U.S you may ask? Both Jefferson and I, think this will only benefit us.
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.
When the Founding Fathers got together at Philadelphia to draft the Constitution, they had many different views and opinions as to how to govern our country. At the convention, the founders fought over the issues of slavery, representation and the Congress’s powers. Their personal lives had influenced their ideas and some of the compromises made at the Constitutional Convention. The founders’ different personal experiences, economic backgrounds, and coming from states of different sizes, economy and needs, led to the creation of the Three-Fifths Compromise, The Great Compromise, and the Slave Trade Compromise.
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
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...
to Europe to try to persuade the British to accept a military alliance should the
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 Bill of Rights and Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen are based on the same principles of natural rights; therefore each document is similar in protecting the people's natural rights. However, despite their similarities, their differences are apparent due to the social situations in which they were adopted. The Bill of Rights stood to protect the freedoms of each individual by establishing a democratic government. The French Revolution eliminated the hierarchy of class and established equality among men with the Declaration of Rights of Man and Citizen. Several influences from past philosophers and documents assisted the frame work of the Bill of Rights and Declaration of Rights and Citizen.
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.
The English Bill of Rights (1689) and the French Declaration of the Rights of Man (1789) are roughly around the same period, in that it is possible to think the both documents share similar ideologies. To the thought’s dismay, it is not. Even if both documents start from the same question of taxation, the outputs vary enormously in that each has different aims: the English Bill of Rights (shortened as the English Bill from now on) only changes the crown and the French Declaration of the Rights of Man (shortened as the French Declaration) changes the whole society. However, they are similar in that both strived for the representation of the masses.
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 “Bill of rights” had been proposed as a follow up to Parliament’s original Habeas Corpus bill, which safeguarded personal freedom and liberty. Now just about every colony had a bill of rights, so James Madison suggested that if the United States was to survived as a a country it would need to have a set of rules versus thirtheen and every state would have the same rules.