The Louisiana Purchase was done in the year 1803. In this purchase the United
States of America paid fifteen million dollars to get all the land west of the Mississippi
River and east of the Rocky Mountains. This transaction was done between Thomas
Jefferson and the great Napoleon. The benefits that the United States of America
experienced from this purchase were numerous. For one, it gave the U.S. complete
control of the Mississippi, which in tern helped many farmers with transporting
goods. Second, it more than doubled the size of the United States. With this huge
amounts of land, the government could set up more farms to feed the young but
growing nation. Despite these benefits, however, many people believe that the
Louisiana Purchase was an unconstitutional mistake, for it was not written that the
government could buy land from other nations. The question, however, still remains, was
the Louisiana Purchase a necessity for the young growing nation, or was the purchase
an unconstitutional act done by President Thomas Jefferson himself?
At the end of the French and the Indian War France had given up its claims to
lands west of the Mississippi to Spain. However, when Napoleon came to power he took
back the Louisiana lands from Spain. The news of this transaction reached the United
States government. This alarmed the president and the rest of the republicans, for
they feared the French control of the western lands. First of, it would get France to
occupy the western lands of America. France, as one may know, was a powerful and
aggressive nation, having France on America’s borders created fear of invasion among
the Americans. Jefferson was also afraid that the French might limit the westward
expansion. Also, French control of the Gulf of Mexico and the mouth of the of the
Mississippi River could deprive westerners of the right to deposit at New Orleans, and
it could greatly limit their trade. “The day that France takes New Orleans,” said President
Jefferson, “We must marry ourselves to the British fleet ad nation.” (Curti 245). That
quote tells one that Jefferson was really concerned. It was this fact that led Jefferson to
urge the American minister to Paris, Robert R. Livingston, and James Monroe to travel
to France where they were to n...
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...ution should be
broadly interpreted. These changes of views for both parties illustrates how ideas change
as interests and situations change. Despite Federalists arguments, the treaty of the
purchase was approved. And in 1803, the Louisiana Territory became part of the
United States of America.
So was the Louisiana Purchase a necessity to the young but growing nation, or
was it a unconstitutional mistake? Many Americans would probably say that the
Louisiana Purchase was a necessity to the United States of America. That is because it
provided America with more land for its growing population. Also, the purchase gave full
control to the Americans over the Mississippi River, and Western Florida. This would
intern influence trade, and transportation of products would become easier. Also, it is
because of this purchase, that the Americans get rid of the French from the American
Continent, for if they had not removed French claims, who knows what Napoleon would
have done. Finally, the Louisiana Purchase was not an unconstitutional, for the
Constitution could be broadly interpreted for the good of the country.
This was something that was really important for trade and the extension to westward. In the 1800s, the Louisiana Purchase is still considered the most important occurrence in the westward being spread out of the U.S. and is a trial to include a different ethnic group. This was the starting point of the encounter with multi-ethnicity boarders. The Louisiana Purchase the way that the nation used to be and had a intense result on what the nation would become later on. The new regions of the purchase demonstrated a notable obstacle to the essentially Anglo-Protestant, young nation known as America. The more south part of the purchase was in result an overseas region. Many the people residing there's origin was African, Mediterranean, and Caribbean. Most of them had a divergent viewpoint of race, law, and government. Admittedly the Louisiana Purchase began the nation's experience with a variety of races that went on and on across the next couple centuries and is still going on to this
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.
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.
...nited States, as well as settling the boundary dispute for Texas and definitively settling the dispute of boundary lines along the Sabine River and the U.S. claims in the Rocky Mountains and then west to the Pacific Ocean. In return, Spain got the U.S. to agree to pay residents’ claims against the Spanish government by Florida residents up to the amount of $5,000,000 as well as granting Spain the claims we had made on Texas west of the Sabine River and other Spanish lands to the west.
The Louisiana Purchase was the most influential and important land purchases in American history. The acquired land in this historical purchase proved to far outweigh what most Americans at the time could imagine. The Louisiana Purchase more than doubled the size of the United States, and lead to many great discoveries and societal benefits. Some of the major and most prominent ways that the Louisiana Purchase influenced the evolution of American were the expeditions of Louis and Clark on the newly acquired westward territory, increase in the countries resources, which in turn increased in trade and resulted in a richer, more economically stable country, and it also played a very pivotal role in the relationship with African Americans, which still is remembered and prevalent in today's society.
The Louisiana Purchase helped the economy by reopening the ports. By opening up the ports the Western farmers could get their products to the market while Eastern merchants prospered from trade (American Passages). When the United States started expanding westward hundreds of acres would guarantee that the economy would remain the primarily agricultural for decades. (Louisiana Purchase. Dictionary of American History) By buying Louisiana the United States gained greater security for the border. Also we gained a better power and self-
In 1803 the United States would make the largest and possibly most controversial land purchases in American history, the Louisiana Purchase. During the years leading up to this event the United States was still trying to solidify a national identity. There were two subjects that were causing for division of the new national identity, one being westward expansion. The Northern states and Federalists opposed the idea of westward expansion while the Southern States and the Jeffersonians backed this purchase. Although there was a struggle for a single national identity and this controversial purchase did not aid in finding that single identity, it was still the right decision for the United States. By purchasing this land from the French the United States would not share a colonial boundary with the French who were continuing to gain power under Napoleon. Purchasing the Louisiana Territory would prove to be beneficial for the United States for more reason than one.
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.
One action taken by the United States government that was influenced by geographic factors was the Louisiana Purchase. There were many historical circumstances that resulted in the government’s action. Louisiana was originally owned by the French until France sold it to the United States. Thomas Jefferson bought Louisiana in 1803. The influence of this geographic factor occurred because as the United States had expanded westward, navigation of the Mississippi River and access to the port of New Orleans had become critical to American commerce. The purchase of the Louisiana territory, including New Orleans, was for $15 million. The acquisition of approximately 827,000 square miles would double the size of the United States. This also gave the United States control of the Mississippi River. This had a lot of impacts on the United States. It increased western expansion which was included in the Manifest Destiny. The Manifest Destiny was a 19th-century doctrine that the United States had the right and duty to expand throughout the North American continent. But, this expansion did lead to conflicts...
the United States it’s clear to see that U.S expanded their territory during this period of time.
It was not very easy for the United States to expand like they had in mind. The division of land had been a rising problem since the Revolutionary war. Two of the main issues during the time of the Articles of Confederation were the pricing and land measurement (Potter and Schamel 1). Throughout the course of over fifty years, the government had tried many different attempts to get people to want to expand to the west. They just didn’t really know the right way of how to go about it. Trying to sell the acres did not go over well, considering the price seemed outrageous for what they were getting. Untouched soil was very hard to start on and be successful from the beginning, which caused some problems with people not wanting to buy the land (Weiser 1). So again, a different political group tried a different approach.