Louisiana Purchase Importance

Americans were able to ship their goods peacefully through New Orleans until 1801. Thomas Jefferson had found out that Spain had secretly given France New Orleans and the Louisiana Territory. The French ruler Napoleon Bonaparte was trying to conquer all of

The Louisiana Purchase was a portion of land west of the mississippi. It was purchased from Napoleon (French) by the U.S. for 15 million dollars in 1803. The U.S. wanted new orleans because then The United States would have a faster route to get to the coastal states. The federalist had legitimate problems with the Purchase and expressed them openly.

Before, the war in 1803, President Thomas Jefferson acquired land from the French for $15 million. This was best known as the Louisiana Purchase, which doubled the size of the United States it stretched from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains and from Canada to New Orleans.

The United States was interested in the purchase of Louisiana for a number of reasons; to protect the citizens’ of the United States right to trade through the Port of New Orleans, to ensure that the British did not establish a new colony in the new land, and to allow the United States’ farmers and merchants to move westward. In 1682, the French discovered a large piece of land in North America which they named Louisiana after their king, King Louis XVI. Following the French and Indian War, King Louis XVI thought this land was a useless piece of uncharted wilderness. The king decided to give this enormous section of land to his cousin, King Charles III of Spain as a “reward” for Spain’s support

The Louisiana Purchase impacted the United States significantly. On April 30th of 1803, the Louisiana Purchase Treaty was signed by Robert Livingston, James Monroe, and Barbe Marbois in Paris, France. This was the territory that France sold to the United States.1 Both the agriculture and the economy got substantially boosted due to this territory. The Louisiana Purchase had an impact on the United States agriculturally, economically, and to advance imperialistic goals.

At first, France was in control of the Louisans territory but they ceded the territory west of the Mississippi to Spain in the Treaty of Fontainebleau: they gave the land to Spain in an effort to keep Spain from rebelling against Britain (“Spanish Colonial Louisiana”). Three decades later in 1801, the land was returned to France in a secret treaty because Spain had done little to develop the Louisiana territory during the thirty year period (“Louisiana Purchase concluded”). Jefferson knew that obtaining this territory would be beneficial for American trade and the growth of our country. One of Jefferson’s goals was to obtain control of the port of New Orleans, an essential trading and transportation port for the United States. Jefferson sent two delegates over to France in order to negotiate with Napoleon and he offered to sell the territory for fifteen million dollars, equating to only a few cents per acre (“Louisiana Purchase”). This event is known today as Thomas Jefferson’s greatest accomplishment throughout his entire two terms as

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

Napoleon owned Louisiana and threatened to block American access to if that deal was broken Napoleon would block American access to the port in New Orleans. The importance of this port is crucial to the American providence because any other export method is impractical, costly, and most of all time consuming (this is an age where your mail will take at least 3-4 months). Due to the circumstance of access to international markets, a crucial need for expansion and a general threat to American interests Jefferson considered going to join Britain for an anti-France alliance. But before the threat of war, he sent diplomats to France to bargain for access and relations and diplomats to Britain to pursue more options. Luckily James Monroe and Robert Livingston were there to negotiate with France on the issue of buying New Orleans and West Florida for about two million dollars, but that was rejected and later bargained up for 10 million dollars. Thankfully Napoleon was desperate from overextending his military and offered to sell the entire Louisiana territory for 15 million (a couple cents an acre). This was probably the best

The Louisiana Purchase was an important event in American history. Thomas Jefferson was the president during the Louisiana Purchase. The Louisiana Purchase was one of the greatest achievements of Thomas Jefferson’s presidency. Thomas Jefferson was an anti-federalist; this meant that Jefferson believed in a stronger central government.

During Jefferson’s presidential term, his idea was to expand territory west for settlement. In order for Jefferson to expand the land, he had to purchase New Orleans from France. At the time, Napoleon Bonaparte had Louisiana under his control and it didn’t took too much time for Napoleon to sell the land for $15 million. Napoleon not only sold New Orleans, but all of Louisiana because France was out of money and a war between France and Britain was coming up soon therefore they needed money to get supplies and food. Not only would the Louisiana Purchase add more land to the United States, but also in New Orleans the Mississippi River was the main transportation. After purchasing the Louisiana Purchase, Jefferson sent Meriwether Lewis and William

To begin with, the United States wanted New Orleans so they could port their goods. Spain owned the Louisiana purchase at the time. Napoleon wanted Louisiana purchase back to his country. The French didn't really need the land so they sold it to Spain. Since Napoleon wanted the Louisiana purchase he sent 30,000 troops to get Louisiana purchase but they first they made a stop on a island.

Jefferson's plans for the nation were dependent upon westward expansion for educated American farmers. He wanted access to international markets to create the ideal society of agriculturist. His enduring vision was altered and crushed, however, when France repossessed control of Louisiana in 1801. The ambitious Napoleon Bonaparte, who had risen to power during the French Revolution, threatened to block American access to the New Orleans port on the Mississippi River. This port played a crucial key in the American business. New American settlements west of the Appalachian Mountains were dependent on the Mississippi River to transport their goods. The then president, Thomas Jefferson understood that blocking access to New Orleans was a grave threat to the interests of Americans. So what did Jefferson do? Well when the vast territory presented itself, he knew he could not pass it up. Jefferson always stated his strong belief that the federal government powers should be followed strictly. In fact, Article IV of the Constitution states that new states could be added, but made no provisions for the taking of foreign territories ("Jefferson and the Louisiana Purchase"). Being a strict constructionist, he strongly felt that any powers not specifically given to the federal government were reserved for the interest of individual sovereign states. Jefferson followed the Constitution 'religiously' and when he purchased Louisiana it challenged his whole belief on it. He previously argued with Alexander Hamilton about the Presidential Powers as presented (The Moral Dilemma). Needless to say, he was caught in the act and people took notice. Many of those in the Federalist Party believed that if anyone else were to do the same thing he would have objectified on Constitutional grounds. Some New England Federalists even began to talk of secession since their political

Some argued that the purchase was unconstitutional because the Constitution didn’t say that Jefferson could purchase the land. Others argued that the purchase was indeed constitutional because the Constitution didn’t say Jefferson couldn’t purchase the land. Also, like said above, Jefferson had an aversion to big moves by the central government. Again, he compromised his beliefs by purchasing a territory from a foreign nation (obviously a huge move by the central government (not by the states)). It is seemingly understandable, however, that Jefferson decided to compromise his beliefs. He was afraid that the French would give up the deal in the time it would take to pass an amendment saying that he could purchase the land. Jefferson also resolved the issue (of constitutionality, his personal beliefs, etc.) by deciding that the growth of the nation (at a modest price) was more important than his own political aversion to big moves by the central government. In addition, Jefferson seemed to have purchased the land in order to protect the United States. First off, Spain’s agreement to give Louisiana back to the French compromised Pinckney’s Treat, which gave the United States access to the Mississippi River. Also, he feared that Napoleon, if he had control over the territory, would close off New Orleans to the United States

Thomas Jefferson sent Robert Livingston and James Monroe to France to try to buy the port of New Orleans and as much as Florida as they can. The United States wanted the port of New Orleans so we could export our goods and crops. When they arrived in France they found that there was a much bigger deal that the French wanted to sell all of the Louisiana territory for 15 million dollars witch would double the United States witch they paid a little over three

The United States, while Thomas Jefferson was president, France and Spain secretly signed treaty, which returned ownership of the Louisiana Territory, back to France. When word reached Jefferson, the entire state of Washington erupted, do to the fact that the United States spent thousands of dollars, in food goods, and shipped it into New Orleans, which was located in the Louisiana Territory. Jefferson urged and instructed James Monroe and Robert Livingston, to offer $10 million to Napoleon, the French militia commander and chief, for New Orleans.