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How Did Livingston And Monroe Support Louisiana Purchase

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As the United States expanded westward, access to the port of New Orleans and navigation of the Mississippi River became essential to commerce, so the transfer of control to France from Spain caused concern. James Madison drew up instructions for Robert R. Livingston and James Monroe which were approved by Thomas Jefferson, and these instructions allocated up to ten million dollars for the purchase of New Orleans and all or part of the Floridas. However, upon Livingston and Monroe’s arrival to France, they were asked to purchase the whole of the Louisiana Territory, as Napoleon no longer wanted it on account of his French army in Saint-Domingue being wiped out by a massive slave revolt ad Yellow Fever. It also would gain France money to support their ongoing war with Great Britain. …show more content…

This was the time of “manifest destiny,” the idea that our country’s destiny was to expand west and occupy the whole width of the continent to the Pacific Ocean. The Louisiana Purchase made that a lot more possible. Main reasoning for more expansion was to gain farmland, developing more wealth and taxes, and a stronger nation. Jefferson also wanted to find routes to the Pacific Ocean for trade. Lewis and Clark’s expedition – after the purchase of the Louisiana Territory ̶ was meant for them to follow the Missouri River as far west as it went to see if they could find a water route leading to the Pacific. This way, boats could carry goods to the west coast and from there to Japan, China, etc. The Louisiana Purchase too would put an end to French claims to the western part of the continent. Without the French in our way, we would only have the Indians to deal with, who were much less of a threat. Jefferson also anticipated that the new land might become a refuge for free blacks and diminish racial tensions along the Atlantic

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