Was The Louisiana Purchase Justified

Improved Essays
Don't you think that the date of the Louisiana Purchase should be a holiday? The U.S. had nearly doubled because of the territory bought by the government. Imagine all of those people living in Central and Western America. Those people should be thankful for the Louisiana Purchase. Thomas Jefferson was the president at the time who had bought the "New Land". People from the Thirteen colonies immigrated to the new territory and lead them to an adventurous journey moving to the west. In 1803, the purchase was made by Thomas Jefferson. "When President Thomas Jefferson closed on this $15 million real estate deal with French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, his stock began to rise, while the hopes of a return to office for Alexander Hamilton and the Federalists began to crumble" ("Jefferson Makes The Louisiana Purchase"). Since Napoleon needed the money, he sold the Louisiana Territory to Jefferson. Napoleon thought that, 'Hey, I need money, so I'll sell it to these guys and then raid them to get it back'. Jefferson only needed to buy New Orleans, but Napoleon offered it as all or nothing" ("The Original Goal: Buying New Orleans"). So, Jefferson bought basically all of Central America for fifteen million dollars and nearly doubling the size of the nation. After Jefferson bought the new …show more content…
Thanks to Jefferson's idea of purchasing the Louisiana Territory from France's leader, Napoleon, the United States expanded into a larger country. Lewis and Clark's expedition also made a large dent of history in the Louisiana Purchase. They marked and mapped all of the new things discovered in the region. Because of the people who risked their lives to move towards western America, more than half the population is living there and we should be thankful. That is why there should be a honorary day for the date of the Louisiana Purchase. It would make a perfect

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Section I, 1. Why was Napoleon willing to sell the Louisiana Territory to the United States? How did Jefferson’s Louisiana Purchase transform America’s understanding of itself and its future? Was it inevitable that the West would become part of a much greater United States? Napoleon Bonaparte, before he decided to sell Louisiana was already facing many problems.…

    • 1666 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    This took some negotiation. “One thing that the United States didn’t need in 1803, was land,” (88). From this you can see that they had more than what they knew to do with. Many of the Americans thought that if the United States expanded the bonds of the union would weaken. Before the Louisiana Purchase the Unites…

    • 325 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Treaties, expeditions, and purchases expanded the United States’ territory. The Louisiana purchase doubled the size of the United States and allowed Americans to have control of trade over the Mississippi River. In buying the Louisiana purchase, Thomas Jefferson sent Lewis and Clark on an expedition to map out and explore the new territory. The treaty of Ghent helped secure Jefferson’s purchase by removing the British troops and showing European countries that the United States were independent and powerful. The “pride and achievement” (331) brought much confidence to the Americans.…

    • 545 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    As America was developing as a new, independent country, many topics were up for debate. The Constitution was created to answer most of them, but many problems arose that people had trouble defining constitutional or unconstitutional. One of the major issues was the purchasing of the Louisiana Territory from France. The Louisiana Purchase was a worthwhile purchase for America because of the new resources it brought, it doubled the size of the country, strengthened the relationship with the Native Americans, and gave America control of both sides of the Mississippi River.…

    • 837 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    I think that Thomas Jefferson and the united States government should buy the Louisiana Territory, and the port of New Orleans because it would expand the United States and add more states. Imagine the United State's growing and gaining more land. Sounds great huh? Once we buy the Louisiana Territory and New Orleans port we will have so many great outcomes. Buying the Louisiana Purchase and the New Orleans port will increase land.…

    • 376 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In Jefferson’s Great Gamble: The Remarkable Story of Jefferson, Napoleon, and the Men Behind the Louisiana Purchase, Charles A. Cerami’s recounted the one of the most overlooked events in American history. Thomas Jefferson and Napoleon Bonaparte, two of history's greatest leaders, stood face to face for the western lands of America. It was indeed grueling mission for Jefferson: outmaneuvering the great Napoleon Bonaparte, determining the morality of westward expansion, and most importantly keeping America intact and out of war. Cerami, an economist and historian, featured the drama, cajolery, fear, and betrayal America confronted before leading itself to massive real-estate deal known as Louisiana Purchase. Cerami informed the readers about the significant people and crucial events that eventually led to the Louisiana Purchase.…

    • 1237 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    A man named Monroe was sent to Paris to buy New Orleans and land to its east in 1803. He was advised to spend no more than $10 million but Napoleon offered him a compromise he could not refuse. Napoleon would give the entire territory to America for only $15 million. Jefferson understood that spending more than $10 was against the Congress but he continued with Napoleon's deal.…

    • 499 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    First he had to deal with France and the Louisiana Purchase. After the Haitian Revolution and the loss of its sugar colonies, France led by Napoleon Bonaparte decided that it no longer wanted a North American empire. This led to the Louisiana Purchase where the United States bought the Louisiana territory. Jefferson created this deal, but there was no explicit power in the constitution for the president to purchase foreign lands. Document C details a letter from Jefferson to John Breckinridge where he admits to reaching beyond the constitution in order to make the deal happen.…

    • 884 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Napoleon thought that if he could make quick money from a deal with the United States, his people would…

    • 620 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Thomas Jefferson’s controversial decision to purchase the Louisiana Territory in 1803 was a major event in American History. The land was conquered by France at the time after it was signed over to them by Spain and they were making plans of having a French empire in North America. These plans were soon to take less of importance by the fact that France had been fighting to try and regain power of their valuable colony of Saint Domingue. Around the same time the American government had been attempting to find ways to gain control over the Mississippi River, President Thomas Jefferson believed the way to do that would be to purchase New Orleans from the French. Because of the loss of their colony and many resources that had been used fighting for it, the French made the decision that they needed all the money they could get.…

    • 530 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Alexander Hamilton's economic and financial systems established top-rated credit for the United States, which led Napoleon to offer the Louisiana Purchase to the United States. Although this was a very good offer, President Jefferson was hesitant because he thought it would be an unconstitutional action. Thomas Jefferson believed in loose construction and there was no right in the Constitution for a President to purchase foreign territory. In the end, Thomas Jefferson considered controlling the port of New Orleans and getting more land to farm with too valuable, and he subsequently signed the offer.…

    • 167 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Therefore, Thomas Jefferson set up negotiations with the French and sent James Monroe and Robert Livingston to negotiate the sole purchase of the Port of New Orleans and west of Florida for $10 million. When they showed up to the meeting on negotiating plans of purchasing the port and land, France was at war and was running low on funds for the war, so when Monroe and Livingston proposed the offer, the French representative instead offered the whole Louisiana territory which was 825,000 square miles of land for $15 million. Even though they were only sent to purchase The Port, they knew that this was an offer that they couldn’t refuse. So they went beyond the instructions that Jefferson has given them and purchased the whole territory and signed the treaty on the second day of May which came to be known as: the Louisiana Purchase.…

    • 747 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Have you been wondering what the huge land deal everyone’s talking about is? Well your pondering stops here. It’s called the Louisiana Purchase and it happened on July 4th 1803. It was a land deal between our country the United States and France. This was no ordinary deal; the purchase gave us about 827,000 square miles of land west of the Mississippi River.…

    • 376 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Louisiana Purchase is considered the greatest real estate deal in history! The Louisiana Territory was purchase by The United States from France, for a grand total of $15 million. In this deal the United States got approximately 827,000 square miles of land west of the Mississippi River. The conformation of the Louisiana Purchase treaty was made by the Senate on October 20, 1803.…

    • 237 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Not to mention, he also retired most of the Navy’s warships, leaving us a weak army. Once Jefferson becomes president congressmen alerts Jefferson to prepare for a war against France. In addition, “Spanish officials who still governed New Orleans announced the closing of that port to American commerce (October 1802).” (PG. 184) Leaving Jefferson in a tough position he preferred to negotiate rather than going to war. This negotiation resulted in the Louisiana Purchase.…

    • 829 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays