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A Good Price for Good Land

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A Good Price for Good Land
Webster Wallace
American Intercontinental University
U.S. History

Abstract
This paper will tell how the Louisiana Purchase came to be and how the U.S. acquired it. It will tell of the short and long-term consequences of acquiring this territory. It will tell of Thomas Jefferson and the political aspects of this purchase. This paper will discuss The Lewis and Clark expedition briefly and will have a summary of all the facts in its conclusion.

A Good Price for Good Land The Louisiana Purchase is certainly one of the largest land deals in modern history, and also one of the best overall land deals one could ever hope for. As part of American history, it is the best thing that could have happened to a country who needed the space and who could not reject the price. Acquired in 1803 the United States paid $15 million dollars for well over 800,000 square miles of undiscovered land. That averages out to less than 5 cents per acre. At that price people would be lining up today to get as many acres as possible. For that matter, people still would be lined up to buy the whole thing even at today’s price of $283 million dollars. Could you imagine calling it The Oprah Purchase? The Louisiana Purchase was a very nice deal, and one the U.S. could not afford to pass up. The deal was arguably the greatest achievement of Thomas Jefferson’s presidency, but it also was a problem for him. Jefferson was anti-federalist and while he may have written or played a part in the Declaration of Independence, he most certainly did not write the Constitution. Jefferson was always more for states’ rights and less federal government. He always believed there should be a strong, central government in matters of foreign affairs. He felt that all powers given to the National Government were enumerated. If they were not expressly mentioned by the Constitution, then they were reserved by the states. Jefferson had to go against what he believed, for the type of deal the purchase posed was not listed in the Constitution, and waiting for the right amendment could have made the deal not go through. However, Jefferson went through with the purchase, and luckily, the American people went along with him on it and thought it was an excellent move. The reason Jefferson felt that the purchase was necessary was in 1801 Spain and France signed a treaty ceding Louisiana to France, who posed a threat of war to the U.S. There was a fear that if the U.S. did not purchase New Orleans that it might lead to war with France. This port was a key to the U.S. Therefore, Jefferson sent envoys to France to secure its’ purchase. However, they came back with a better deal to purchase the whole Louisiana Territory. The U.S. could not pass the deal up. Even at the current rate of $15 million dollars the U.S. could not pay for it outright so it had to borrow it from Great Britain at 6% interest. Looking back today it was a very good investment. With the purchase of this new territory, the land mass of America doubled. Even though the southern and western boundaries were not yet established. They would have to be worked out with Spain. Enter in Meriwether Lewis and William Clark who led a group called the Corps of Discovery into the region. They were on the forefront of America’s fascination with reaching out to the west. America had a fascination to reach out from sea to sea and need to have this territory could not be of more importance. www.americanhistory.about.com France controlled huge stretches of land west of the Mississippi from 1699 to 1762 in which it gave the land to its Spanish ally. Napoleon took the land back and in 1800 had intensions on asserting his presence there. Unfortunately for him there were several good reasons why selling the land was necessary: 1) A lost battle in present day Haiti took up much needed resources, and cut off America’s southern coast. 2) French officials reported of the quickly growing population in America, stating that France might have trouble holding back a westward advance by the pioneers. 3) France did not have a strong enough navy to maintain control of the lands so far from home. 4) Napoleon wanted to consolidate his resources so he could focus more on taking over England. He looked to sell this territory to raise funds. And so, Napoleon dismissed America’s proposal to purchase New Orleans, instead he offered to sell the whole territory. A political team led by U.S. Secretary of State James Madison went and signed on the Presidents behalf. The treaty was approved in Congress by a vote of 24 to 7, a very comfortable margin. Lewis and Clark led a two-year expedition beginning in 1804 to explore the vast landscape soon after the signing and returned to the same spot in 1806. Traveling some 8,000 miles it discovered information on the lands plants, animals and people (mostly Native American). In total the expedition described about 180 plants and 125 animals that were unknown to scientist at the time. www.geography.about.com One of Thomas Jefferson’s famous quotes was: "I know that the acquisition of Louisiana has been disapproved by some ... that the enlargement of our territory would endanger its union.... The larger our association the less will it be shaken by local passions; and in any view is it not better that the opposite bank of the Mississippi should be settled by our own brethren and children than by strangers of another family?" So in closing it has been written, that the Louisiana Purchase was thought of as a difficult decision by Thomas Jefferson, one of which challenged to Constitution. He decided to not wait till an amendment was made and flexed his muscle. The money was borrowed from Great Britain and turned out to be a very good investment. The land was almost taken over by the French but due to a loss of a certain battle it was almost given away just so Napoleon could raise money for another endeavor. The Lewis and Clark expedition found many resources, new plants, and animals unknown to scientists at that time. Being all said and done where would we be as a nation without the events of this purchase tilting in our favor? So many things had to come together at the right time and at the right place. A little help from God never hurts either.
Resources

Martin (2011, December 4). Jefferson and the Louisiana Purchase. Retrieved from About.com.www.americanhistory.about.com
Stief (2011, December 4). Louisiana Purchase. Retrieved from About.com. www.geography.about.com

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