The Louisiana Purchase refers to the 530,000,000 acres of territory in North
America that the
United States purchased from
France in 1803 for US $15 million.
The Louisiana Purchase
As the United States spread across the Appalachians, the Mississippi River became
increasingly important as a conduit for the produce of America's West (which at
that time refered to the land between the Appalachians and the Mississippi).
Since 1762,
Spain had owned the territory of Louisiana,
which included 828,000 square miles, and which now makes up all or part of
fifteen separate states between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains.
Friction between Spain and the United States over the right to navigate the
Mississippi and the right for Americans to transfer their goods to ocean-going
vessels at New Orleans had been resolved by the
Pinckney treaty of 1795.
With the Pinckney treaty in place and the weak Spanish empire in control of
Louisiana, American statesmen felt comfortable that the United States' westward
expansion would not be restricted in the long run.
This situation was threatened by
Napoleon Bonaparte's plans
to revive the French empire in the New World. He planned to recapture the
valuable sugar colony of St. Domingue from a slave rebellion, and then use
Louisiana as the granary for his empire. France acquired Louisiana from Spain in
1800 and took possession in 1802, sending a large French army to St. Domingue
and preparing to send another to New Orleans. Westerners became very
apprehensive about having the more-powerful French in control of New Orleans;
President
Thomas
Jefferson noted, "There is on the globe one single spot, the
possessor of which is our natural and habitual enemy. It is New
Orleans."
James Monroe
In addition to making military preparations for a conflict in the Mississippi
Valley, Jefferson sent
James Monroe to join
Robert Livingston in France to try to purchase New
Orleans and West Florida for as much as $10 million. Failing that, they were to
attempt to create a military alliance with England. Meanwhile, the French army
in St. Domingue was being decimated by yellow fever, and war between France and
England still threatened. Napoleon decided to give up his plans for Louisiana,
and offered a suprised Monroe and Livingston the entire territory of Louisiana
for $15 million. Although this far exceeded their instructions, they agreed.
When news of the sale reached the United States, the West was elated. President
Jefferson, however, was in a quandary. He had always
advocated strict adherence to the letter of the Constitution, yet there was no
provision empowering him to purchase territory. Given the public support for the
purchase and the obvious value of Louisiana to the future growth of the United
States, however, Jefferson decided to ignore the legalistic interpretation of
the Constitution and forgo the passage of a Constitutional amendment to validate
the purchase. This decision contributed to the principle of implied powers of
the federal government.
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