Presentation Transcript

1. Thomas Jefferson and the Louisiana purchase

   By Mackenzie Black, Sade Preston, and Turgerel A
2. Prompt President Jefferson’s constitutional reservations concerning the Louisiana Purchase and the significance of his decision to accept the bargain It was crucial for Jefferson to take action in purchasing the land due to the economic necessity of the New Orleans port, the need to avoid a national war with France, Spain, and Britain, and a required sense of unity within the colonies.
3. Constitutional reservations Thomas Jefferson believed that the future of America relied on westward expansion, not connections with Europe The Constitution said nothing about buying territory from a foreign power In order to take advantage of the Louisiana Purchase, Jefferson had to abandon his conviction that the federal government was limited to powers specifically mentioned in the Constitution
4. Significance of the bargain Once the Louisiana Purchase was accomplished, Jefferson had doubled the size of the US and ended the French presence in North America The Louisiana Purchase added 828,000 square miles to the land area of the United States; one of history’s greatest real-estate bargains The property was purchased for 15 million dollars (less than 3 cents per acre) for the Louisiana territory ($234 million in 2012 dollars, less than 42 cents per acre)
5. Significance of the bargain (cont.) Federalists complained about spending money we didn’t have to buy land we didn’t need Jefferson believed that farmers were “the chosen people of God” and that the country would remain virtuous as long as it was “chiefly agricultural” According to Federalist no. 10 by Madison, the large size of the republic made self-government possible
6. before and after Yellow = United States, 1803 Green = Louisiana Purchase, 1803 The Louisiana Purchase doubled the land area of the United States.