louisiana purchase
Several great American Statesmen were pivotal in shaping and molding the government of the United States. History has since forgotten some of these founding fathers. The ones remembered throughout history are those we hold up for their accomplishments. Thomas Jefferson is one of the American Statesmen that stands out from the rest as being one of the greatest contributors to our present form of government. Historian Robert Tucker described Jefferson's life as being a paradox. He was a slave holder that was not necessarily in favor of this form of servitude. He also associated himself with the yeoman farmer, yet he traveled in company with a cosmopolitan flair. So it is to this President that we look to as he faced one of his greatest dilemmas. Jefferson, the third President of the United States, remembered primarily for two great accomplishments: he authored the Declaration of Independence and made the greatest land acquisition in our nation's history, the Louisiana Purchase. Both subjects, have been written about extensively, yet one question persists: did Thomas Jefferson exceed his fiduciary duty to the Constitution of the United States when he started the proceedings that led to the Louisiana Purchase?
One day after signing the Treaty of Morfontaine French diplomats requested the Spanish government to cede the Louisiana Territory to France. In a July 17, 1803 letter to his friend Daniel Clarke, Jefferson describes his attitude of the purchase. The lack of specific boundaries of the Louisiana Territory would also be a topic for future discussion with the French and Americans. Although the Republicans had managed to thwart the Federalists on this account, there was indeed some concern of France's right to sell the territory. The true construction must depend on the manifest import of the instrument and the good sense of the community. After only one day of discussion on the floor, the treaty had been ratified. Livingston petitioned Gouverneur Morris, delegate from Pennsylvania to the Federal convention, in an attempt to ascertain the intention of the framers of the constitution on this point. Accordingly, Jefferson drafted two amendments to the Constitution, but finally on advice of his constituents never submitted either of them to Congress for debate. Hamilton suggested to negotiate, and endeavor to purchase; and if this fails, to go to war in order to procure the desideratum. Thomas Paine took the occasion to voice his opinion on the matter in a letter to Jefferson. Fearing the establishment of a French empire on the western shores of the Mississippi River, American diplomats were dispatched in an attempt to procure the Floridas and New Orleans from the French. If Jefferson were to maintain his strict constructionist view of the Constitution, he would have to stick to every word of it. : The Thomas Jefferson Memorial Association, 1907. From Santo Domingo the French could support troops that they intended to post in New Orleans. The point Pickering was arguing was the states' rights issue.
Common topics in this essay:
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Madison Pickering,
Timothy Pickering,
Louisiana Purchase,
Santo Domingo,
Breckenridge Kentucky,
House Representatives,
Federalists Griswold,
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Jefferson United,
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secretary james madison,
island santo domingo,
october 17 1803,
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