30 Apr 1803 Jahr - Louisiana Purchase Treaty Signed

Beschreibung:

On April 30, 1803, representatives from the United States and France signed the Louisiana Purchase Treaty. The terms of the agreement gave all of the Louisiana territory from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains to the United States. The Louisiana Purchase doubled the size of the United States and is considered one of President Thomas Jefferson's greatest presidential accomplishments.

In 1800, President Jefferson learned that Spain had secretly ceded Louisiana to France, and he was concerned about France attempting to reclaim its North American empire. Jefferson wanted to insure that American farmers in the Ohio River Valley had access to the Gulf of Mexico via the Mississippi River–the river was a key to the farmers' economic well-being.

In the spring of 1803, the President sent James Monroe to France to join the French minister, Robert Livingston. He instructed Monroe and Livingston to negotiate the purchase of the city of New Orleans and all or part of Florida from France for $10 million. Monroe arrived just as Napoleon I of France faced renewed war with Britain. In need of money and eager to rid himself of the hassles of governing distant lands after the successful revolt of Saint-Domingue (present-day Haiti), Napoleon offered the entire Louisiana territory to the astonished ministers. Exceeding their instructions, Monroe and Livingston agreed to pay $15 million for the whole territory. The price of $15 million amounted to approximately four cents per acre for 828,000 square miles.

Delighted with the deal but troubled because the Constitution did not specifically provide for the acquisition of new territory, Jefferson considered a constitutional amendment to allow the purchase. Napoleon threatened to withdraw the deal if not soon ratified, however, and so Jefferson sent the treaty to the Senate for approval. Federalists were furious at Jefferson's seeming hypocrisy, as he had long criticized them for not strictly interpreting the Constitution.

The constitutional dilemma for the President was substantial. While believing that the United States must expand to fulfill its republican destiny, he was the first to assert the Constitution did not authorize acquiring new territory. As would be the case in numerous issues during his presidency, Jefferson was forced seek a balance between sometimes conflicting principles. In this case, President Jefferson chose expediency and national interest when he submitted the Louisiana Purchase Treaty to the Senate. The Senate ratified the treaty in October 1803.

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