September 11

Louisiana Purchase

The Louisiana Purchase was done in the year 1803. In this purchase the United

States of America paid fifteen million dollars to get all the land west of the Mississippi

River and east of the Rocky Mountains. This transaction was done between Thomas

Jefferson and the great Napoleon. The benefits that the United States of America

experienced from this purchase were numerous. For one, it gave the U.S. complete

control of the Mississippi, which in tern helped many farmers with transporting

goods. Second, it more than doubled the size of the United States. With this huge

amounts of land, the government could set up more farms to feed the young but

growing nation. Despite these benefits, however, many people believe that the

Louisiana Purchase was an unconstitutional mistake, for it was not written that the

government could buy land from other nations. The question, however, still remains, was

the Louisiana Purchase a necessity for the young growing nation, or was the purchase

an unconstitutional act done by President Thomas Jefferson himself?

At the end of the French and the Indian War France had given up its claims to

lands west of the Mississippi to Spain. However, when Napoleon came to power he took

back the Louisiana lands from Spain. The news of this transaction reached the United

States government. This alarmed the president and the rest of the republicans, for

they feared the French control of the western lands. First of, it would get France to

occupy the western lands of America. France, as one may know,