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E X PA N D I N G N AT I O N ,

E X PA N D I N G G O V E R N M E N T

V i e w p o i n t 1 9 A The Louisiana Purchase Should Be Approved

(1803) Thomas Jefferson ( 1 743-1 826)

I N T R O D U C T I O N Thomas Jefferson was elected president in 1 800 while pledging to trim government expenses and to adhere strictly to limits of power expressed in the Con­ stitution. However, his arguably most significant decision as president was the Louisiana Purchase, in which America doubled its size by acquiring milliom of acres of territory from France. The $15 million price tag wiped out all the progress Jefferson had made in reducing the national debt, and the Comtitution did not explicitly give the federal government authority to purchase new ten·itory or incorporate it within the Union.

Jefferson had originally sent diplomats to France with congressional approval to purchase the city of New Orleans or otherwise secure a southern port for the goods of America s western farmers-a long-sought goal of the nation that was threatened, Jefferson and others believed, by France s acquisition of the Louisiana Territory from Spain in 1 800. However, French ruler Napoleon Bonaparte unexpectedly offered to sell the entire Louisiana Territory. Afraid that the deal might fall through before a new constitutional amendment authorizing such an acquisition could be ratified, Jef ferson agreed to the purchase in 1803.

The following viewpoint consists of two parts. The first is an excerpt from an August 12, 1803, letter Jefferson wrote to john Breckinridge, a close friend and political associate. Oefferson later asked Breckinridge to keep the letters contents secret.) Jefferson writes about the purchase and the objectiom raised by Federalist opponents, as well as his own comtitutional concerns. The second part is excerpted from Jefferson s Third Annual Message to Congress, delivered in October 1803, in which he urges the approval and ratification of the Louisiana Purchase.

What differences in opinion over the constitutional le­ gality exist, if any, between the private letter and public message of Jefferson? What arguments against the Louisiana Purchase does Jefferson recite? How does he answer them?

The enclosed letter . . . gives me occasion to write a word to you on the subject of Louisiana, which, being a new one, an interchange of sentiments may produce correct ideas before we are to act on them.

Our information as to the co untry is very incom­ plete. We have taken meas u res to o b tain it in full as to the settled part, which I hope to receive i n time for Congress. The boundaries, which I deem not admitting question, are the highlands on the western side of the M ississippi enclosi ng all its waters, the Missouri, of course, and terminating in the line drawn from the north­ western point of the Lake of the Woods to the nearest source of the Mississippi, as lately settled between Great Britain and the United States. We have some claims to extend on the seacoast westwardly to the Rio Norte o r Bravo [Rio G rande] , a n d , better, t o g o eastwardly t o the Rio Perdido, between Mobile a n d Pensacola, the an­ cient boundary of Louisiana. These claims will be a sub-

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jeer of negotiation with Spain and if, as soon as she is at war, we push them stro ngly with one hand, holding out a price in the other, we shall certainly obtain the Floridas, and all in good time . . . .

FEDERALIST OBJECTIONS

Objections are raising to the eastward [in New England] against the vast extent of our boundaries, and proposi­ tions are made to exchange Louisiana, o r a part o f i t , for the Floridas. B u t , a s I have said, w e shall get the Flor­ idas without, and I would not give one inch of the waters of the Mississippi to any nation because I see, in a light very impo rtant to our peace, the exclusive right to its navigation, and the admission of no nation into it, but as into the Potomac or Delaware, with our consent and under our police.

These Federalists see in this acquisition the forma­ tion of a new confederacy, embracing all the waters of the Mississippi o n both sides of it, and a separation of its eastern waters from us. These combinations depend on so many circumstances which we cannot fo resee that I place li ttle reliance on them. We have seldom seen neighborhood produce affection among nations. The reverse is almost the universal truth. Besides, if i t should become the great i nterest of those nations to separate from this, i f their happiness should depend o n i t so strongly as to induce them to go through that convulsion, why should the Atlantic states dread it? B ut, especially, why should we, their p resen t inhabitants, take side i n such a question? . . . From Menzoirs, Correspondence, and Private Papers of Thomas Jefferson, edited by Thomas Jefferson Randolph (Charlottesville, VA, 1 829) and The Writings ofThomllJ }ejferso11, vol. 3, edited by Albert Bergh (Washington, DC: Thomas Jefferson Memorial Society, 1 905).

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Part 3: Antebellum America (180 0-1850)

The inhabited part of Louisiana, from Point Coupee to the sea, will of course be immediately a territorial gov­ ernment and soon a state. But, above that, the best use we can make of the coun try for some time will be to give establishments in it to the Indians on the east side of the M ississippi in exchange for thei r present country, and open land offices in the last, and thus make this ac­ quisition the means of filling up the eastern side instead of drawing off its population. When we shall be full o n this side, w e may lay off a range of states on the western bank from the head to the mo uth, and so, range after range, advancing compactly as we multiply.

CONGRESS AND THE

CONSTITUTION

This treaty must, of course, be laid before both houses, because both have impo rtant functions to exercise re­ specting it. They, I presume, will see their duty to their country i n ratifying and paying for i t so as to secure a good which would otherwise probably be never again in the i r power. B u r I suppose they must then appeal to the nation for an additional article to the Constitution, approving and confirming an act which the nation had not previously authorized. The Constitution has made no provision for our holding foreign territo ry, still less for incorporating foreign nations into our Union. The ex­ ecutive, in seizing the fugitive occurrence which so much advances the good of their country, have done an act be­ yond the Constitution. The legislature in casting behind them metaphysical subtleties, and risking themselves like fa i thful servants, must rati fy and pay for it and throw themselves o n their coun try for doing fo r them unautho rized what we know they would have done for themselves had they been in a situation to do it.

It is the case of a guardian investing the money of his ward in purchasing an important adjacent territory, and saying to him when of age, I did this for your good; I pre­ tend to no right to bind you; you may disavow me, and I must get out of the scrape as I can; I thought it my duty to risk myself for you. But we shall not be disavowed by the nation, and their act of indemnity will confirm and not weaken the Constitution by more strongly marking out its lines.

II

To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States-.­

ln calling you together, fellow citizens, at an earlier day than was contemplated by the act of the last session of Congress, I have not been insensible to the personal inconveniences necessarily resulting from an unexpected change in your arrangements. But matters of great public concernment have rendered this call necessary, and the

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interest you feel in these will supersede in your minds all p rivate considerations.

The fertility of the country, its climate and extent, promise in due season important

aids to our treasury, an ample provision for our posterity, and a widespread field for the

blessing of freedom and equal laws.

THE IMPORTANCE OF NEW

ORLEANS

Congress witnessed, at their last session, the extraordinary agitation produced in the public mind by the suspension of our right of deposit [of agricultural goods for export] at the port of New Orleans, no assignment of another place having been made according to treaty. They were sensible that the continuance of that privation would be more in­ j urious to our nation than any consequences which could flow from any mode of redress, but reposing j ust confi­ dence in the good faith of the government whose officer had committed the wrong, friendly and reasonable repre­ sentations were resorted to, and the right of deposit was restored.

Previous, however, to this period, we had not been unaware of the danger to which our peace would be per­ petually exposed while so i mportant a key to the com­ merce of the western co u ntry remained under fo reign power. D i fficulties, too, were presenting themselves as to the navigation of other streams, which, arising within our territories, pass through those adjacent. Propositions had, therefore, been authorized for obtaining, on fair con­ ditions, the sovereignty of New Orleans, and of o ther possessions i n that quarter i n teresting to o u r quiet, to such extent as was deemed practicable; and the provi­ sional appropriation of two millions of dollars, to be ap­ plied and accounted for by the president of the United States, intended as part of the price, was considered as conveying the sanctio n of Co ngress to the acquisition proposed. The enlightened Government of France saw, with j ust discernment, the impo rtance to both nations of such liberal arrangements as might best and perma­ nently promote the peace, friendship, and i n terests of both; and the p roperty and sovereignty of all Louisiana, which had been restored to them, have on certain condi­ tions been transferred to the United States by instruments bearing date the 30th of April last. When these shall have received the constitutional sanction of the senate, they will without delay be communicated to the representa­ tives also, for the exercise of their functions, as to those

O P P O S I N G V I E W P O I N T S I N A M E R I C A N H I S T O R Y

conditions which are within the powers vested by the con­ stitution in Congress. While the property and sovereignty of the Mississippi and its waters secure an independent o u tlet for the produce of the western States, and an uncontrolled navigation through thei r whole course, free from collision with other powers and the dangers to our peace from that source, the fertility of the country, its climate and extent, promise in due season important aids to our treasury, an ample provision for our posterity, and a widespread field for the blessings of freedom and equal laws.

With the wisdom of Co ngress it will rest to take those ulterior measures which may be necessary for the i m mediate occupation and temporary government of the country; for its incorporation into our Union; for ren­ dering the change of government a blessing to our newly­ adopted brethren; for securing to them the rights of con­ science and of p roperty; for confirming to the Indian inhabi tants their occupancy and self-government, estab­ lishing friendly and comme rcial relations with them, and for ascertaining the geography o f the country acquired. Such materials for your i n fo rmation, relative to its affairs in general, as the short space of time has per­ mitted me to collect, will be laid before you when the subject shall be in a state for your consideration.

V i e w p o i n t l 9 B The Louisiana Purchase Should Be Opposed (1803)

Samuel Whire ( 1 770- 1 809)

I N T R O D U C T I O N The United States doubled its territory with the Louisiana Purchase, acquiring 828, 000 square mile from France for a few cents an acre. The agreement with France was ratified by the U S. Senate in late 1803 by a large margin. However, not all sen­ ators or A mericans were in favor of the purchase. The following viewpoint excerpted from a Senate speech by Samuel White, a lawyer and senator from Delaware from 1801 to 1809. He argues that he supports the U S. acquisition of the port city of New Orleans, b u t wonders whether the United States could readily absorb the immense Louisiana territory and the westward migra­ tion it will stimulate. He also questions the price­ $15 million-being paid for the territory. Left unspoken was the fear of White and other Federalist politicians that such a large expansion and subsequent westward mi­ gration would weaken the political influence of the New England states, their political stronghold.

How does White believe the addition of territory would harm the United States? Why did France decide to sell its territory at that particular time, according to White?

Possession of i t we must have-I mean of New Or­ leans; and of such other positions o n the Mississippi as

Expanding Nation, Expanding Government

may be necessary to secure to us forever the complete and uninterrupted navigation of that river. This I have ever been in favo r of; I think it essential to the peace of the United States, and to the prosperity of our Western co u ntry. B u t as to Louisiana, this new, immense, unbounded world, if it should ever be incorporated into this Union, which I have no idea can be done but by altering the Constitution, I believe it will be the greatest curse that could at present befall us; it may be productive of innumerable evils, and especially of one that I fear even to look upon. Gentlemen on all sides, with very few exceptions, agree that the settlement of this country will be highly injurious and dangerous to the United States; but as to what has been suggested of removing the Creeks and other nations of Indians from the eastern to the west­ ern banks of the Mississippi, and of making the fertile regions of Louisiana a howling wilderness, never to be trodden by the foot of civilized man, it is impracticable. The gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Cocke) has shown his usual candor o n this s ubject, and I bel ieve with him, to use his strong language, that you had as well pre­ tend to inhibit the fish from swimming in the sea as to prevent the population of that country after its sover­ eignty shall become o u rs . To every man acquainted with the adventurous, roving, an,d enterprising temper of our people, and with the manner in which our Western country has been settled, such an idea must be chimerical. The inducements will be so strong that it will be impos­ sible to restrain our citizens from crossing the river. Lou­ isiana must and will become settled, i f we hold it, and with the very population that would otherwise occupy part of our p resent territory. Thus our citizens will be removed to the immense distance of two or three thou­ sand m iles from the capital of the Union, where they will scarcely ever feel the rays of the General Government; their affections will become alienated; they will gradually begin to view us as strangers; they will form other com­ mercial connexions, and our i n terests will become distinct.

These, with other causes that human wisdom may not now foresee, will in time effect a separation, and I fear our bounds will be fixed nearer to our houses than the waters of the Mississippi. We have already territory enough, and when I contemplate the evils that may arise to these States, from this intended i ncorporation of Louisiana into the Union, I would rather see i t given to France, to Spain, or to any other nation of the earth, upon the mere condition that no citizen of the United States sliould ever settle within its l i m i ts, than to see the territory sold for an hundred millions of dollars, and we retain the sovereignty. But however dangerous

From Samuel White's Senate speech of November 2, 1 803, in The Debates a11d Proceedi11gs i11 the Co11grm of the U11ited States, First to Eightee11th Congrmes, March 3, 1789, to May 27, 1824, Inclusive (Washingron, DC: Gales & Searon, 1 852).

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Part 3: Antebellum Ame1·ica (1 800-1850)

the possession of Louisiana might prove to us, I do not presume to say that the retention of it would not have been very convenient to France, and we know that a t t h e t i m e of t h e m i s s i o n o f M r . Uames) M o n roe, our Ad ministration had never thought o f the purchase of Louisiana, and that nothing short of the fullest conviction on the part of the First Consul [Napoleon) that he was o n the very eve of a war with England; that this being the most defenceless point o f his possessions, i f such they could be called, was the one at which the Bri tish would fi rs t strike, and that it must inevi tably fall into their hands, could ever have induced his pride and ambi­ tion to make the sale. He j udged wisely, that he had better sell it for as fnuch as he could get than lose it enti rely. And I do say that under existing circumstances, even sup­ posing that this extent of territory was a desirable acqui­ sition, fifteen millions of dollars was a most enormous sum to give. Our Comm issioners were negotiating in Paris-they must have known the relative situation of France and England-they must have known at the mo­ ment that a war was unavoidable between the two coun­ tries, and they knew the pecuniary necessities of France and the naval power of G reat Britain. These imperious circumstances should have been turned to our advantage, and if we were to purchase, should have lessened the con­ sideration. Viewing this subject in any point of light­ either as it regards the territory purchased, the high con­ sideration to be given, the con tract itself, or any of the circumstances attending it, I see no necessity for precipi­ tating the passage of this bill; and if this motion for post­ p o nement should fail, and the question on the fi nal passage of the bill be taken now, I shall certainly vote against it.

FOR F URTHER READING

Charles A. Cerami, Jefferson '.r Great Gamble: The Remarkable Story of Jefferson, Napoleon and the Men Behind the Louisiana Purchase. Naperville, IL: Sourcebooks, 2003.

Thomas Fleming, The Louisiana Purchase. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, 2003.

Forresr McDonald, The Presidency of Thomas Jefferson. Lawrence: Universiry Press of Kansas, 1 987.

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