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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? Thomas Jefferson was a pragmatic, articulate, and, at times,
capricious leader of a young nation that had recently gained its freedom from
the monarchical Great Britain. Jefferson, a Democratic Republican, made his
ascension to the presidency at a time when the Federalist Party was in decline.
The Louisiana Purchase would bring a great deal of discomfort to the Party.
The only opposition to the purchase would consequently be the Federalist Party
which, ironically, had always been in favor of a broad construction of the
Constitution. The broad constructionist believed that the Constitution held
implied powers to the central government. The people who interpreted the
Constitution in this fashion backed the notion of strong centralization of
power.
The strict constructionist, like Jefferson, believed that if something in the
Constitution was not described then it was unconstitutional. They also feared
the abuse of power obtainable by the central government by a broad
interpretation of the Constitution. Since 1493, France and Spain alternately
held the Louisiana Territory. Towards the end of the 18th century the
jurisdiction of the territory was under Spanish rule. New troubles were brewing
on the European continent and the Americans feared that the Louisiana Territory
would fall into the hands of the British. This would place the British on three
sides of the Americans and they were prepared to go to war to avoid this.
The Spaniards, uncertain of their British ally and fearing an
insurrection from within the Louisiana Territory, signed the Treaty of San
Lorenzo or Pinckney's Treaty with the Americans in 1795. Under terms of the
treaty, Americans were allowed to deposit goods for overseas shipment at the
port of New Orleans free of duty. The Spanish also ceded control of the Ohio
River Valley to the Americans. This pleased the majority of Americans who were
in favor of westward expansion, many of who were by now settling illegally in
the Louisiana Territory. Securing the Mississippi River for commercial purposes
was of the greatest importance to most Americans at the time.
The desired peace of the country to be protected from outside interference
was also the goal of those in favor of expansion. In 1799 Napoleon Bonaparte
overthrew the French government and assumed control of France and her colonies.
Bonaparte was anxious to build a western empire, perhaps to make up for his
previous losses in Egypt. Bonaparte saw the conquest of the Caribbean island of
Santo Domingo as his first step in his western expansion efforts.
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