How Did Jefferson's Dilemma Over Louisiana Purchase

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The purchase of the Louisiana Territory was to be for the bettering and the growth of the United States, however, this purchase did not come easy. Thomas Jefferson was elected president in 1800. Arguably, many would say that his most significant decision as president was the Louisiana Purchase (Dudley 95). Jefferson had always “pledged to adhere strictly to the limits of power expressed in the constitution” (Dudley 95). Therefor, Jefferson had a difficult time convincing himself to purchase the territory,causing him to face many dilemmas over the purchase of Louisiana from France. One of Jefferson's main dilemmas was an internal moral conflict within himself. Jefferson had moral beliefs in which he wanted to remain as loyal as possible to …show more content…
Jefferson began questioning if the purchase of land and a treaty were constitutional. He devoted himself to the composition of a constitutional amendment, “thus being the only way to prevent the Louisiana purchase from becoming a precedent of federal power that he had spent his whole career opposing” (Ellis). Jefferson began going back and forth on whether or not an amendment of the constitution had to be ratified before the vote on the treaty. Gallatin tells Jefferson that there were many “cumbersome and time-consuming procedures in ratifying a constitution” (Ellis). Therefor, Jefferson decided not to amend the …show more content…
He was drawn back due to his own internal moral conflicts about his loyalty to the constitution. Correspondingly, this led Jefferson to constitutional concerns in which he thought of anything he could to make this purchase as constitutional as possible. Jefferson then came into contact with the Louisiana territory boundaries in which he showed significant dedication in retiring to take off to locate the boundaries himself. Though Thomas Jefferson was faced with difficult dilemmas during the Louisiana Purchase, his ability to overcome them and successfully purchase the Louisiana territory, doubling the size of the nation, is what separates him from any president that the United States has ever
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