Zakup Luizjany i jej eksploracja

Though the Louisiana territory had changed hands between France and Spain a number of times, in 1800 Spain ceded the territory to Napoleon’s France. Napoleon, whose attention was consumed by war in Europe, began to view the territory as a needless burden. In 1803, he volunteered to sell all 828,000 square miles to the United States for the bargain price of $15 million.

Jefferson adhered to a strict interpretation of the Constitution and believed that without a specific enumeration of his right as president to acquire the purchase, buying the Louisiana Territory could plausibly be unconstitutional. The Federalists opposed the purchase for several reasons, chief among them the likelihood that new slave states would enter the Union from the southern parts of the territory.

Despite Federalist opposition and the contested constitutionality of the purchase, Jefferson agreed to the deal, which almost doubled US territory. He said to his Cabinet regarding the Purchase: “"it is the case of a guardian, investing the money of his ward in purchasing an important adjacent territory; & saying to him when of age, I did this for your good.” ${}^1$‍ Jefferson was correct to assume that the Louisiana Territory would be an important element to the United States’ future.

W celu zbadania i stworzenia mapy terenu, Jefferson autoryzował ekspedycję na zachód prowadzoną przez dwóch ochotników z amerykańskiej armii, kapitana Merriwethera Lewisa i podporucznika Williama Clarka. Ich ekspedycja trwała od 1803 do 1806 i poszła pomyślnie dzięki kobiecie z plemienia Shoshone, Sacagaweii, która była ich przewodniczką. Bez obszernej wiedzy Sacagaweii o terytorium i plemionach je zamieszkujących, ekspedycja Lewisa i Clarka miałaby niewielkie szanse powodzenia.

The Louisiana Purchase proved popular with white Americans, who were hungry for more western lands to settle. The deal helped Jefferson win reelection in 1804 by a landslide. Of 176 electoral votes cast, all but 14 were in his favor.

The great expansion of the United States achieved by the Louisiana Purchase did receive criticism, though, especially from northerners who feared the addition of more slave states and a corresponding lack of representation of their interests in the North. For southern slaveholders, new western lands would be a boon; for enslaved people, the Louisiana Purchase threatened to entrench and expand their suffering to western territories.

Lewis and Clark made meticulous notes of any flora and fauna they encountered during their journey. Enormous clouds of gnats and mosquitos swarmed about their heads as they made their way up the Missouri River. They encountered (and killed) a variety of animals including elk, buffalo, and grizzly bears. One member of the expedition survived a rattlesnake bite. As the men collected minerals and specimens of plants and animals, the overly-curious Lewis sampled minerals by tasting them and became seriously ill at one point.

They sketched and documented over 260 plants in their journals, a majority of them new to scientific discovery. They also made the first scientific discoveries of many bird species, reptiles, and mammals. Yet as new settlers came to make their lives on the western frontier, preserving these newfound species was hardly their concern. ${}^2$‍

Dlaczego wielu Federalistów kwestionowało konstytucyjność zakupu Luizjany?

Zrób listę zalet i wad zakupu Luizjany. Gdybyś był prezydentem Jeffersonem, czy zdecydowałbyś się na nabycie tego terytorium?

Jak zakup Luizjany łączył się z wizją agrarnej Ameryki Jeffersona?