Louisiana purchase (1803)
Negotiations
Jefferson in January 1803 recommended that James Monroe join Livingston in Paris as minister extraordinary. Later that same month, Jefferson asked Congress to fund an expedition that would cross the Louisiana territory, regardless of who controlled it, and proceed on to the Pacific. This would become the Lewis and Clark Expedition.
The purchase treaty had to be ratified by the end of October, which gave Jefferson and his Cabinet time to deliberate the issues of boundaries and constitutionality. Exact boundaries would have to be negotiated with Spain and England and so would not be set for several years, and Jefferson's Cabinet members argued that the constitutional amendment he proposed was not necessary. As time for ratification of the purchase treaty grew short, Jefferson accepted his Cabinet's counsel and rationalized: "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." .The Senate ratified the treaty on October 20th by a vote of 24 to 7. Spain, upset by the sale but without the military power to block it, formally returned Louisiana to France on November 30th. France officially transferred the territory to the Americans on December 20th, and the United States took formal possession on December 30th. The entire process of the Louisiana Purchase took an entire year to get done because mostly the transportation during that time, it took James Monroe 4 months to get to France so it's kind of amazing looking at it now how much we've progressed as a country. Preparing for the ExpeditionPresident Jefferson's choice to lead an expedition was Meriwether Lewis, his former secretary and a fellow native of Alembert County, Virginia. Having reached the rank of captain in the U.S. Army, Lewis possessed military discipline and experience that would prove invaluable. While in the Army, Lewis had served in a rifle company commanded by William Clark. It was Clark whom Lewis chose to assist him in leading this U.S. Army expedition, commonly known today as the "Corps of Discovery." On February 28, 1803, Congress appropriated funds for the Expedition, and Jefferson's dream came closer to becoming a reality.
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Website links used:
_http://www.history.com/topics/louisiana-purchase http://www.monticello.org/site/jefferson/preparing-expedition
http://www.shmoop.com/louisiana-purchase-lewis-clark/toussaint-louverture.html
http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/Louisiana.html
http://books.google.com/books?id=Qs7GAwwdzyQC&pg=PA139#v=onepage&q&f=false
_http://www.history.com/topics/louisiana-purchase http://www.monticello.org/site/jefferson/preparing-expedition
http://www.shmoop.com/louisiana-purchase-lewis-clark/toussaint-louverture.html
http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/Louisiana.html
http://books.google.com/books?id=Qs7GAwwdzyQC&pg=PA139#v=onepage&q&f=false