Hannah Balicki
February 28, 2012
Cons of The Louisiana Purchase
The Louisiana Purchase was considered a controversy because some people did not
think Jefferson should have made the deal in the first place. The Louisiana Territory
Purchase was the purchase by the United States of 828,000 square miles of France’s claim to
the territory known as Louisiana in 1803. Thomas Jefferson made the purchase that ended
up not helping the nation at the time.
Jefferson disliked the idea of purchasing Louisiana from France, as that could imply
that France had a right to be in Louisiana. Jefferson believed that a U.S. President did not
have the authority to make such a deal: it was not specified in the Constitution. Jefferson
first bought New Orleans to help the farmers in the west for 7.5 million dollars. He then
bought all of Louisiana for 15 million dollars.
Another reason buying Louisiana was a bad idea is because the purchase was to
much money for a country who only had too little. Thomas Jefferson put the nation in debt
by buying the land. Some people worried that such a large country would be hard to govern.
Polititions in the East thought they would lose power along with the states in the
east. The southern states also felt that they would become less represented by the
government. The purchase drove Native Americans out of the county. Even though the US
made France leave Louisiana, Mexico still controlled the land to the west.
At the time Thomas Jefferson’s purchase was frowned upon because it put the
nation in debt and the country would be hard to govern if it was too big. Also, different
areas in the US thought they would lose support or become less represented. The Louisiana
Purchase was a big controversey back in its time that led to further decisions in the future
for America.