Jefferson’s Purchas and the United States Government
The Louisiana Purchase was a great event in the history of the United States. From this one act the size of the nation was more than doubled and one of the greatest enemies of America, “Napoleon” was removed as a threat. More than ever, the Louisiana Purchase was the greatest achievement of the president Thomas Jefferson. Because adding the new territory to the United States Jefferson held new land for the expansion of future Americans. Also, Jefferson felt that the purchase of Louisiana would ensure the rustic nature of the United States and prevent the degeneration which had befallen classical Republican governments. Jefferson was sure that the Louisiana territory would promote the development of an honorable Republican population. Due to these reasons I will show how Jefferson was justified in his purchasing of the Louisiana territory.
Napoleon Bonaparte’s decision to sell the Louisiana Territory to the United States doubled the size of the USA and secured the port of New Orleans. This expanded trade for states bordering the Mississippi. Napoleon must have started to realize he would have quite a battle on his hands if he were to advance troops on the soil of North America. Louis-Andre Pichon was in charge of all general affaires to the United States from 1801 to 1805. He sent regular messages to Napoleon regarding the feelings of Americans on various topics of French interest, especially ones dealing about the Louisiana Territories. The Americans were passionately opposed to any French colonization west of the Mississippi. Pichon understood that the United States would fight hard to win that territory should the French claim it. Pichon knew that the American population was growing very fast. The pressure to expand west would eventually happen no matter what. These reports surely had a great influence on Napoleon’s thinking, as did Jefferson's fierce determination to keep the French from blocking off the southern most greatest and essential port.
Even while purchasing the Louisiana territory, Thomas Jefferson questioned many of his political decisions. He was a strict constitutional constructionist and a strong supporter of states' rights. Jefferson believed that the government only has the powers that the constitution has given it. Jefferson's biographer Dumas Malone said, Jefferson was "a Virginian before he became anything else, and he never ceased to be one" (Malone, 1948). By purchasing Louisiana, Jefferson's understanding of state rights was called into question. As John Quincy Adams wrote, “The purchase of Louisiana entailed an assumption of implied power greater in itself and more comprehensive in its consequence, than all the assumptions of implied power in the twelve years of the Washington and Adams Administrations put together” (Adams, 1875). Why did Jefferson purchase Louisiana, an act that he understood to be different to the principles of strict constructionism and states' rights? Contemporaries and Republicanism were the only form of government suitable to the United States. Yet, as republics had demonstrated, the passage of time was a republic's worst enemy as growth and urbanization eventually led to centralized governmental power and communal decay. Republican government could only survive in an ambiance of limited government and in a society made up of good citizens.
By purchasing this territory it gave United States citizens a chance to expand. The territory was much needed for the how fast the country was growing. This land provided the landholder with a great measure of personal independence. These people did not have to rely on anyone else for anything. To survive and their very own existence were the only thing they had to worry about. Republicans believed that with independence you as a citizen would be responsible enough in the political process. This allowed citizens to achieve the common or public good, rather than a narrow minded man, “the government”. Jefferson believed in this very much so. In his Notes on the State of Virginia, he said: “Those who labour in the earth are the chosen people of God, if ever he had a chosen people, whose breasts he has made his peculiar deposit for substantial and genuine virtue. It is the focus in which he keeps alive that sacred fire, which otherwise might escape from the face of the earth.” (Jefferson, 1787)
Farming was both a noble and a virtuous effort to Jefferson. He quotes "An industrious farmer, occupies a more dignified place in the scale of beings, whether moral or political, than a lazy lounger, valuing himself on his family too proud to work, and drawing out a miserable existence by eating on that surplus of other men's labor, which is the sacred fund of the helpless poor” (Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson on Politics and Government, 1787). Using property wisely was necessary to the development a committed and responsible Republican citizenry. Also through productivity by the citizens, it would promote industry, population and morality in the nation. Republicans thought landowners were the most valuable citizens and more independent. They worked hard for everything they had. They were tied to their country and would forever be loyal to it and its best interest. In the same train of thought those without landed property, who nonetheless engaged in productive labor, were also believed to exhibit individualism and the virtues of Republican society. Jefferson saw the United States as much needed farm land and an agricultural wonder. In the land of the Louisiana territories, landowner, industries, and hard working laborers could succeed in a blessed and happy life. Jefferson was not averse, however, to filling the agricultural improvement he perceived in the United States. Yes, he did continue to cling to a predominantly agricultural nation. This was to have important implications during Jefferson's presidency, particularly in the case of the Louisiana Purchase.
Of course, the purchase of Louisiana had many problems for Jefferson and the Republicans. No one really knew the boundaries of the territory, and Jefferson did not know if the Union understands what he was trying to do. He also had to figure out how the territory be governed under the Constitution. One question was, what about the French in Louisiana? Could they be assimilated? Mostly the Federalists believed purchasing the territory infringed on states’ rights and went beyond the rights given to the national government under the Constitution. Even with these questions asked, Jefferson was still in the right when purchasing Louisiana due to the fact that the nation needed it to become what it is today.
All in all, Jefferson faced many problems in the process of purchasing the territory. Even though so many critics analyzed and disagreed with what he did, Jefferson pursued with his effort for the good of his nation and its citizens. Without the Louisiana Purchas the United States would have most likely encountered many problems with Napoleon and other rivals. The young country would have never moved out west and populated California, which brought much needed gold for the constant growing of the nation. For everything Jefferson had to explain and justify during his presidency, the Louisiana Purchas was the most simple. He purchased the territory for the blessings of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for all Americans then, and all future Americans to come.

References
Adams, J. F. (1875). Memoirs of John Quincy Adams Vol. V. Philadelphia J.B. Lippincott.
Jefferson, T. (1787). Notes on the State of Virginia. Retrieved April 24, 2011, from virginia.edu: http://xroads.virginia.edu/~hyper/hns/yoeman/qxix.html
Jefferson, T. (1787). Thomas Jefferson on Politics and Government. Retrieved April 24, 2011, from famgaurdian.org: http://www.famguardian.org/Subjects/Politics/ThomasJefferson/jeff1320.htm
Malone, D. (1948). Jefferson The Virginian. In Jefferson and his Time. Boston: Little Brown and Company.