Thomas Jefferson

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Spain, nonetheless, didn’t have use for this massive piece of land (Boorstin, p.94). Jefferson, however, felt that if the United States owned the land, farmers west of the Appalachian Mountains could use the land strictly for agricultural purposes. If the Treaty of 1795 had not been signed, the United States would have gone to war with France to gain control of the territory.
Initially, Jefferson, through his minister of France, Robert R. Livingston, offered Napoleon $2 million for a small stretch of land on the lower Mississippi River (internet). There, Americans could build their own seaport. Impatient at the lack of news, Jefferson sent James Monroe to Paris to offer $10 million for New Orleans and West Florida. In the letter to Mr. Monroe conveying the notice of his appointment, the President said:
“All eyes, all hopes, are now fixed on you; and were you to decline, the chagrin would be universal and would shake under your feet the high ground on which you stand with ...

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must often control what is pure theory (Bober, p.323).”
The purchase of this land would bring about the issue of whether or not this was safe judgement made by Jefferson. Jefferson’s decision was made in consideration of bettering the country. He never made a decision in which he thought would not be in the best interests of the American people (internet). The key to understanding Jefferson is to realize that his expression of ideals, principles, political opinions, and his vision of American republicanism is always bolder than the thoroughgoing pragmatism that characterized his actions (Rayner, p.74). He was a gadgeteer and an enthusiast for technological innovations even ...

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