The American Nation A History of the United States, Combined Volume (14th Edition)

180 Chapter 6 Jeffersonian Democracy

suppose you will make the most of it.” Never, as the his-

torian Henry Adams wrote, “did the United States gov-

ernment get so much for so little.”

Napoleon’s unexpected concession caused con-

sternation in America, though there was never real

doubt that the treaty would be ratified. Jefferson did

not believe that the government had the power

under the Constitution to add new territory or to

grant American citizenship to the 50,000 residents of

Louisiana by executive act, as the treaty required. He

even drafted a constitutional amendment: “The

province of Louisiana is incorporated with the

United States and made part thereof.” But his advis-

ers convinced him that it would be dangerous to

delay approval of the treaty until an amendment

could be acted on by three-fourths of the states.

Jefferson then suggested that the Senate ratify the

treaty and submit an amendment afterward “con-

firming an act which the nation had not previously

authorized.” This idea was so obviously illogical that

he quickly dropped it. Finally, he came to believe

“that the less we say about constitutional difficulties

the better.” Since what he called “the good sense of

our country” clearly wanted Louisiana, he decided to

“acquiesce with satisfaction” while Congress over-

looked the “metaphysical subtleties” of the problem

and ratified the treaty.

Some of the more partisan Federalists, who had

been eager to fight Spain for New Orleans, attacked

Jefferson for undermining the Constitution. One

such critic described Louisiana contemptuously as a

“Gallo-Hispano-Indian” collection of “savages and

adventurers.” Even Hamilton expressed hesitation

about absorbing “this new, immense, unbounded

world,” though he had dreamed of seizing still

larger domains himself. In the end Hamilton’s

nationalism reasserted itself, and he urged ratifica-

tion of the treaty, as did such other important

Federalists as John Adams and John Marshall. And

in a way the Louisiana Purchase was as much

Hamilton’s doing as Jefferson’s. Napoleon accepted

payment in United States bonds—promises to pay

ColumbiaRiver

Gulf of Mexico

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MARYLAND

CONNECTICUT

DELAWARE

GEORGIA

KENTUCKY

MAINE

(part of Mass.)

MASSACHUSETTS

MISSISSIPPI

TERRITORY

INDIANA

TERRITORY

OREGON

COUNTRY

SPANISH

FLORIDA

SPANISH

TERRITORY

NEW

HAMPSHIRE

NEW

JERSEY

NEW

YO R K

NORTH

CAROLINA

OHIO

PENNSYLVANIA

RHODE

ISLAND

SOUTH

CAROLINA

TENNESSEE

VERMONT

VIRGINIA

Blackfoot

Chinook

Nez

Percé Crow

Shoshone

Cheyenne

ArapahoPawnee

Sioux

Sioux

Osage

Apache

Comanche

Fort Ross

(Russian 1812)

New Orleans

St. Louis

Louisiana Purchase 1803

Indian tribe

BRITISH NORTH AMERICA

(CANADA)

Louisiana PurchaseJefferson bought the Louisiana region from Napoleon. No payments were made to the many Indians who had no idea that

the world of their ancestors was owned by distant rulers.