Thomas Jefferson's Purchase of the Louisiana Territory as Hypocritical: Argumentative Essay

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Thomas Jefferson’s Purchase of the Louisiana Territory as Hypocritical: Argumentative Essay

Thomas Jefferson was elected in the year 1801 as the third president of the United States. The voting process began in April 1800. Burr ran for vice president while Jefferson ran for the presidency on the same ticket. The constitution demanded the votes be counted separately despite Burr and Jefferson vying for the positions on the same ticket. In January 1801 Burr and Jefferson tied with 73 votes while Adams became third with 63 votes (Brinkley, 2015). The house of Representatives insisted on following the constitutional rules which denied Burr and Jefferson to be elected on the same ticket. Federalist Alexander Hamilton who hated Burr and mistrusted Jefferson urged the House to vote against Burr who he described as the most unfit man for the office of the president. In the year 1804 Jefferson ran for reelection and won overwhelmingly. During the reign of Washington and Adams, federal expenditure had tripled between the years 1793 and 1800.

Hamilton had increased the public debt and had created an internal whiskey tax exercise which was hated by many. In 1802, Jefferson’s government convinced Congress to end the internal taxes. These meant that only customs duties and sales of western lands were sources of revenue. Albert Gallatin (treasury secretary) reduced government spending by reducing the number of staff in the executive department. Jefferson decreased the state debt from $83 million to $45 million during his reign. The American army also reduced from 4,000 men to 2,500. The US Navy was cut from twenty ships to seven ships, and the sailors and officers were reduced accordingly (Brinkley, 2015). Thomas Jefferson feared that a large number of navies might promote commerce overseas and wanted the state to remain practicing agriculture. He also argued that a large army might threaten civil liberties and control the government. While he was reducing the army, he was establishing US military base academy at the West that was founded in the year 1802. The Barbary states of North Africa for example, Morocco, Tripoli, Algiers, and Tunis had been asking money from the countries whose ships accessed the Mediterranean.

These nations which included Great Britain gave a regular contribution to the Barbary pirates. In the 1780s and 1790s, the US agreed to a treaty to contribute money annually to the Barbary states, but Thomas was unwilling to continue with the agreement. In 1801 the Tripoli leader ordered the US flagpole to be removed as a sign of war because Americans did not meet their demand. Jefferson responds by building a fleet in the region. In 1805 the American reached an agreement with Tripoli that ended the payment of ship for sailing in the Mediterranean, but the American was to pay $60,000 for the release of the detained Americans by the Barbary pirates. Jefferson’s government purchased Louisiana territories. Napoleon had offered the United States the entirety of Louisiana, and he sent James Monroe and Livingston to Paris to help in the negotiations. An agreement was signed on April 30, 1803 (Brinkley, 2015). The terms of the treaties stated that the US should pay 80 million francs to the government of France. Also, the US was to grant France commercial privilege in New Orleans and unite the people that lived in Louisiana and offer them the same rights as other citizens. Andrew Jackson won the election in 1828, and his wife died shortly after. People accused Jackson and Rachel of adultery on the basis that Rachel married Jackson without legally divorcing her first husband (Shi & Tindall, 2016). The election of Jackson meant that political power shifted from East to West. The support of Jackson and his opponents led to the emergence of 2 political parties named the pro-Jacksonites (democrats) and anti-Jacksonites whose heads were Webster and Clay. There arose a battle between them which involved the Bank of America. The bank charter was expiring in 1832.

Andrew’s party opposed the Bank saying it is an advantageous institution while Webster and Clay argued for its recharter. Jackson vetoed its recharter in July. Jackson won the reelection over Clay despite the veto controversial. Andrew opposed the South Carolina laws led by Senator John C. Calhoun despite his principle that supported the rights of the states. South Carolina adopted a resolution in the year 1832 that declared federal tariffs passed in 1828 & 1832 null and void and they were prohibited to be enforced on the state (Shi & Tindall, 2016). Andrew urged Congress to lower the high tariffs, and he ordered the armed force to apply federal laws in South Carolina. The violence increased but the South Carolina backed down, and Andrew earned the credit for preserving unity. Andrew did not take any action when Georgia claimed the land that was guaranteed to Cherokee Indians under the law despite standing strong against South Carolina. He also failed to urge the supreme court to make a ruling that Georgia had no authority over the American native lands (Shi & Tindall, 2016). Cherokee signed a treaty in the year 1835 in which he gave up their land in exchange for the west of Arkansas territories. In the year 1835 fifty thousand people headed on foot along the trails of tears led to the death of many people.

Reference

Brinkley, A. (2015). American history. NYC: McGraw-Hill. Schultz, K. (2016). HIST 4 (4th ed.). Boston, MA: Wadsworth.
Shi, D. E., & Tindall, G. B. (2016). America: A narrative history. WW Norton & Company.

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