Thomas Jefferson And The Louisiana Purchase

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Thomas Jefferson believed that the Constitution should be interpreted strictly, but his actions with the Louisiana Purchase showed him to be a hypocrite. The same man who argued that only Congress had the power to enter into treaties decided to enter into a treaty with France on his own, without the consent of Congress. Jefferson was a strong supporter of limited federal government. He warned, “To take a single step beyond these boundaries [of the Tenth Amendment], is to take possession of a boundless field of power.” Yet this man, when he had the opportunity, abused his power to purchase the territory from France. The Louisiana Purchase was a large area of land that the French Empire had originally claimed from the native population.

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