The Westward Expansion of the United States That Led to the Louisiana Purchase During Thomas

The westward expansion of the United States that led to the Louisiana Purchase during Thomas Jefferson’s first term in office “developed logically out of an already old Anglo-American tradition.”[1] Rivalry between European powers for control of the North American continent established a pattern that continued into the “first years of the new American Nation.”[2] Jefferson’s expansionist polices were not unique. Four main themes in President Thomas Jefferson’s position, experiences, and circumstances directly led to the Louisiana Purchase. First, the origins of Jefferson’s thoughts and plans regarding territory to the west were an amalgam of ideas that stretched over two decades. Second, Jefferson used European struggles, in particular Napoleon’s crisis in Haiti, to promote his vision of the western United States. Third, Jefferson used private friendships with the French elite for the purpose of constructing policy toward France and the Louisiana territory. Finally, it was Jefferson’s struggle, thought, and debate over the constitutionality of the purchase that provided its rationale. Jefferson’s diplomacy and decision to pursue the Louisiana Purchase was not a matter of serendipity; it was a carefully guided goal that had fermented over considerable time and came to fruition during his presidency.

Jefferson’s first knowledge, interest, and contact with the value and potential of western land was garnered from his father; through this experience his expansionist view was born. Peter Jefferson was a prominent colonial surveyor. The senior Jefferson possessed extensive knowledge of western lands beyond the Alleghany region. Thomas Jefferson also possessed knowledge of contemporary maps that served to “supplement” his father’s work and further his knowledge of the western territories. [3]

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[1] Alexander DeConde. This Affair of Louisiana. (New York: Charles Scribners’s Sons, 1976), x.

[2] Ibid. ix.

[3] Edwin W Hemphill, “The Jeffersonian Background of the Louisiana Purchase” The Mississippi Valley Historical Review Vol.22 (2) (Sep., 1935): 178.