Biology Forums - Study Force

How did the purchase of the Louisiana Purchase transform America's understanding of itself?

I think the Louisiana purchase opened the country’s eyes to all the possibilities that we had not, until then, even considered to be possible.  It brought about expansion of our country that provided us with new resources and ensured our access to New Orleans, which the French were trying to block us from.  ” In 1801, he (Napoleon) coerced Spain into signing a secret treaty that returned Louisiana to France and restricted American access to New Orleans, violating Pinckney’s Treaty”(Henretta and Brody 210).  Jefferson realized this was a much needed move to keep America thriving and growing.  The Louisiana Purchase caused Jefferson to step outside of his normal realm of thinking concerning the constitution and it’s purpose as well as the governments purpose.  “The Louisiana Purchase forced Jefferson to reconsider his strict interpretation of the Constitution. He had long believed that the national government possessed only the powers expressly delegated to it in the Constitution, but there was no constitutional provision for adding new territory. So Jefferson became a pragmatist” (Henretta and Brody 211)  For me, this made Jefferson realize that they had not thought of everything when writing the constitution.  I think this would have been the first realization by our government for the need to amend the constitution, because there is no way they could have thought of it all.  They hadn’t considered the need for expansion or the new doors and protection it might provide for them until this point.