Which president authorized the louisiana purchase

Jefferson rationalized his decision for the treaty to be sent to Congress without an amendment to John Breckinridge. By that time, Jefferson and his supporters faced an October 31, deadline to ratify the treaty or lose the purchase. The debate in the Senate only lasted for two days. On October 20, , the Senate voted for ratification , and the treaty was signed on October 31, If it had been, Jefferson may have come in conflict with his own cousin and political rival, Supreme Court Chief Justice John Marshall.

But years later, Marshall made his thoughts clear about the Treaty Clause in an decision called American Insurance Co. Toggle navigation. Scott Bomboy is the editor in chief of the National Constitution Center. Jefferson and his supporters in the Senate therefore devised an argument that the constitutional provision for governing a territory presupposed the right to acquire that territory. They had the votes to approve the treaty and appropriate the funds to pay for it.

The Supreme Court later upheld their reasoning. The seven senators who opposed the deal of the century—all of them Federalists—objected to Jefferson's exercise of executive authority in the absence of any specific constitutional authorization. Jefferson may have had to compromise his most sacredly-held principles for the Louisiana Purchase to go forward.

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Summary Thomas Jefferson had always feared the costs of loose construction of the powers delegated to the national government in the Constitution, and the Constitution was silent about acquiring lands from other countries. What happened when the two men began negotiations? Why did Jefferson have concerns about the constitutionality of the Louisiana Purchase? Should Jefferson have continued to insist that a retroactive amendment was needed? Why or why not?