Executive Power & the Louisiana Purchase

When Napoleon Bonaparte offered to sell 827,000 square miles of land to the United States, it was an offer too good for the young country to refuse. For President Thomas Jefferson, however, the Louisiana Purchase prompted an internal constitutional crisis.
Does executive action not explicitly authorized by the Constitution require an amendment? Was the Louisiana Purchase an example of the president’s power to make treaties? Three scholars explore the limits of executive authority surrounding the largest real estate deal in American history.
*******
As always, the Federalist Society takes no particular legal or public policy positions. All opinions expressed are those of the speakers.
Featuring:
- Prof. John Yoo, UC Berkeley School of Law
www.law.berkeley.edu/our-facu...
- Prof. Rob McDonald, US Military Academy at West Point
www.cato.org/people/robert-mc...
- Prof. Sanford Levinson, The University of Texas at Austin School of Law
law.utexas.edu/faculty/sanfor...
*******
Related Links & Differing Views:
Mises Institute: “The Louisiana Purchase: Jefferson’s Constitutional Crisis that Risked Dissolving the Union”
mises.org/wire/louisiana-purc...
Lehrman Institute: “The Louisiana Purchase”
lehrmaninstitute.org/history/...
Boston University Law Review: “Jefferson and Executive Power”
www.bu.edu/law/journals-archiv...
American Bar Association Journal: “The Constitutional Controversy Over the Louisiana Purchase”
www.jstor.org/stable/25723883...
National Constitution Center: “The Louisiana Purchase: Jefferson’s constitutional gamble”
constitutioncenter.org/blog/t...
Credits:
- Director: Noah Bradon
- Producers: Noah Bradon & Tim Hedberg
- Executive Producers: Samantha Schroeder, Ann Hartley, Matt Wood, & Daniel T. Richards
- Writers: Noah Bradon, Samantha Schroeder, & Ann Hartley
- Editors: Adrienne Martin & Colin J. Mason
- Director of Photography: Jacob Schwartz
- First Assistant Director: Colin J. Mason
- Gaffer: Anthony Pilon
- Line Producer: Ben Wade
- Animator: Adrienne Martin
In association with Motivo
motivo.me/

[@nidazz4430]

great video!

[@shnozfilms5935]

We love US history

[@samsol.]

Pog

[@gubbdaig3347]

It says “pog” isn’t English and pog in English is “ch”

[@gastonneal724]

How did he come to own it?

[@artemmandrob]

"Unrest in the French colonies in the Caribbean." They mean the Haitian Revolution. The French conducted the most brutal of slave economies to extract wealth from Haiti, "The pearl of the Antilles." The Haitian slaves overthrew the French partially inspired by the American ideals of freedom and self determination. However, with an active and substantial slave economy in the US, President Jefferson could not recognize the new black administration in Haiti. The French demanded reparations from the fledgling government of Haiti. US banks loaned money to Haiti to stave off the French. Meanwhile, the loss of their "pearl" and wars in Europe caused the French to reconsider their holdings in North America. Thus, the Louisiana Purchase. This video would be more complete with a recognition of the role of the Haitian revolution leading towards the Louisiana Purchase.

[@pauljeanrony5075]

HAÏTI is the HERRO

[@gggusc11]

Great video

[@MrJoeybabe25]

The United States bought the "preemptive" right to obtain "Indian" lands by treaty or by conquest, to the exclusion of other colonial powers.
We had ourselves the Imperial Rights to Louisiana. We had to scatter and remove the people who already lived there, foisting American imperialism to gain control of the area.
Good bargain? Sure? The right thing to do? I'd say no. At the least we should teach the whole story of the "purchase" rather than "look at this as a great fire sale we took advantage of".
We should be able to look back on our founding fathers with more than the great deals they got.