Document I – Jeffersonian Philosophy (Economic Systems)
Notes on the State of Virginia. Query XIX: “Manufactures.”
Questions
1. Compare Jefferson’s concepts of agrarian and industrial societies.
2. How does the statement “The plough is to the farmer what the wand is to the sorcerer” reflect
3. Jefferson’s concept of an agrarian society?
4. How does Jefferson’s agrarian philosophy relate to the Louisiana Purchase?
5. Did Jefferson’s agrarian philosophy justify the Louisiana Purchase?
6. Based on your analysis, should Jefferson have purchased Louisiana in 1803?
Document II – Geopolitical Significance of Louisiana
Letter to To Robert R. Livingston
Questions
1. Locate New Orleans on a map. Who owned New Orleans prior to 1803?
2. Why was New Orleans both important and dangerous to the United States?
3. If you were Jefferson, how would you deal with this crisis?
4. Would this decision be in the best interest of the United States?
Document III – Constitutionality of Purchase
“Letter to John Breckinridge”
Questions
1. Does Jefferson retreat from strict construction in his purchase of Louisiana?
2. List four key issues Jefferson must confront when considering the purchase of the Louisiana
Territory.
3. Describe Jefferson’s plan for obtaining congressional approval.
GROUP QUESTIONS WE WILL ALL ANSWER
1. Was the Louisiana Purchase a bargain or a burden?
2. Today Americans can hop in a car or fly by plane coast to coast in the continental United States.
Laws, currency, language, and individual rights flow freely throughout this domain. In other
parts of the world, people must exchange currency, observe different laws, and speak different
languages as they travel across their continents. If different nations controlled the territory
between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, how would life be different today?
3. Imagine that our president has just been offered the opportunity to buy the Maritime Provinces
(New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, and Prince Edward Island) from Canada. Should
he accept the offer? What are the advantages and disadvantages of such an acquisition? How
would this differ from the Louisiana Purchase in 1803?