MANIFEST DESTINY 1806 1855
MANIFEST DESTINY
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Question
[CLICK ON ANY CHOICE TO KNOW THE RIGHT ANSWER]
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he was a strict interpreter of the Constitution
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he was a loose interpreter of the Constitution
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Either A or B
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None of the above
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Detailed explanation-1: -Jefferson took a strict, literal view of constitutional powers, meaning that specific powers reserved for the President and Executive Branch needed to be spelled out in the Constitution.
Detailed explanation-2: -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.
Detailed explanation-3: -The Original Goal: Buying New Orleans Even as he was laying the groundwork for what became the Lewis and Clark Expedition, to explore Louisiana and the western lands, Jefferson gave his ambassador in Paris, Robert Livingston, instructions to negotiate with the French to buy New Orleans.
Detailed explanation-4: -Jefferson adhered to a strict interpretation of the Constitution and believed that without a specific enumeration of his right as president to acquire the purchase, buying the Louisiana Territory could plausibly be unconstitutional.
Detailed explanation-5: -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.