If a President wants to acquire land/territory he may do so personally. This is his civilian right under Article 14, Citizen's Rights.
If the US government wishes to acquire land/territory, congress has authority to arrange this under Section 8, Powers of Congress, which includes powers
So basically, ...
thomas Jefferson
Alexander Hamilton did not purchase territory from Spain.
The treaty allowed the United States to purchase the territory from Mexico.
The Gadsden Purchase.
The Louisiana Purchase
As an advocate of a small, decentralized government, his actions in making the Louisiana Purchase, and in one fell swoop, nearly tripling the size of the United States (and, some thought, its government, by association) mystified some and angered others. He got a good deal, there's no doubt about that, but many saw his move as a betrayal of the Jeffersonian libertarian ideals.
President Jefferson believed that of it wasn't already in the Constitution then that power belonged to the states instead of the Federal Government. The ability to make the purchase wasn't in the Constitution but the deal needed to be completed quickly.
The principle of limited federal government. More precisely the constitution does give the federal government the power to purchase new territory and clearly states that all powers not listed as belonging to Congress are reserved to the states.
There was. Jefferson himself had reservations because he knew the Constitution did not authorize the federal government to buy new territory . People worried about what new states might be formed from the new territory and what effect they might have on the union and whether they would allow slavery. The government had to borrow the money from European bankers and this was a concern. At this time the US already had more land than its people could settle and farm, so borrowing to buy even more was worthy of questioning.
The principle of limited federal government. More precisely the constitution does give the federal government the power to purchase new territory and clearly states that all powers not listed as belonging to Congress are reserved to the states.
He was unsure if the purchase was allowed by the constitution.
He was unsure if the purchase was allowed by the constitution.
The principle of limited federal government. More precisely the constitution does give the federal government the power to purchase new territory and clearly states that all powers not listed as belonging to Congress are reserved to the states.
One action that Thomas Jefferson considered as going beyond the Constitution was his decision to purchase the Louisiana Territory from France. Although he believed that the purchase was necessary for the future expansion and development of the United States, he acknowledged that the Constitution did not explicitly grant the president the power to acquire new territory. However, Jefferson believed that the acquisition would benefit the nation and therefore justified the decision.
On the grounds that the president was not specifically given the power to purchase new lands is why the strict constructionists of the US constitution would have questioned the purchase of the Louisiana Territory. The purchase doubled the US land size at the time.
The constitution does not specifially grant the president the power to purchase land. His opponents in congress might have used this against him at best to refuse to authorize payment at worse to try and impeach him. However the possibilities of so much land convinced them to go along.
thomas Jefferson