The answer is that he did not have the power. But at three cents an acre, and to keep the crucial New Orleans port open, Jefferson and is representatives simply made the deal. It was ratified after by a treaty of dubious legality.
This was all the more delicate as Napoleon - the seller - had no legal right from France itself to do so.
President Thomas Jefferson sponsored the Louisiana Purchase. The purchase of the Louisiana territory occurred in 1803 and dissolved in 1804.
Power granted to the President to make treaties.
James Madison argued that President Jefferson’s authority to purchase the Louisiana Territory was derived from the presidential power to negotiate treaties. Madison believed that the Constitution granted the president the ability to acquire land through treaties, a power that Jefferson exercised in the Louisiana Purchase. Although Jefferson had initial reservations about the constitutionality of such a purchase, he ultimately justified it as a means to expand the nation and promote its interests.
Thomas Jefferson
The powers of the president were increased.
President Thomas Jefferson sponsored the Louisiana Purchase. The purchase of the Louisiana territory occurred in 1803 and dissolved in 1804.
The Louisiana Purchase
The Louisiana Purchase
The Louisiana Purchase occurred in 1803. At this time, the president of the United States was Thomas Jefferson, who approved the purchase despite domestic disapproval.
Power granted to the President to make treaties.
James Madison argued that President Jefferson’s authority to purchase the Louisiana Territory was derived from the presidential power to negotiate treaties. Madison believed that the Constitution granted the president the ability to acquire land through treaties, a power that Jefferson exercised in the Louisiana Purchase. Although Jefferson had initial reservations about the constitutionality of such a purchase, he ultimately justified it as a means to expand the nation and promote its interests.
He arranged the purchase of the Louisiana Territory from France in 1803.
thomas Jefferson
The Louisiana Purchase.
Although there was opposition to the Louisiana Purchase, it fell under the loose interpretation of the President's power to negotiate treaties, and the US Senate reluctantly approved it.
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.
Thomas Jefferson