Louisiana Purchase (1803) Map by William Morris. Licensed under the . Available online at Representative Roger Griswold, a Federalist who opposed the Louisiana Purchase, gave a speech to Congress in 1803. It is, in my opinion, scarcely possible for any gentleman on this floor to advance an opinion that the President and Senate may add to the members of the union by treaty whenever they please, or, in the words of this treaty, may incorporate in the union of the United States a foreign nation who, from interest or ambition, may wish to become a member of our government. Such a power would be directly repugnant to the original compact between the states, and a violation of the principles on which that compact was formed. The incorporation of a foreign nation into the Union, so far from tending to preserve the Union, is a direct inroad upon it. It destroys the perfect union contemplated between the original parties, by interposing an alien and a stranger to share the powers of government with them . . . This subject was much considered during the last session of Congress, but it will not be found . . . that any individual entertained the least wish to obtain the province of Louisiana. Our views were then confined to New OrIeans and the Florida, and, in my judgment, if would have been happy for the country if they were still confirmed within those limits. The vast and unmanageable extent which the accession of Louisiana will give to the United States; the consequent dispersion of our population; and the destruction of that balance which it is so important to maintain between the Eastern and Western states, threatens, at no very distant day, the subversion of our Union. Author: Roger Griswold. Annals of Congress, 8th Congress, 1st session, Volume 1. This document is in the public domain and is available online at James Madison to Robert Livingston, July 29, 1803 Dear Sir . . . The purchase of Louisiana in its full extent, tho' not contemplated is received with warm, & in a manner universal approbation (approval). The uses to it may be turned, render it a truly noble acquisition. Under prudent management it may be made to do much good as well as to prevent much evil. By lessening the military
Louisiana Purchase (1803) Map by William Morris. Licensed under the . Available online at Representative Roger Griswold, a Federalist who opposed the Louisiana Purchase, gave a speech to Congress in 1803. It is, in my opinion, scarcely possible for any gentleman on this floor to advance an opinion that the President and Senate may add to the members of the union by treaty whenever they please, or, in the words of this treaty, may incorporate in the union of the United States a foreign nation who, from interest or ambition, may wish to become a member of our government. Such a power would be directly repugnant to the original compact between the states, and a violation of the principles on which that compact was formed. The incorporation of a foreign nation into the Union, so far from tending to preserve the Union, is a direct inroad upon it. It destroys the perfect union contemplated between the original parties, by interposing an alien and a stranger to share the powers of government with them . . . This subject was much considered during the last session of Congress, but it will not be found . . . that any individual entertained the least wish to obtain the province of Louisiana. Our views were then confined to New OrIeans and the Florida, and, in my judgment, if would have been happy for the country if they were still confirmed within those limits. The vast and unmanageable extent which the accession of Louisiana will give to the United States; the consequent dispersion of our population; and the destruction of that balance which it is so important to maintain between the Eastern and Western states, threatens, at no very distant day, the subversion of our Union. Author: Roger Griswold. Annals of Congress, 8th Congress, 1st session, Volume 1. This document is in the public domain and is available online at James Madison to Robert Livingston, July 29, 1803 Dear Sir . . . The purchase of Louisiana in its full extent, tho' not contemplated is received with warm, & in a manner universal approbation (approval). The uses to it may be turned, render it a truly noble acquisition. Under prudent management it may be made to do much good as well as to prevent much evil. By lessening the military
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