The Louisiana Purchase and the Lewis and Clark expedition

Grade 8 Social Studies Worksheet

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Use this

   Jefferson and the Constitution, 1803 (cards A to E). Card A, the Constitution, Article IV, Section 3, as transcribed by the National Archives (cuts marked): "New States may be admitted by the Congress into this Union; … The Congress shall have Power to dispose of and make all needful Rules and Regulations respecting the Territory or other Property belonging to the United States; …" Card B, a summary in our words of a letter from President Jefferson to Levi Lincoln, his attorney general, August 30, 1803 (read in the 1829 edition of Jefferson's papers): Jefferson rewrote the wording of an amendment that would make Louisiana part of the United States and give citizenship to its white inhabitants. His draft barred new states and land grants north of a line at the mouth of the Arkansas River, except grants to Indians in exchange for equivalent lands, until another amendment was passed. He then wrote that the less said about any constitutional difficulty the better, and that it would be desirable for Congress to do what was necessary in silence. Card C, a summary in our words of Jefferson's letter to Wilson Cary Nicholas, a Virginia senator, September 7, 1803 (same edition): Jefferson wrote that the American ministers believed the treaty could not be obtained again, and that if the United States gave France an opening, France would declare the treaty void. He wrote that Congress should act with as little debate as possible on the constitutional difficulty. He also wrote that he would rather ask the nation for added power by amendment than stretch the Constitution by broad reading, but that if his friends thought differently he would accept their view. Card D, two modern summaries in our words: the National Archives says Jefferson, usually a strict reader of the Constitution, wondered whether a president could acquire territory, and that as Napoleon threatened to take back the offer he set his doubts aside. The State Department's Office of the Historian says no provision of the Constitution empowered him to purchase territory, and that, given public support for the purchase, Jefferson decided to ignore the strict reading and forgo an amendment; this contributed to the principle of implied powers of the federal government. Card E, Article X of the treaty signed April 30, 1803 (as printed): "The present treaty Shall be ratified in good and due form and the ratifications Shall be exchanged in the Space of Six months after the date of the Signature by the Ministers Plenipotentiary or Sooner if possible."

2. 1.

   Cards B and C are private letters Jefferson wrote to colleagues in 1803. What are they best evidence for, Jun asks?

   • What historians today conclude about Jefferson and his decision
   • Jefferson's own doubts and plans at the moment he was deciding
   • What the whole government believed about the Constitution
   • How the purchase turned out for the country over the following decades
3. 2.

   Cards B and C are two letters Jefferson wrote a week apart. Which statement fits both, Pia asks?

   • Both letters show Jefferson thought the purchase clearly lawful under the text
   • Card C says no amendment will ever be needed for any purchase of land by Congress
   • Card B asks for long public debate, and card C asks for complete silence on it
   • Both ask for little debate on the question, though Jefferson prefers an amendment
4. 3.

   Which chain from cards C and E best explains why delay seemed risky to Jefferson, Bo asks?

   • Congress debated for months, so France became willing to void the treaty it had made
   • Later growth to the Pacific showed that an amendment had not really been necessary in the end
   • Article IV forbids buying land, so Jefferson hid the treaty from Congress and the public
   • A six-month ratification window and a warning that France might void the treaty
5. 4.

   A student writes: "Jefferson believed the purchase was clearly constitutional." How strong is that claim, given cards B and C, Milo asks?

   • Strong: he went ahead with the purchase, so he had no doubts about its legality
   • Weak: both letters call it a constitutional difficulty, and card C favors an amendment
   • Strong: card A gives Congress power over any land, including buying new territory
   • Weak: card C says he opposed buying Louisiana and wanted the whole treaty cancelled at once
6. 5.

   Card E sets six months from April 30. When Jefferson wrote card B on August 30, about what share of that time was left, Zee asks?

   • About one third, since two of the six months remained
   • About 3 percent, a tiny sliver
   • About 17 percent, since one month was left
   • About two thirds, which is the share already used
7. 6.

   Card D says Jefferson set his doubts aside. How do cards B and C affect that claim, Kira asks?

   • They show he had no doubts from the start and did not want an amendment to be drafted
   • They show he favored an amendment in August and September, so he set doubts aside slowly
   • They show Jefferson refused to skip the amendment, even at the end of the debate
   • They show card D is false, so card D should be thrown out as evidence about Jefferson
8. 7.

   Cards B and C are a week apart. What changed in Jefferson's position between them, Ren asks?

   • By September 7 he decided the Constitution clearly allowed purchases of foreign land
   • By September 7 Congress had already ratified the treaty and so ended the debate
   • On August 30 he refused any amendment, and by September 7 he had drafted one himself
   • On August 30 he reworded an amendment; by September 7 he would accept his friends' view
9. 8.

   A student says: "Jefferson tried to hide the purchase from the public." How strong is that claim, given cards B and C, Esme asks?

   • Overstated: the letters ask for little debate, not secrecy about the purchase itself
   • Weak: card C says Jefferson wanted a long public debate on the whole purchase treaty
   • Strong: card C says France demanded secrecy about the whole purchase from Jefferson
   • Strong: card B says Congress should act quietly and avoid debate on the question
10. 9.

    Which new evidence would best test whether Jefferson's doubts changed what Congress did, Luz asks?

    • Congress's records of its debates and votes on the treaty in autumn 1803
    • A list of the rivers in the territory, with their lengths and their names
    • Jefferson's letters about Lewis and Clark from 1804, written after the vote
    • A modern article that repeats card D and cites no records of the debate
11. 10.

    Which claim about Jefferson and the Constitution do cards A to E support best, Tala asks?

    • The Constitution forbade the purchase, so it was illegal and Congress should have refused
    • Jefferson saw a gap between the text and the treaty, but weighed a deadline
    • The cards disagree with each other, so no claim about Jefferson is supported
    • Jefferson saw no gap between the text and the treaty at any point in 1803