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Party Politics during the Louisiana Purchase

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 January 2016

Sean M. Theriault
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Abstract

The powerful personalities of Thomas Jefferson and Napoléon dominate Louisiana Purchase narratives. Such a focus obscures the important institutional, electoral, and partisan dynamics that help explain the transfer of Louisiana to the United States. This article offers new insight into relationships between the Federalists and the Republicans as well as the institutional relationship between Congress and the president. During the purchase, both political parties at times sacrificed the consistency of their issue positions on the altar of electoral politics. The politicians’ actions were based not only on their personalities and partisan affiliations but also on their institutional contexts. By additionally considering the partisan and institutional dynamics of the early 1800s, this article provides a more complete understanding of the Louisiana Purchase.

Type
Articles
Information
Social Science History , Volume 30 , Issue 2 , Summer 2006 , pp. 293 - 324
Copyright
Copyright © Social Science History Association 2006 

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