In the letter, Thomas Jefferson states "the treaty may be ratified [between France and USA] in time". If the agreement signed is called a treaty, does that give Pres. Jefferson the constitutional right to make the purchase? Explain your answer.

Respuesta :

The document in the form of a treaty signed between the United States and France is unconstitutional until it is approved by the Senate. In the Constitution it is clarified in the following manner: "The Senate has jurisdiction over the approval of international treaties and appointments made by the President of the United States."  

The events that happened:

At the beginning of the 1800s the French army of Santo Domingo was decimated by an epidemic of yellow fever and the uprising broke out on the island. Napoleon, determined to make the most of this complicated situation, gave Talleyrand new instructions, and on April 11, 1803, he surprised Monroe and Livingston with a single, nonnegotiable offer: the purchase of the whole of Louisiana. Although this operation exceeded its powers, the US ambassadors accepted. At the beginning of May, three documents were signed by which France ceded Louisiana to the United States. The agreed price was of 15 million dollars, of which 11,250,000 supposed the payment to France of the rights of cession of the territories. The remaining $ 3,750,000 was used by the United States government to satisfy the claims of its citizens against France. At the time of the purchase, Jefferson was questioned about the constitutionality of the acquisition of territories for not adding a new amendment to the US Constitution that would give him legal coverage. However, the acquisition of Louisiana was ratified by the United States Senate in the form of a treaty.