Editor says, what if the Louisiana Purchase was thrown out by the House of Representatives? muses Andrew Beane. This article is also dedicated to one of our favourite books The Probability Broach by L. Neil Smith. Please note that the opinions expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect the views of the author(s). This story was published in the August 2012 edition of Changing the Times Magazine.

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Editor says, in reality both Federalists and Jeffersonians were concerned about whether the purchase was unconstitutional. Many members of the United States House of Representatives opposed the purchase. Majority Leader John Randolph led the opposition. The House called for a vote to deny the request for the purchase, but it failed by two votes, 59?57. The Federalists even tried to prove the land belonged to Spain, not France, but available records proved otherwise. In authoring this article we have repurposed content from Wikipedia.
The Louisiana territory encompassed all or part of 15 current U.S. states and two Canadian provinces. The land purchased contained all of present-day Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Nebraska; parts of Minnesota that were west of the Mississippi River; most of North Dakota; most of South Dakota; northeastern New Mexico; northern Texas; the portions of Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado east of the Continental Divide; Louisiana west of the Mississippi River, including the city of New Orleans; and small portions of land that would eventually become part of the Canadian provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan.

Jackie Rose commented on 2012-07-09 13:34:57 ~ In other words...the purchase played a major role in eventually making America into a great world power thanks to its sheer size.

Chris Oakley commented on 2012-07-09 14:58:04 ~ Certainly size was a major factor...

Jeff Provine commented on 2012-07-09 15:06:07 ~ Partisan politics: I'm sure this would happen today. Post-Napoleon (who might not make it as far without the $15 million the US paid), who gets Louisiana? Britain, perhaps, which could spur yet another US-Britain war over Mississippi rights.

Andrew Beane commented on 2012-07-11 17:43:41 ~ The purchase, coupled with the national unity that developed in the wake of the War of 1812, produced a momentum for the sense of Manifest Destiny. Nothing brings states together like a common military uniform and an equally common vision. I agree with Jeff that Britain might attempt to fill the power vacuum, such that it was, left by a France that is unable to maintain the possession of Louisiana, though the fading empire of Spain would have a fair claim to it as well.

Eric Oppen commented on 2012-09-15 08:48:19 ~ I think it would have ended up as US territory one way or another. The Brits were too thin on the ground, the Spaniards were too weak, and France was far far away and had other fish to fry closer to home.