The territory of Louisiana proved a fruitful soil for the spread of
slavery, nor was it less productive of struggles and strife over the
admission of States carved therefrom. The Civil War has pacified the
jarring elements and left to be realized now the beneficent results of
the empire gained. With Louisiana the United States gained control of
the entire country watered by the Mississippi and its effluents. With
the settlement of the western country, the Mississippi river assumed its
normal function in the national development, forming out of that region
the backbone of the Union. The Atlantic and Pacific States can never
destroy the Union while the Central States remain loyal. Thus do we see
the basis of our governmental existence removed from the narrow strip
along the Atlantic to the far larger central basin; binding by natural
ligaments a union far less secure on mere constitutional or artificial
connections. Thus have the intentions of its projectors been fulfilled,
the peace of our nation secured, a spirit of confidence in our
institutions diffused, and enterprise and prosperity advanced. The
purchase was an exercise of patriotism unrestrained and unbiased by
considerations unconnected with the public good. It curbed the impulse
of State jealousies, secured to the Union unwonted prestige, and
discovered the latent force and broad possibilities of our national
system.




ANECDOTES AND CHARACTERISTICS OF JEFFERSON.