Federalist Senator John Quincy Adams, seeing the advantage in America doubling its size, broke ranks with his party to support the Louisiana Purchase, writing:  "I must square every vote I give to some principle, and not say aye or no, as the mere echo to my file-leader."

Read the transcript of the original "Purchase of Louisiana" from July 5, 1803.

Explore Monticello's resources about the Louisiana Purchase, the subsequent Lewis and Clark Exhibition, and Westward Expansion.