Begin with the agreement
The Louisiana Purchase treaty was dated 30 April 1803. The United States agreed to pay France $15 million through the treaty and associated financial conventions. The US National Archives provides the documents and context.
This transfer between governments did not mean that the many Native nations living in the territory had consented to surrender their lands. Monticello’s account of Jefferson and Native Americans examines the coercive implications of his policies, including his private proposals concerning debt and land cessions.
Your fictional decision
Write an imagined memorandum to Jefferson about one consequence of the purchase. Choose a specific question: constitutional authority, administration, relations with a Native nation or the future of slavery in the expanding country.
Keep those questions distinct. Agreement with one aspect of a policy need not imply agreement with every other aspect.
Explain the constraints
Identify who has the power to act, whose consent is missing and what information your fictional adviser could know in 1803. Do not write as though later conflicts and territorial acquisitions are already inevitable.
Propose two courses of action and a reason each might meet opposition. If you change a historical decision, explain the immediate consequences before projecting decades into the future.
Test your conclusion
End with an objection from someone affected by the policy. Avoid inventing a statement and attributing it to a real Native leader. Use a clearly fictional character or quote an accurately identified primary source.
A strong answer acknowledges that expansion could mean opportunity for some people and dispossession for others.
Participation
This is an evergreen writing prompt, not an active prize competition. No deadline, judging panel or prize is attached. Label invented events and dialogue and include a short source note.
Editorial review
Reviewed on 26 September 2026. Sourced the treaty and its consequences for Native nations, separated speculation from events and removed unsupported competition terms.