From Thomas Jefferson to Allan B. Magruder, 11 February 1804
To Allan B. Magruder
Washington Feb. 11. 1804.
Th: Jefferson presents his salutations to mr Mc.Gruder, and his thanks for his pamphlet on Louisiana. altho’ he has not yet gone through it, he percieves very extensive views of the subject taken, and various considerations worthy of attention. that the opening such an extent of country for the future spread of our descendants, will add to their happiness, and enlarge the mass of men living under free & national government, can be doubted by none. those are now living who will see that country contain double or treble the present population of the United states.
PrC (ViW: Tucker-Coleman Collection); endorsed by TJ in ink on verso.
his pamphlet on louisiana: Political, Commercial and Moral Reflections, on the Late Cession of Louisiana, to the United States, enclosed in Magruder to TJ, [before 7 Feb.]. In this 150-page essay, Magruder described the political, agricultural, and commercial advantages of Louisiana and its future economic development. His vision for the future of Louisiana included a moral argument for using the land to relocate and civilize Indians and to colonize emancipated blacks (Junius P. Rodriguez, ed., The Louisiana Purchase: A Historical and Geographical Encyclopedia [Santa Barbara, Calif., 2002], 211-12).