Thomas Jefferson attempted to purchase New Orleans in 1802 and 1803 because...

  

• Spain refused American farmer's access to ship their products through the port, in violation of the Pinckney Treaty.
• he feared that racial violence in Haiti would spread to America via New Orleans.
• he had arranged a secret deal with Great Britain to use the port as a military staging point for the conquest of French and Spanish islands in the Caribbean.
• he feared Napoleon Bonaparte's plan to establish a French empire in North America. 

ANSWER: Thomas Jefferson attempted to purchase New Orleans in 1802 and 1803 because he feared Napoleon Bonaparte's plan to establish a French empire in North America.