Discuss how the acquisition of the Louisiana Purchase reflects the sentiment of "elastic consciences make elastic constitutions."

The Louisiana Purchase, considered one of the most significant achievements of Thomas Jefferson's presidency, was hotly debated at the time, and some argued that Jefferson was behaving unconstitutionally in purchasing additional land in order to expand the United States. However, with the acquisition of the Louisiana Territory, Jefferson not only doubled the size of the United States, he was also able to prevent the French from taking control of New Orleans, which would have offered them a good strategic position from which to potentially attack the United States or extend control over Mexico. The territory was previously held in Spanish hands before it was returned to France.
In terms of the elasticity of the constitution, it is now generally agreed that, technically, Jefferson was not breaking any rules. The Louisiana Purchase was conducted as a treaty, which a sitting president does have the power to form, and it was fully ratified by Congress. However, in taking the matter to Congress, Jefferson was concerned with the fact that although the Constitution did not forbid a President from making a monetary purchase of land, it also did not explicitly grant him that power. His political opponents also pointed this out. Jefferson believed that a President should have only those powers which were explicitly granted to him in the Constitution; as such, he felt that an amendment was necessary. However, because Jefferson was reluctant to lose the deal—which was driven by France's economic deprivation at that moment in time—he decided to go ahead and make the deal, although he felt it was currently outside of his authority. Jefferson's conscience was very much pricked by this, but he felt that, for the good of the young nation, he must become "elastic" in his conscience and his interpretation of his own powers.
The Senate supported Jefferson in his decision, with debate over ratification of the treaty lasting a mere two days, but this marked a turning point in that it raised the question of what a president was allowed to do. Was it only everything that was spelled out in the Constitution—or did silence imply consent?
You can read more about this at the link attached or in Bailey's A Diplomatic History of the American People, where the quotation originates. "Elastic consciences make elastic constitutions" is his own description of Jefferson's internal debate over the issue of the Louisiana Purchase.
https://constitutioncenter.org/blog/the-louisiana-purchase-jeffersons-constitutional-gamble