The Louisiana Purchase

The Nation Looks West By 1800, over 1 million Americans lived past the Mississippi River, most were farmers Because there were no roads, most relied on the Mississippi River to move their goods for sale, making New Orleans a very important city Spain controlled the land west of the river, so the USA negotiated a treaty with them for use of the river and land At times Spain refused the treaty and charged heavy fines on goods, in 1801 Jefferson found out that Spain had secretly given Louisiana to France and he saw a chance to grow our borders and increase our economy

In 1802, Spain ordered all ships off of the Mississippi River James Monroe was sent to France to negotiate the purchase of New Orleans along with Robert Livingston Upon arrival, Monroe found out that France was involved in a rebellion in Haiti, secretly France was almost bankrupt and England was planning to attack France, Napoleon needed money fast Buying Louisiana

France offered the city of New Orleans, all land that touched the Mississippi River and territories that extended beyond for $15 million (827,000 square miles) Even though Jefferson did not have the authority from Congress to make the deal, he did so anyway doubling the size of our nation in one day Jefferson’s Loose interpretation of the Constitution increased the national debt

Lewis & Clark Explore the West In January of 1803, Jefferson sent Meriwether Lewis and William Clark to scout and map the new Louisiana Territory as well as look for Indians or river routes along the way Recently the Pacific Ocean had been discovered and Jefferson wanted to find the quickest and safest route directly to the ocean. This would also open up trade with China and Japan In 1804 Lewis & Clark left St. Louis Missouri for the Pacific. With 3 boats, 40 men and supplies their journey was not easy.

Battling currents, shallow rivers and curious natives slowed the journey down to over 3 times the amount of time they thought it would take. Along the way, out of supplies and lost they run into a French fur trapper and his two wives. One wife Sacagawea, a Shoshone agreed to travel with them and help guild them to the ocean. Later in the journey, the expedition is almost attacked and killed by a war party in the pacific northwest. It turns out that the chief of the tribe was Sacagawea’s lost brother. The tribe stopped the attack and agreed to help Lewis & Clark. Reaching the Pacific in the winter of 1805, the group made a fort survived the winter and headed back to St. Louis in March of 1806. The return journey only took 6 months.

Zebulon Pike attempted to cut directly through the Rocky Mountains to reach the ocean. His journey stopped in the Rockies as the snow was so deep that he never made it across; today that mountain is called Pike’s Peak. On the way home, Pike went through Spanish New Mexico, Texas and Arizona, he made detailed maps about the land and people. He was captured and held as a spy. While Pike was eventually released and not charged as a spy, his findings did educate Americans about Spanish lands and made many Americans desperately wish to move to New Mexico and Texas, setting up a border dispute with Mexico and Spain many years later Pike’s Expedition

Return to the links on my webpage to learn about the Native Americans Lewis and Clark encountered and the contributions of Sacagawea