Territorial Expansion Mini-Project Boram Lee

"Let the Land rejoice, for you have bought Louisiana for a Song.” -Gen. Horatio Gates

The United States of America purchased 828,800 square miles of the French territory Louisiane in The U.S. a total cost of 15 million dollars for the Louisiana territory. This new land doubled the size of the country at that time.

President Jefferson disliked the idea of purchasing Louisiana from France as that could imply that France had a right to be in Louisiana. However, he was aware of the potential threat that a neighbor like France would be for the young nation, and was prepared to go to war to prevent a strong French presence in the region. The United States wanted to acquire the area near New Orleans primarily to guarantee its right to sail vessels down the Mississippi River through Spanish territory and unload goods to the Atlantic coast and Europe. The United States wanted to possess the entire territory of Louisiana because so many American settlers and merchants were already in the region and because of its vital geographic position at the mouth of the Mississippi River.

Napoleon initially refused, so President Jefferson sent James Monroe to secure the deal. However, in April 1803, just days before Monroe arrived in Paris, Napoleon offered to sell the United States not only New Orleans but all of Louisiana. Its boundaries were vaguely defined; however, the United States took formal possession of the full territory of Louisiana including St. Louis, the rights to upper Louisiana. The United States House of Representatives and the Federalists opposed the purchase because they feared that the political power of the Atlantic coast states would be threatened by the new citizens of the west, bringing about a clash of western farmers with the merchants and bankers of New England.

The Louisiana Purchase encompassed portions of 14 current U.S. states and 2 Canadian Provinces: Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, parts of Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, new Mexico, some of Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado, and Louisiana, including the city of New Orleans. In addition, the Purchase contained small portions of land that would eventually become part of the Canadian provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan. The land included in the purchase comprises around 23% of the territory of the United States today.

With uninhibited access to the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers, goods and services could now be transported over greater distances. The U.S. economy could expand their trade areas.

The French habitants of Louisiana either stayed and accepted these new ways of life or moved to other areas of the former colony. By the 1830, the American legal system, based on English law, was enforced. Only white men of property could aspire to office, and only those who paid taxes could vote. Probably not more than one man in three could vote in 1812.

The total population in 1803 was 43,000. Four years later, it was 53,000, and by 1810 the number had climbed to 76,000, increasing of over 75 percent in seven years.

The Louisiana territory was vast, stretching from the Gulf of Mexico and from the Mississippi River in the east to the Rocky Mountains in the west.

There was concern that the new territory states would increase in slave holding In 1806, the Territorial Legislature enacted a new slave code that took away even the few rights that slaves held under the Code Noir. They were no longer permitted to own or inherit anything, so self-purchase was made impossible. Slavery, which also existed in French and Spanish, was expanded into area to farm crops and rules guiding slave behavior were tightened under Americans in Louisiana.

The Louisiana Purchase caused the gradual decline of the Federalists because they strongly opposed the purchase, favoring close relations with Britain over closer ties to Napoleon, believing the purchase to be unconstitutional, and concerned that the U.S. had paid a large sum of money just to declare war on Spain. The Federalists set out to do something including plotting to withdraw from the Union and set up a northern Confederacy made up of the New England states. The most intelligent man, Alexander Hamilton, was shot and died to not support Aaron Burr, the federalists. After the incident, many Federalists supporters turned against the party where Aaron Burr joined.

Year of 1803 JanuaryJefferson sends James Monroe to France. April 11France is willing to sell all of Louisiana. April 12Monroe arrives in Paris negotiated with Finance Minister Barbé-Marbois. May 18Britain declares war on France. July 4Purchase is officially announced in United States. October 20U.S. Senate ratifies purchase treaty. November 30 Spain formally transfers Louisiana to France. December 20 France formally transfers Louisiana to United States December 30 United States takes formal possession of Louisiana.

Overall, Louisiana Purchase definitely caused the United States positively. Without the Louisiana Purchase, the United States could not become larger and strong as they are now. The President Jefferson’s decision increased the size of the country.

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