Outline
The Louisiana Purchase
1. Purpose Statement: Summarize the key decision points leading up to the Louisiana Purchase
by Thomas Jefferson in
2. BLUF: The decision of Thomas Jefferson to make the initial offer of buying New Orleans, led
to the largest single land expansion of the United States
3. Intro/Background:
a. Summarize French/Spanish rule of the territory
i. http://www.lib.lsu.edu/special/purchase/history.html
4. Key Decision Event:
a. Napoleon taking over Europe
i. forces Spanish to sign secret treaty ceding control of the territory to France
ii. Thomas Jefferson was worried about what would happen to US trade on the
Mississippi and offered to purchase New Orleans from France.
5. From just a city to 828,000 miles of territory:
a. how it happened
i. revolts in San Domingo
b. Spain and Congress reactions
6. Results:
a. Immediate results
b. long term results
7. Citations:
a. Louisiana State University online Louisiana Purchase documents
b. Library of Congress – actual treaty
c. A Wilderness So Immense- Jon Kukla
d. The Louisiana Purchase- Thomas Fleming
e. The Louisiana Purchase- Elaine Landau
8. Appendices:
a. ACH table
b. digital copy poster
c. map of Louisiana Purchase Territory