“The Louisiana Purchase”
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Focus Question: What was the importance of the
purchase and exploration of the Louisiana
Territory?
*Jefferson reduced the size of the federal gov’t
and was interested in the American West.
The Nation Looks West
*By 1800 – more than 1 million settlers lived
between Appalachian Mts. and Mississippi River.
*Most western settlers were farmers and
depended on Mississippi River to transport crops
to New Orleans for shipment.
*Spain controlled Mississippi River and New
Orleans.
*1795 – Pinckney Treaty guaranteed the
Americans’ right to ship goods down Mississippi
River to New Orleans.
*1801 – Jefferson discovered that Spain secretly
gave New Orleans and Louisiana Territory to
France.
*French leader Napoleon Bonaparte was trying to
conquer Europe and Jefferson feared he would try
to make France the most powerful country in
America. If Napoleon controlled Louisiana,
westward expansion of the US would be blocked.
Buying Louisiana
*Before France gained control of Louisiana,
Spanish governor of Louisiana withdrew right of
Americans to ship their goods to New Orleans.
Westerners demanded Jefferson go to war to win
back their rights.
A Surprise Offer
*Jefferson tried to buy New Orleans from the
French. He sent James Monroe to France to make
a deal. Robert Livingston, the American minister
in Paris. They were to buy New Orleans and West
Florida.
*In Paris, Monroe and Livingston found out that a
revolution led by Toussaint L’Ouverture had
driven the French from their Caribbean colony of
Haiti. As a result, the French could not defend
Louisiana if a war occurred.
*Since war was also possible between France and
Britain, Napoleon needed money to prepare for
war. France offered to sell New Orleans and the
entire Louisiana Territory to the United for $15
million (4 cents per acre).
*Louisiana Purchase included land from Gulf of
Mexico to Canada and from Mississippi River to
Rocky Mountains.
*The Louisiana Purchase almost doubled the size
of the country. It was unexplored but had millions
of acres of fertile farmland and other natural
resources. It also gave the US control of the
Mississippi River.
Jefferson’s Dilemma
*Although Jefferson was excited about the deal,
he also had a dilemma because he was a strict
interpreter of the Constitution. The Constitution
did not give the President the power to buy land
from a foreign country.
*Jefferson eventually decided that he DID have
the authority to buy Louisiana because the
Constitution allowed the President to make
treaties. The Senate approved the treaty and
Congress quickly voted to pay for the land.
Lewis and Clark Explore the West
*Jan. 1803 – even before Louisiana Purchase,
Jefferson convinced Congress to spend $2,500 on a
western expedition (long and carefully organized
journey).
*Jefferson chose army captain Meriwether Lewis
to lead the expedition and Lewis chose William
Clark as his co-leader.
*Lewis and Clark were told to report back on the
geography, plants, animals, and other natural
features of the region.
*Jefferson wanted L & C to make contact with the
Native Americans who lived in the Louisiana
Territory and also to find out if there is a
waterway between the Mississippi River and the
Pacific Ocean.
Into the Unknown
*Spring 1804 – L & C left St. Louis and headed up
along the Missouri River. Took 3 boats with tons
of supplies and about 40 men (mostly Americans,
several French Canadians, and Clark’s enslaved
African American York).
*York impressed Native Americans with his
hunting skills and was the first black man that
many Native Americans had seen. He was
celebrity.
*By early August – they met Native Americans for
the first time.
*October 1804 – expedition reached Mandan
territory (North Dakota) and camped there for
winter. They were joined by French Canadian
trader, his 17-year-old wife Native American
Sacagawea, and their son. She was a Shoshone
who would travel with them and serve as
translator.
Crossing the Rockies
*April 1805 – expedition set out again. By summer
– they began to climb the Rocky Mts.
*By August – they reached Continental Divide
(place on a continent that separates river systems
flowing in opposite directions).
*At top of Rockies, Lewis hoped to see river
taking them to the Pacific Ocean. All he saw were
mountains.
*Next day, Lewis met a group of Shoshone
warriors. Sacagawea discovered her brother was
the chief. The Shoshones agreed to sell the
expedition horses that were needed to cross the
mountains.
At the Pacific
*On west side of Rockies, L & C reached
Columbia River. They stopped to build canoes for
the downriver voyage. Finally, they reached the
Pacific Ocean.
*Spent the winter of 1805-1806 near where
Columbia River met Pacific Ocean.
*Began return trip in March 1806. Took the party
half a year to return to St. Louis.
*Brought back information of a rich and beautiful
part of the continent and the knowledge that an
all-water route across the continent does not exist.
Pike’s Expedition
*1805-1807 – Zebulon Pike explored the southern
part of the Louisiana Territory.
*He led an expedition west into the Rocky Mts.
Tried to climb a mountain that rose out of
Colorado plains. Did not reach the top but the
mountain became known as Pike’s Peak.
*Pike’s return route took him into Spanish New
Mexico near the Rio Grande River.
*Early in 1807 – Spanish troops arrested the
members of the expedition as spies. Spanish
feared Pike was gathering information so that the
Americans could take over the region. After
several months of captivity, the men were released
and escorted back to the US land.
*As Spanish feared, Pike’s reports about the
Spanish borderlands created great American
interest in the region.
Review Questions
1. What important right did the US gain with the
Pinckney Treaty of 1795?
The right to ship goods down the Mississippi
River to New Orleans
2. Why did President Jefferson hesitate to approve
the purchase of the Louisiana Territory?
As strict interpreter of the Constitution, Jefferson
knew that the Constitution did not specifically
grant a President the right to buy land from
foreign powers.
3. What goals did President Jefferson set for
Lewis and Clark’s expedition?
Lewis and Clark were to report on the resources
of the West, to make contact with the Native
Americans, establish claim to the land west of the
Rockies, and find an all-water route across the
continent if it existed.