Louisiana Purchase 1803
Background
•From the Mississippi River to the
Rocky Mountains and from the Gulf of
Mexico to the Canadian border, France controlled a vast
tract of land called Louisiana territory.
•In 1802 – France would not allow the Americans to use the
port of New Orleans
•Many Americans wanted access for trade of its
agricultural products through the Gulf of Mexico
Jefferson’s Solution
• A pacifist, Jefferson did
not want a war with
France
• He sent James Monroe
to Paris to join Robert
Livingston to purchase
New Orleans for at
most $10 million but
they were dumbfounded
when Napoleon offered
the whole territory for $15
million.
The Deal of the Century
• The Louisiana Purchase doubled the
size of the United States, 828,000 mi2
were added at approximately 3 cents
per acre.
• The U.S. gained control of the port of
New Orleans.
• It was one of the largest land sales in
the history of the United States.
Lewis and Clark Expedition
• Thomas Jefferson asked Meriwether
Lewis to lead an expedition to learn all he
could about the new land.
• Lewis asked his friend William Clark to
assist him with the expedition.
• Sacagawea, a fifteen year old native
American, agreed to travel with Lewis and
Clark and serve as a translator.
Exploring the New Territory
Results of the Expedition
• Lewis and Clark traveled from St. Louis to
the Pacific Ocean, and returned in 1806.
• The expedition lasted almost 3 years.
• They brought back maps showing the
major rivers and mountains, seeds, plants,
and even living animals.
• But the new territory also led to the debate
regarding slavery in the territory
Philippines – Spanish American
War 1898
The Philippines
The Causes of the Spanish
American War
• U.S. assisted Cuba in their fight for
independence
• U.S. used the Monroe Doctrine to justify
involvement.
• Sinking of the Maine
• Yellow Journalism
• De Lôme Letter
Sinking of the Maine in Havana
Harbor
•USS Maine explodes in Havana, Cuba
Harbor,
•Most Americans believe it was Spain’s fault
•1976 US Navy analyzed the sunken ship, decided
that the hull blew OUT not IN
Yellow Journalism
• The declaration of war
delighted American
newspapers, and they
scrambled for the most
sensational headlines.
“Yellow Journalism”
“You furnish the pictures, I’ll furnish the war
William Randolph Hearst
De Lôme Letter
• Spanish ambassador
to the US wrote to a
friend and called
President McKinley
“weak” in the letter. It
was intercepted and
appeared on the front
page of Hearst’s New
York Journal
Philippines Became an American
Colony
• Annexation of the Philippines –
McKinley said “must take them all and
educate the Filipinos and uplift and
Christianize them”
• Philippines was annexed by U.S. in 1899
• Philippine-American War – Emilio
Aguinaldo declared Philippines
independent in January 1899 and an
armed conflict began almost immediately
The Cost of the Philippine- American
War
• “20,000 to 1,400,000 Filipinos
died in the
• $400 million = 20 times what
the US paid for the islands
• Anti-Americanism
• Growing Racism
• New Resources to US
• Geographically: greater
presence in Asia