Louisiana Purchase Essay

The year of 1803 significantly changed our nation eternally. It stunned many people. In no way, shape or form, did we ever believe that our nation would expand so rapidly. What started with the small purchase of New Orleans led into the substantial purchase of the Louisiana Territory. This was a purchase that will make Thomas Jefferson a man to be remembered. Although, he wasn’t the only man who impacted the United States during this time period. Meriwether Lewis and William Clark are the two men that are greatly known for their expedition across the Louisiana Territory. These two subjects, the Louisiana Purchase and the Lewis and Clark Expedition, altered our nation immeasurably.

The Louisiana Purchase and the Lewis and Clark expeditions were big turning points in American history because of the ability to settle into new lands and to start new businesses and farms in new places. When Thomas Jefferson bought the entire Louisiana territory from Napoleon it was a huge advantage to our economy. It enabled us to start new businesses and farms, thus making us a much richer and more powerful country. Since it enabled America to start new farms it fed into Jeffersons philosophy of wanting a more agricultural economy. This purchase helped our trading significantly, we could trade much easier with different countries because we had access to the Mississippi River. When Jefferson purchased the Louisiana territory from Napoleon he did not really even know what he was buying, except for the size of the territory. So, he sent a group of explorers to document and map out the entire Louisiana territory, this expedition was led by two men named Lewis and Clark. They founded many new animals and set an example for the Americans that would later on settle these areas for how to live in each certain area of the Louisiana purchase. . The Louisiana Purchase followed by Lewis and Clarks expedition were both big investments that payed off huge for America.

The exploration of Lewis and Clark into the Louisiana Purchase had a great impact on the United States. During the exploration, they encountered Native American tribes, who exchanged items with them, and new species of plants and animals.

Sacajawea was born about 1790 in what is now the state of Idaho. She was one of the "Snake People," otherwise known as the Shoshone. Her name in Hidatsa was Tsi-ki-ka-wi-as, "Bird Woman. In Shoshone, her name means "Boat Pusher." She was stolen during a raid by a Hidatsa Contrary to popular opinion, Sacajawea did not serve as a guide for the party. She only influenced the direction taken by the expedition one time, after reaching the area where her people hunted she indicated they should take a tributary of the Beaverhead River to get to the mountains where her people lived and where Lewis and Clark hoped to buy horses.

To buy or not to buy, that is the question. Although it was the greatest “real estate” deal, the Louisiana Purchase of 1803 was perhaps one of the most controversial events in American History. President Thomas Jefferson, although he was a Founding Father and the primary writer of the Declaration of Independence, faced major opposition with his decision to purchase the Louisiana Territory from the French. Most of the opposition he faced, however, was domestic.

In addition to the spread westward, massive amounts of land were gained with the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. The Louisiana Purchase conquered possession on territory west of the Mississippi River that stretched from the Gulf of Mexico to Canada (Roark, 249). President Jefferson came to the reasoning of the US needed to further explore the newly inherited parts of the land added. Acquisition of the Louisiana Territory virtually doubled the territorial extent of the United States, giving the new nation what then seemed to be almost limitless room for expansion. It also made possible the nation’s later expansion to the Pacific Ocean (Loos). Meriwether Lewis and William Clark went on an expedition to later on explore the trans – Mississippi West.

The Louisiana Purchase was the first notable acquisition to national unity, for it allowed contact between states to expand and helped to unite some the of the southern states.

Lewis and Clark were able to cover many miles before The Missouri River froze . Four days after the first snowfa ll, they reached the Mandan tribe's villages, where they planned to spend the winter. Without stopping,the members began to build a fort for protection against the snow and attack by the Sioux. Before the end of November, when ice wa s already running in the river, the fort was finished. Temperatures dropped to below QQF and guards, watching the entire fort, had to be relieved every 30 minutes. The expedition's food supplies soon began to run low. To make it through the winter, the

In May of 1804, two men set out on an important journey that would take them across the country and discover new land, but none of it would have been possible without the aid of one woman. The Lewis and Clark Expedition was planned by Thomas Jefferson, in order to explore the unknown in the newly purchased Louisiana Territory, and also to find a water route across the continent. Along the way the group of men met a quiet native, named Sacagawea, whose impact would later have a large effect on the success of their important journey.

The Louisiana Purchase had many effects on the United States. The purchase made it clear to other countries that we would try to find a peaceful solution to any problems. Instead of fighting Spain and France for the land the United States found a peaceful solution. The purchase also showed us that we were missing something in our Constitution. Thomas Jefferson hesitated to buy the land because the Constitution did not say anything about buying land. Fortunately, Jefferson was convinced to buy the

The Decisions made to buy the Louisiana Purchase were tough; however, in the end the Louisiana Purchase was the most important land purchase in American history. In 1803 the United States had seventeen states along with the Northwest Territory. America still had not reached its potential growth, even though the states were still growing with settlers, until after the Louisiana Purchase. The president at this time was Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson’s decision would soon be the birth of our nation, as well as be the largest land purchase in American history.

many different ports for trading. This also helped the United States Navy, with all these

The Louisiana Purchase is the biggest exchange of land in history. Jefferson’s acquisition of this big piece of land doubled the United States’ size for 15 million dollars. The Louisiana Purchase would have not happen without Napoléon’s loss of interest in the french american empire. At the time, Thomas Jefferson was in office,the president’s political beliefs opposed this to happen, what convinced him? As the United States started to expand, gaining alliance with the most powerful forces on the planet, business and influence started to flourish. New Orleans became the most diverse place in the country both socially and politically.

Before Thomas Jefferson ever entered the presidency, he believed in the “Empire of Liberty.” He wrote in a letter to a friend that “Our confederacy must be viewed as the nest from which all America, North or South, is to be peopled.” His motives for the intense eye on American expansion were greatness for his country, as well as for himself. He was disgusted with the idea of North America being divided into nation-states like Europe. His goal was for the ideals of the American Revolution to spread over the whole continent. He passed and helped pass some of the legislation that helped early America expand. He co-authored the Northwest Ordinance of 1787, which allowed for states to be made from the territory east of the Mississippi and

went back to the United States. They were back by 1806. Lewis and Clark achieved their goal of