...Stephen Walsh 5 July 2015 Professor Allare HST 111 The Procurement of the Louisiana Territory The Louisiana Purchase was a strategic and diplomatic land acquisition by the United States in 1803 from France. The United States paid $15 million to France in which $3.75 million of that was for a cancellation of debts the United States had with the French. The remaining $11.25 million was left for the actual acquisition of the land. Adjusting for inflation the purchase would’ve cost approximately $240 million in today’s dollars. This vast amount of land purchased was 883,000 square miles with each acre costing approximately three cents. Acquirement of this land left the United States with control of both sides of the entire Mississippi, the vital...
Words: 1209 - Pages: 5
...feather with ink dripping from it while your hand is shaking. You have just signed for the largest purchase in U.S. history. Robert La Salle Robert La Salle was a French explorer who named Louisiana for King Louis the XIV. He was born on November 21, 1643. One of the places he traveled was the New World. He went there because he wanted to set up trading routes with the Native American population. Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson was another important man in the Louisiana Purchase. He was born on April 13, 1743. He was...
Words: 456 - Pages: 2
...The Louisiana Purchase has shaped modern day America. The Louisiana Purchase was the United States buying the Louisiana territory from the French. Contrary to popular belief the Louisiana Purchase was much more than just the state of Louisiana. The territory was 828,000 square miles, stretching from Louisiana all the way to Montana, which is equivalent to 529,920,000 acres. This was easily the largest land purchase in United States history. A grand total of around 15 million dollars for the whole thing which is about paying just a little less than $.42 an acre, this was arguably the easiest expansion of the United States ever. The Louisiana Purchase was not as easy of a decision as we know now back then. It was full of political controversy...
Words: 3010 - Pages: 13
...Made America Was the Louisiana Purchase really important? The Louisiana Purchase was the most significant real estate purchase in US history because It was 827,000 square feet. It was worth 15 million at the time and is now worth 235 million, and It gave the US more territory. “France had ceded the Territory to Spain”, The Louisiana Purchase and the Exploration, Early History by Ripley Hitchcock. Ripley Hitchcock reports that France had ceded to Spain because they wanted help from them. They did this because they wanted Spain to help them fight Britain in the war. “Later still France’s efforts to regain the Louisiana territory was successful under the guidance of Napoleon”, The Louisiana Purchase and the...
Words: 1177 - Pages: 5
...France explored the Mississippi River Valley then started settlements on land that would turn into fifteen states. At four cents an acre Napoleon sold Louisiana to the United States for a total of $15 million. After the Louisiana Purchase, Thomas Jefferson sent Lewis and Clark on a expedition to discover the new land. On the trip Jefferson had them make a detailed map of what they saw and went different terrains they encountered. In the beginning of the Seventeenth Century after France they explored the territory they established scattered settlements in this region. During the Eighteenth Century, the United States was controlled more by France than any other European power. France then ceded French Louisiana west of the Mississippi to Spain. Since it was ceded, the United States did not know about it. This took place during the French and Indian War [1754-1763]. The French transferred nearly...
Words: 1153 - Pages: 5
...Louisiana Purchase I/Background The city of New Orleans controlled the Mississippi River through its location; other locations for ports had been tried and had not succeeded. New Orleans was already important for shipping agricultural goods to and from the parts of the United States west of the Appalachian Mountains. Pinckney's Treaty, signed with Spain on October 27, 1795, gave American merchants "right of deposit" in New Orleans, meaning they could use the port to store goods for export. Americans used this right to transport products such as flour, tobacco, pork, bacon, lard, feathers, cider, butter, and cheese. The treaty also recognized American rights to navigate the entire Mississippi River, which had become vital to the growing trade of their western territories. In 1798 Spain revoked this treaty, which greatly upset Americans. In 1801, Spanish Governor Don Juan Manuel de Salcedo took over for Governor Marquess of Casa Calvo, and the right to deposit goods from the United States was fully restored. Napoleon Bonaparte returned Louisiana to French control from Spain in 1800, under the Treaty of San Ildefonso (Louisiana had been a Spanish colony since 1762.) However, the treaty was kept secret, and Louisiana remained under Spanish control until a transfer of power to France on November 30, 1803, just three weeks before the cession to the United States. James Monroe and Robert R. Livingston traveled to Paris to negotiate the purchase in 1802. Their interest was only in...
Words: 943 - Pages: 4
...The Louisiana Purchase Cynthia Pullins Anthem College Online August 25, 2013 The Louisiana Purchase The Louisiana Purchase is considered the greatest real estate deal in history. The Louisiana Purchase more than doubled the size of the United States, and is the most significant event in the westward expansion of the United States. The Louisiana Purchase changed what the United States had been and had a profound effect on what the United States would become, through Spain’s secret transfer of the territory back to France, President Jefferson gamble and Congress’s ratification of a Treaty. During the years between 1686 and 1800, the French and Spanish colonized and governed the lower Mississippi River Valley. From 1699 to 1762 France controlled the land; in 1762 France gave the land to the Spain after losing the Seven Years War, the French wanted to keep from losing the colony to Britain, so King Louis of France gave the land to his cousin King Carlos II of Spain. Both the French and the Spanish knew how important it was to Americans to cross in to their territory to obtain navigation rights on the Mississippi River, the river was the chief trading channel for goods shipped among the states. It was also important to the United States to trade in New Orleans and to cultivate the economic, political and social possibilities by having access to the Mississippi River Valley (The Encyclopedia of Arkansas History & Culture, 2011). America felt comfortable with the way things...
Words: 907 - Pages: 4
...purchasing the Louisiana Territory from the French. During this time Thomas Jefferson was in office serving as our 3rd president. Along with the decision of purchasing the land, Jefferson faced many other difficulties that could have both positive and negative effects on the United States. After hearing word that the Territory had shifted out of Spain’s hands in 1802, Jefferson knew he had to act while Napoleon Buonaparte was still in control of the land. Jefferson did not want to form an alliance with Britain but at the same time he did not want to go to war with France, he had to be vigilant in...
Words: 689 - Pages: 3
...The general argument made by Walter LaFeber in The Louisiana Purchase: A Dangerous Precedent is that Jefferson created a dangerous precedent in the purchase of the Louisiana territory. More specifically, LaFeber argues that Jefferson turned the Constitution into a tool of expansion and showed, when the time was of the essence, the President and Congress could ignore the Constitution. As President of the United States, Jefferson saw the Louisiana territory, in the hands of the French, as a threat and a barrier to expansion. However, if Jefferson was able to purchase the Louisiana territory, he could solve the overpopulation problem and gain access to key trading areas. With no provisions in the Constitution allowing the president to annex the territory, Jefferson sought to draft an amendment to the problem. The treaty that sold the Louisiana, signed by Robert R....
Words: 318 - Pages: 2
...The Louisiana Purchase began right after the election In Washington D.C. around 1800. President Thomas Jefferson had this belief that if people were able to obtain land, the would be able to endure. On the other side of the world in France, Napoleon Bonaparte convinced Spain Into giving them the territory Louisiana. After hearing about France buying spain, Jefferson was very apprehensive, for he believed it would cause problems with shipping on the Mississippi River. Because of his nervousness, he sent Robert Livingston, and James Monroe to try and block Napoleon from getting the Louisiana Territory. In 1803, Napoleon had plans to conquer Europe. The only problem was he was low on funds to do so. With Jefferson’s authorities in the...
Words: 303 - Pages: 2
...controlled New Orleans and the immeasurable extends of region to its south and west. In any case, with wars boiling over in Europe, Napoleon Bonaparte constrained the session of the Louisiana region from Spain to France and quickly banished American access to the port of New Orleans in 1802. President Thomas Jefferson immediately dispatched then Secretary of State James Madison to Paris to arrange access to the port of New Orleans through buy of domain, transaction, or by picking up some other kind of access to the port. Be that as it may, upon his landing in Paris, Madison quickly took in of Napoleon's plan to offer the whole Louisiana domain to the United States. Seizing the open door to buy around 827,000 square miles of land, Madison arranged the buy of the Louisiana region for 15 million dollars in 1803. Since Madison was just sanctioned to use 10 million dollars, the buy surpassed his power, which was possibly hazardous. Jefferson likewise mulled over the legality of such a buy, actually proposing, to the point that an alteration to the U.s. Constitution may be essential before the buy could be made authority. In any case, his bureau convinced him that this movement was not required. The buy was likewise generally welcomed inside Congress, which confirmed the buy that same year. The Louisiana Purchase exhibited a number of the same long haul issues that the 1783 Treaty of Paris postured. Again, the United States gained endless domains not...
Words: 997 - Pages: 4
...ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY Thomas Jefferson and the Purchase of Louisiana Annotated bibliography 1. Esmond Wright, “THE RELEVANCE OF MR. JEFFERSON, “Virginia quarterly review 76, no.3 (2000): 379, http://ehis.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.umuc.edu/eds/detail?vid=18&hid=120&sid=cb07f42a-e296-4a5d-baa5-5b4c39975cbe%40sessionmgr13&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmUmc2NvcGU9c2l0ZQ%3d%3d#db=a9h&AN=3313415 (accessed November 28, 2012) Database: Academic Search Complete, (accessed November 28, 2012) My research topic is on Thomas Jefferson and the purchase of the Louisiana Territory. I have chosen the database above because Part of the article describes the family background and political liabilities of Thomas Jefferson former president of the United States. Thomas Jefferson was a powerful advocate of liberty. He was born in 1743 in Albemarle County, Virginia from a wealthy family. He went to a very good school and also attended the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg where he received a good training in Philosophy and law. He became a linguist and also loved to read books on diverse subjects. According to Esmond Wright, Thomas Jefferson’s interests were catholic. He married a widow Martha Skelton in 1772 and took her to his house in Monticello. After Martha died in 1872, Jefferson was suspected to have an intimate relationship with Martha half-sister Sally Hemings who was biracial. Even though his political liabilities were impressive, he was...
Words: 1038 - Pages: 5
...state of Louisiana. It is considered one of the most significant events in history in that Jefferson believed that the United States should grow in size. The Louisiana Purchase doubled the size of the country adding either all or part of thirteen to seventeen states from Louisiana to North Dakota (USA Today). Jefferson served under his rival, John Adams, who took office as president after George Washington, and become the nation’s third president in 1800. On the other hand we have Napoleon Bonaparte, who rose to power through serving in the French military. Napoleon rose to power during the French Revolution, to which he acquired a rank of general from the battlefield at age twenty four....
Words: 514 - Pages: 3
...expansion became an integral part of the growth of the United States and the foundation of the country we see today. Keywords: Territorial expansion, country, natural resources, history The territorial expansion event that I have chosen to write about is the Louisiana purchase of 1803. The actual purchase of the state of Louisiana happened more by chance than by intention. What began as an attempt to regain access to navigate the lower Mississippi river evolved into one of the surprise territorial expansions in United States history. In reaction to Spain suddenly retracted an agreed upon treaty that allowed the United States to have access to the lower Mississippi river in 1802; the then President of the United States sent James Monroe to Paris to join with Robert Livingston to assist in negotiate the purchase of New Orleans and West Florida from the French. This maneuver was intended to secure control of the Mississippi, which was a vital trader route. However, as fortune would have it; Napoleon Bonaparte, who by this time had become a great military leader; was preparing for an impending war in Europe and needed a financial war chest. So, in April of 1803, Napoleon offered to sell, not just New Orleans, but all of Louisiana. Even though, they were not authorized to spend the amount Napoleon was asking, which was $15,000.000.00, this was an offer that was just too good to pass up. Because of this move, the American negotiators had doubled the size of the country by adding over...
Words: 485 - Pages: 2
...Throughout the first two decades of American independence there were many events that would affect the future of America. The new federal government was undergoing multiple changes.one of those changes were the power that the president would have to obtain and expand the borders into new territories. The third president, Thomas Jefferson heard that the French were gaining the land west of America. Jefferson feared that the French would attempt to attack them, in response he sent James Madison, Jefferson's vice president, to propose an offer to the French to buy the land. Jefferson hesitated in purchasing this territory because it expanded the American territory and allowed for more western settlement for the expanding population. Some people...
Words: 1113 - Pages: 5
