LOUISIANA purchase
Since 1762, Spain had been in control of Louisiana. While there was tension between Spain and the United States over which country could sail on the Mississippi River, Pickney's Treaty smoothed these tensions and allowed the United States to use the Mississippi River and the port of New Orleans. In 1800, Napoleon purchased the Louisiana Territory, a territory of 827,000 square miles, from Spain to create a stake in the new world for France. France owning the Louisiana Territory threatened western expansion and could make trade through New Orleans difficult. On October 20, 1803 Jefferson bought Louisiana for $15 million or 4 cents an acre. This purchase nearly doubled the size of the nation and created many opportunities for Americans.
Louisiana in this point in history was much larger than present day Louisiana; it included all of the land between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains. After the Louisiana Purchase the United States had complete control over the Mississippi River and the port of New Orleans.
Lewis and clark expedition
After acquiring almost 827,000 square miles of uncharted land, Jefferson wanted to send a group of men to explore the new land. William Clark and Meriwether Lewis were to lead the expedition with the Corps of Discovery. Thomas Jefferson set multiple objectives for Lewis and Clark through a letter to Lewis.
"The object of your mission is to explore the Missouri river, and such principal stream of it as by it's course and communication with the waters of the Pacific ocean whether the Columbia, Oregon, Colorado or any other river may offer the most direct and practicable water communication across this continent for the purposes of commerce." - Thomas Jefferson in a letter to Lewis
Jefferson was interested in finding the elusive, non-existent, Northwest passage, a waterway that would connect the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean, though this passage does not exist, Lewis and Clark were still able to reach the Pacific Ocean. Another objective of this expedition was to make the Native Americans "acquainted with the position, extent, character, peaceable and commercial dispositions of the U.S., of our wish to be neighborly, friendly and useful to them, and of our dispositions to a commercial intercourse with them," Thomas Jefferson in a letter to Lewis. Lewis and Clark were to forge peaceful relations with the Native Americans by trading and negotiating treaties with them. They were also expected to map the territory and record the flora and fauna they encountered by bringing back specimens and keeping a journal with sketches.
"The object of your mission is to explore the Missouri river, and such principal stream of it as by it's course and communication with the waters of the Pacific ocean whether the Columbia, Oregon, Colorado or any other river may offer the most direct and practicable water communication across this continent for the purposes of commerce." - Thomas Jefferson in a letter to Lewis
Jefferson was interested in finding the elusive, non-existent, Northwest passage, a waterway that would connect the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean, though this passage does not exist, Lewis and Clark were still able to reach the Pacific Ocean. Another objective of this expedition was to make the Native Americans "acquainted with the position, extent, character, peaceable and commercial dispositions of the U.S., of our wish to be neighborly, friendly and useful to them, and of our dispositions to a commercial intercourse with them," Thomas Jefferson in a letter to Lewis. Lewis and Clark were to forge peaceful relations with the Native Americans by trading and negotiating treaties with them. They were also expected to map the territory and record the flora and fauna they encountered by bringing back specimens and keeping a journal with sketches.
For more information on the Lewis and Clark expedition visit:
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/lewisandclark/journey_leg_22.html
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/lewisandclark/journey_leg_22.html
How did the louisiana PURCHASE and lewis and clark expedition transform the nation?
The Louisiana Purchase nearly doubled the size of the nation and gave the United States complete access to the Mississippi River and the Port of New Orleans for trade. The Lewis and Clark Expedition shed light on the rest of the land in North America and helped develop maps of the area, record of some of the flora and fauna, determine that the Northwest Passage did not exist, and form peaceful relationships with the Native Americans.