Louisiana Purchase
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Sacagawea guiding Lewis and Clark on their expedition
The Louisiana Purchase took place in 1803. In this purchase the United States nearly doubled in size as it gained 828,000,000 square miles of land to the west. During this time the French needed money for war materials back in Europe, so the U.S. came up with the idea of purchasing the land to support the French war effort. In 1801, Jefferson sent Robert R. Livingston to France to negotiate possible purchasing of French land in North America. The talk was very successful and thanks to President Jefferson's shrewdness and quick actions and Livingston's negotiation, this deal turned out very well for us, because we basically paid only three cents per acre of land ($11,250,000 in total).
After the purchase of the land west of the mountains, President Jeffereson initiated a exploration of the newly bought land. Meriwether Lewis and William Clark were the men chosen by Thomas Jefferson to scout out the land. Jefferson was hoping to find a water route that would connect the Columbia and Missouri rivers, instead Lewis and Clark didn't see anything extraordinary. A key piece in their expedition was an Indian woman named Sacagawea who guided these two pioneers through the land out west. While on the trip, Sacagawea gave birth to a baby and eventually got herself a spot on the gold dollar coins of today.
After the purchase of the land west of the mountains, President Jeffereson initiated a exploration of the newly bought land. Meriwether Lewis and William Clark were the men chosen by Thomas Jefferson to scout out the land. Jefferson was hoping to find a water route that would connect the Columbia and Missouri rivers, instead Lewis and Clark didn't see anything extraordinary. A key piece in their expedition was an Indian woman named Sacagawea who guided these two pioneers through the land out west. While on the trip, Sacagawea gave birth to a baby and eventually got herself a spot on the gold dollar coins of today.
Importance of the Louisiana Purchase
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President Jefferson signing the paper works for the Louisiana Purchase
The Louisiana Purchase was a very crucial event in America history, because it nearly doubled the size of this vast nation. Without this purchase, the French would probably still have power in North America and we might all speak french and follow french customs. The resources and lands that came along with this purchase benefited the land of America immensely. Purchasing this land made it possible for America to spread from sea to sea and complete its Manifest Destiny. In addition, most of our agriculture now comes from the western frontier, so without that land our economy would not be as good. If the U.S. had not bought this land Napoleon Bonaparte would surely have turned to America as his next conquest destination, and that would've turned out disastrous and we might not even have an America if it wasn't for this purchase of land. This land also allowed us to gain access to the Gulf of Mexico which would become crucial in later years.