The Lewis And Clark Expedition Essay example

Imagine you are the President of a rapidly expanding country. If you got offered 530 million acres of land for $15 million, would you buy it? President Thomas Jefferson and his advisers were faced with this exact decision. Thomas Jefferson, envious of France’s New Orleans, sent Monroe and Livingston to Paris with the hope of at least getting the port rights to New Orleans, if incapable of buying it with a budget of $9.3 million. When Livingston and Monroe reached Paris, they were surprised to find Napoleon and his French government not only willing to sell, but almost forcing a sale on the American ambassadors. Not only that, they wanted to sell all 830,000 square miles of the Louisiana Territory, including New Orleans. Constantly expanding and exploring, Livingston and Monroe knew America needed more room to grow. 530 Million acres worth of land would be more than sufficient for 1803 America. At 3 cents per acre, the Louisiana Purchase was a great deal as far as cost is concerned. Before they had even signed the contract sealing the deal, President Thomas Jefferson had already recruited a close friend and fellow botanist, Meriwether Lewis to explore the new Territory. Before the public even knew about the Louisiana Purchase, the Lewis and Clark Expedition had set out. The Louisiana Purchase was a good idea because it provided room for rapidly-expanding America to grow and explore at an incredibly low price but also increased America’s global prowess.

Although there were a few doubts at the time, the Louisiana Purchase was extremely beneficial to the United States. It was “One of the most colossal land transactions in history”(1), containing modern-day Arkansas, Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Nebraska; as well as parts of Minnesota, Louisiana, New Mexico, Texas, South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, Colorado, and two Canadian provinces: Alberta and Saskatchewan. It doubled the amount of land the U.S. owned. “Bigger land area also meant for more farming lands and more places for various business enterprises”(2). With the expansion of the United States farther west, came the total availability of New Orleans and the Mississippi River. This provided security and protection for the states east of the Mississippi and opened up

In the eyes of several, the Louisiana Purchase may well be recognized as one of the all-time greatest real estate deal. As Paul Leicester stated in his work of The Works of Thomas Jefferson “Jefferson at the stroke of a pen essentially doubled the territorial extent of the United States.” On April 30, 1803, U.S. representatives located in Paris approved to purchase 828,000 square miles at the very cost-efficient amount of fifteen million dollars that spread from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains, and from the Gulf of Mexico all the way north to Canada. To better realize how inexpensive the United States purchased that land for was about eighteen dollars and some change per square mile. Soon enough, the newly purchased land of western territory became six states and portions of nine present-day states. As one could imagine this great purchase did not happen without a buildup of time, and without many factors leading up to the Louisiana Purchase. Below are a couple of factors such as the Spanish control of New Orleans and Napoleon’s burning desire for the Caribbean Island of Haiti.

Louisiana Purchase, more prominently known as an acquisition that doubled the size of the country we reside in, was much more than just a simple purchase, much less an easy one. Thomas Jefferson had to consider all the aspects, consequences, and effects that the decision of buying 2,144,500 square kilometers of land would have on the country (Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia 1). This purchase brought many improvements to the country, but also had unexpected consequences that would transform the country as a whole. Although Jefferson’s decision was considered a mistake by some Federalists and caused conflicts with Spain, it was actually a step forward towards the respectable and prosperous country that many had envisioned the United States to be because it doubled the magnitude of opportunities, solved the initial conflict of attaining the port of New Orleans (thus continuing trade), removed France’s colonial power from North America, which made the United States the dominant influence in North America and, most significantly, secured new western territory, which led to westward expansion (Loos).

New American settlements west of the Appalachian Mountains depended on river transportation to transport their goods because overland trade was very expensive and impractical. Also, the United States wanted a tract of land on the lower Mississippi. James Monroe, the primary negotiator in Paris, was empowered to obtain New Orleans and West Florida for anywhere between two and ten million dollars. Surprisingly, however, Napoleon offered much more. The United States was given the opportunity to buy the Louisiana Territory, which stretched from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains. This one transaction doubled the physical size of the United States and cost our nation fifteen million dollars. Fifteen million dollars came out to approximately three cents an acre. Now this seems like a relatively small sum for such a massive amount of land, but it was still a gigantic price tag for the modest federal budget of the day.

In our day, we consider the boarders of the United States impenetrable and inevitable. We tend to forget that the nation started off as a little country which consisted of 13 states, occupying the Atlantic Seaboard, which is only is small portion of what it is now. The county before the 1803 depended on its resources for agriculture, mining and logging. The need for more land for expansion was inevitable and crucial. There were several stages to expansion during those days but the most important was the 1803 Louisiana Purchase by the then president, Thomas Jefferson. This acquisition doubled the size of the country all the way to the western side of the Mississippi River.

During the Westward expansion it impacted many people's lives. Americans were proud of what they did and accomplished, but didn't realize what truly was happening in other people’s lives. In 1803, Thomas Jefferson purchased the territory of Louisiana from the French government for $15 million. The Louisiana Purchase stretched from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains and it doubled the size of the United States. Progress can be both positive and negative because of the westward expansion, the gold rush, manifest destiny.

The Louisiana purchase was Spain’s territory of about 828,000,000 square miles. Louisiana being Spain territory made it extremely difficult to move goods because, without access to the Mississippi River, the goods had to be moved through the mountains. With access to the Mississippi River, the goods could be taken by boat. Thomas Jefferson knows that Spain is struggling, so he knows he is more likely to be able to purchase Louisiana from them because they needed the money.

The Louisiana Purchase was very big, it was about 828,000 square miles, which became 15 different states. The United States wanted more land because the lands started to have a lot of people on them, and people needed more land mostly to plant crops. They also wanted the land to get larger, so the best way was to expand to the west. In the early 1800's $15 million was a lot of money, but it was actually very cheap. The original price of $15 million worked out to around 3 cents an

The Louisiana Purchase was important because it expanded the United States (U.S.). This gave the U.S. access to the Mississippi River and the port city of New Orleans. This allowed access for imports and exports; the U.S. could get paid for these ports. The United States increased its size by 828,000 square miles; the purchase price for this land was $15 million dollars. The land was controlled by France;

In order to provide the citizens of the United States with enough land, Thomas Jefferson purchased Louisiana. Known as the Louisiana Purchase of 1803, the United States was able to acquire about 827,000 sq. miles

The Louisiana purchase was a purchase that the United States bought from France. The United States bought land from France. The United States purchased the Louisiana territory from France on July 4th of 1803. According to, Monticello.org “The Louisiana Purchase of 1803 was a land deal made between the United States and France. The United States received 827,000 square miles of land in the west of the Mississippi River for 15 million dollars” (Monticello.org). Also, the same year the United States purchased Louisiana territory from France the President Thomas Jefferson sends Meriwether Lewis and William Clark with other recruits to explore the Louisiana territory. Lewis and Clark also had a very long journey because their journey lasted for

In 1803, President Thomas Jefferson purchased the territory of Louisiana from the French government also known as the Louisiana Purchase. The Louisiana Purchase stretched from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains and from Canada to New Orleans, and it doubled the size of the United States. Jefferson thought westward expansion was the key to the nation’s health. In order to provide enough land to the yeoman (farmers), the United States had to continue to expand. Jefferson believed that western expansion would fill up the empty lands with immigrants and provide enough lands for the farmers, so he decided to support the western expansion.

When Thomas Jefferson became president in 1800, few could have imagined the lasting impact his decisions would have on the future of America. In 1803, he made one of the most important purchases that would alter the course of the United States, this event became known as the Louisiana Purchase. The Louisiana Purchase contributed significantly to the growth and expansion of a United States, that at the time, was experiencing rapid growth in population. The acquisition of this land from France, gave the United States access to a land that had not been fully explored and riches that had yet to be discovered. It gave the United States full access to the Mississippi River which was great for trade, and the Lewis and Clark Corps of Discovery expedition mapped out the terrain and cultivated relationships with the natives.

After United States purchased Louisiana from France in 1803, most of the land west of the Mississippi River was completely strange to the Americans. The Americas needed more land to settle in and for this reason, it was importance to explore it before they could settle in. It is for this reason that President Thomas Jefferson decided to commission an expedition under the command of Captain Meriwether Lewis and Lewis’s close friend as Second Lieutenant William Clark. Jefferson’s main objective in this expedition was to explore and create a map of the newly acquired territory thus finding a route across the western half of the continent. This was to help him establish an American presence in the west before Spain, British and other European