Louisiana Purchase

When Thomas Jefferson became president of the United States in 1801, he dreamed of sending an expedition to explore the little-known territory west of the Mississippi river.

Between 1783 and 1792 Jefferson has encouraged plans for three expeditions. All three expeditions failed. In January, 1803, he asked Congress for $2,500 to pay for an expedition that might journey as far as the Pacific Ocean. The request was approval and kept secret because most of the region to be explored still belonged to France. This vast area, lying between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains, was called Louisiana in honor of Louis XIV of France.

When President Jefferson learned of the Treaty of San Ildefonso, between Napoleon and Spanish rulers, which

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The Constitution didn’t say anything about acquiring foreign territory. Many people felt threatened over this and thought that we should go in and take Louisiana by force. The following day he suddenly withdrew the right of deposit. gave Louisiana back to the French, he was very worried. Congress had given him the power to offer Napoleon up to $10,000,000 for New Orleans and a tract of land on the Gulf of Mexico. But popular enthusiasm for the purchase swept his doubts aside. On October 15, 1802, the King of Spain finally gave the order transferring Louisiana to France, but the Spanish governor in New Orleans didn’t know of this order. This was on the biggest land purchases in history.

At first Jefferson didn’t know exactly how to take the surprising news. The rest covered debts owed by France to American citizens, which the United States agreed to pay. The area involved stretches for the Mississippi river in the east to the rocky mountains in the west and from the Gulf of Mexico in the south to the United States-Canada border in the north. Of the amount $11,250,00 was for the territory itself. He needed all of his ships for his planned invasion of England. His treasury was nearly empty—and he wanted to prevent the United States for joining Britain against him.

Approximate Word count = 520
Approximate Pages = 2 (250 words per page double spaced)

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