The Louisiana Purchase From France - 1803
How would you like to live in a brand new land and to be able to explore all the different areas available? The land in the United States was vast, but much of it had been unexplored, plus, it really didn't belong to the U.S. yet.
The United States was now a growing nation. The Northwest area had been won from Great Britain. Indian attacks were happening, but the new army which had been established by the Constitution, was used to control these attacks.
Now there were farms and farmers in the U.S. and they used the Mississippi River to transport their crops to different markets. New Orleans was the main shipping place in this newly discovered land.
Napoleon planned French settlement and control west of the Mississippi, and New Orleans had changed from Spanish to French control because of these plans.
Thomas Jefferson had to make some decisions about Napoleon's control of the west. He didn't think it was in the best interest for western American commerce and sent James Monroe to negotiate buying New Orleans. Napoleon not only sold New Orleans but all of the Louisiana Territory for the price of $15,000,000. This decision resulted in our new nation doubling its size! This decision was made quickly and was swiftly approved by the Senate.
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