ESSENTIAL QUESTION

How did foreign & domestic circumstances in the early 1800’s lead the U.S. to gain the Louisiana Territory?

THE LOUISIANA PURCHASE

Chapter 10 Section 2 Pt I

THE WEST IN 1800

By 1800, thousands of settlers were moving across the Appalachians In turn, several U.S. territories declared

statehood KY, TN, & OH all joined the union by 1803

The lands west of the Miss. River, known as Louisiana, were still in foreign hands

As the number of Americans in the west grew, though, so did their political influence

They needed access to resources controlled by foreigners to conduct their business

THE MISSISSIPPI & NEW ORLEANS A vital issue to W. farmers &

merchants was use of the Miss. R. They used this as a “highway” to

transport goods through New Orleans

This gave them access to the Gulf of Mexico which allowed them to ship product to:

East Coast Cities West Indies (Caribbean) Europe

In 1800, the Louisiana territory (including NO) was returned via secret treaty from Spain to France

French dictator & military leader, Napoleon Bonaparte, planned to colonize LA as a food growing empire

THE U.S. EXPANDS In 1802, b/f turning LA

over to France, Spain closed N.O. to western farmers Angry westerners called

for war In order to avoid war, TJ

sent diplomats to France in an attempt to buy N.O.

He authorized them to spend up to $10 million for N.O.

The initial U.S. offer of $4 million was rejected

COUNTEROFFER & PURCHASE

France’s counteroffer, though, was quite surprising

France offered all of LA, including N.O., for $15 million ($.03/acre)

TJ accepted the offer, but w/ HEAVY reservations

The Const. said nothing about a President buying land

In the end, the LA Purchase, was acceptable to TJ b/c a nation based on yeoman farmers needed land

SUMMARY/QUIZ QUESTION

What problem troubled Jefferson most about the purchase of LA?a. All the new land might cause factory

workers to move westb. The Constitution did not empower the

president to buy landc. The Natives in the area refused to sign U.S.

treatiesd. France was selling the land for much less

than it was worth

WHY DID FRANCE SELL LA?

A number of factors influenced Napoleon to offer LA to the U.S.1. He was alarmed at how insistent the U.S. was

over keeping NO open2. He had lost his enthusiasm to colonize the U.S.

b/c of a disastrous revolt on the island of Haiti * The uprising, led by African slaves, had resulted in

major losses for the French

3. France needed $$$ b/c of its costly war w/ Britain* The $15 Million that the U.S. offered was more valuable

to Napoleon’s war efforts than owning LA

SUMMARY/QUIZ QUESTION

Why was Napoleon willing to sell LA to the U.S. for so little money?a. Napoleon decided to concentrate on

regaining French Canadab. Lewis & Clark told Napoleon the land was

worthlessc. Napoleon needed money to fight his wars

in Europed. Napoleon planned to reclaim LA after the

European wars were over