Louisiana Purchase

The Louisiana purchase was the most valuable deal ever made in American History. Because of conflicts with Haiti, it left France desperate for money and not land so they decided to sell the Louisiana territory. It took many negotiations before the Louisiana territory officially became U.S. land. After Thomas Jefferson successfully purchased the territory he sent William Clark and Meriwether Lewis to go explore the land. The United States quickly made back its money through mining, agriculture and more. Although the Louisiana purchase was one of the greatest deals in American history there were some problems as a result of buying the territory. Napoleon had received the Louisiana territory only three years earlier in 1801 in a …show more content…
Lewis then asked Williams Clark to join him on his expedition through the Louisiana territory. Lewis possessed many skills as a frontiersman and was very literate and intelligent. Clark possessed many skills as a draftsman and frontiersman and together Lewis and Clark made a strong team. The goals of The Lewis and Clark Expedition was to find a water route linking the Columbia and Missouri rivers giving the new western land access to ports in the Pacific and to explore the uncharted West. Lewis and Clark began their journey in May of 1804, near St. Louis, Missouri. Lewis kept a very detailed journal of all the things he experienced on the trip and collected many samples of plants and animals he discovered on the journey. Lewis and Clark faced many hardship throughout their journey, including, illness, injury, hunger and miserable weather. Lewis and Clark settled near the villages of the Mandan tribe, where they planned to spend the winter. It was during this winter that they were joined by Toussaint Charbonneau, Sacagawea, and their baby son, Jean Baptiste. These people were very important to the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Toussaint Charbonneau acted as a interpreter and Sacagawea acted as a guide. Jean Baptiste and Sacagawea also sent out a peaceful message to tribes they encountered by showing that they had women and children and were not looking for …show more content…
During the Lewis and Clark Expedition, the group had a violent encounter with some Indians from the Blackfoot tribe, where they killed two Blackfeet warriors who tried to rob them. Although many of the tribes they encountered were peaceful, they caused tension with some tribes that continued for many years. Another tribe they ran into was the Teton Sioux, their encounter with the Sioux almost resulted in a gruesome battle but luckily the Americans were able to walk away peacefully, the tension with the Teton Sioux continued throughout the nineteenth century. The Louisiana purchase also led to a conflict with Spain. The U.S. and Spain argued about the boundaries of the territory the U.S. has purchased. The United States believed that they now owned form the Rockies to the Rio Grande, but Spain claimed that the land only went from the West Bank of the Mississippi River to the city of New Orleans. In 1810, there was a rebellion in West Florida where the United States gained control of the land between the Mississippi and the Pearl rivers. But this issue was not fully resolved until the the Adams-Onìs Treaty was signed in 1819. This treaty gave the U.S. the entire state of Florida and settled boundaries between the Spanish territories and the Louisiana

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The Louisiana Purchase

The Louisiana Purchase

The Goals Of The Louisiana Purchase