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The year of 1803 significantly changed our nation eternally. It stunned many people. In no way, shape or form, did we ever believe that our nation would expand so rapidly. What started with the small purchase of New Orleans led into the substantial purchase of the Louisiana Territory. This was a purchase that will make Thomas Jefferson a man to be remembered. Although, he wasn’t the only man who impacted the United States during this time period. Meriwether Lewis and William Clark are the two men that are greatly known for their expedition across the Louisiana Territory. These two subjects, the Louisiana Purchase and the Lewis and Clark Expedition, altered our nation immeasurably. The Louisiana Purchase came as a surprise that neither Thomas Jefferson nor anyone else had ever dreamed of. It began with Thomas Jefferson sending two men, James Monroe and Robert R. Livingston, to Paris to negotiate the acquisition of New Orleans with the government of the feared Napoleon Bonaparte. Napoleon had roused fears once France acquired Louisiana from the Spanish. Concerned with French intentions, Thomas Jefferson took immediate action and sent his two men to negotiate. The negotiation didn’t go as intended at all. We asked to buy New Orleans, but Napoleon offered the entire Louisiana Territory. Apparently, Napoleon had little use for Louisiana. He also couldn’t spare any troops to defend the enormous amount of territory. Napoleon needed funds more than anything, so he could support his military ventures in Europe. This led to the exhilarating time of April, 1803 when Napoleon offered to sell Louisiana to the United States. The primary reason Thomas Jefferson dispatched James Monroe and Robert R. Livingston to negotiate was because we wer... ... middle of paper ... ...rious Americans without a doubt impacted our nation immensely. Thomas Jefferson was primarily responsible for the Louisiana Purchase Treaty. This treaty doubled the physical size of the United States. It also guaranteed that we would have access to key water ways for supply transportation purposes. The Lewis and Clark Expedition led by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark are the reason we have so much information about our country and its inhabitants. These three men will forever be famous historical figures in our American history. The impact of their actions on America as we know it will be passed on to all the generations to come. Works Cited 1) http://www.gatewayno.com/history/LaPurchase.html 2) http://americanhistory.about.com/od/thomasjefferson/a/tj_lapurchase.htm 3) http://www.lewisclark.net/ 4) http://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/lewis-clark/
These are just a couple brief ways that the undertaking changed The United States and there are still numerous different things. The Lewis and Clark Expedition has had a noteworthy political, social, and financial impact on America. Not every one of them were great things. With individuals moving out west the Indians who once repressed the area must be moved and were constrained on to holds. These individuals lost their territory and homes that their families had hindered subsequent to before the white man had ever looked at America. However numerous awesome positive things left
The Loose construction of the elastic clause gave more power to the congress and allowed Thomas Jefferson to purchase the Louisana territory. The Louisiana Purchase was more than 530,000,000 acres of territory purchased from France in 1803.
The Louisiana Purchase stands as an iconic event today that nearly doubled the size of America, ultimately introducing the United States as a world power. In 1762, during the Seven Years’ War, France ceded its control of the Louisiana Territory to Spain (Britannica). However, when Napoleon Bonaparte assumed control of France in 1799, France rallied as a world power once more. Bonaparte’s interest in the Louisiana Territory spiked, and he pressured Spain’s king, Charles IV to relinquish his control of the land on October 1, 1800. This was known as the Treaty of San Ildefonso (Britannica). In view of the transfer between France and Spain, president Thomas Jefferson sent Robert R. Livingston to Paris in 1801. Jefferson became worried, because
It also allowed for continued easy trade through New Orleans, which was a major motivation to make the Purchase (History). However, it did have its negative consequences, namely that, while France may have sold the land, many Native Americans still considered it their home, and for Jefferson’s plan to fill the land with farmers to succeed, they would have to be removed, additionally much of the wildlife on this frontier suffered. Though this probably would have happened even if Jefferson did not make the purchase, his action did speed up the
The states above 35 30 latitude line in the Louisiana purchase were all free states. States below the line were slave states. Former president Thomas Jefferson saw what the potential anger build up could lead to and tried to warn the congress. Henry Clay came up with the American System which is where the government paid for road and canals. Monroe took no time shooting this idea down. Monroe believed that states and cities should pay for the roads and canals.
The Louisiana purchase was a very significant event in the United States of America that changed the country we live in today. Since, “1762, Spain had owned the territory of Louisiana, between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains” (Office of the Historian). This purchase led to many great things due to the French now having possession over it. Even though the French sold major land in the Louisiana Purchase, the money gained by France and the land acquired by America was a win for both sides of the deal.
The changes will be no less profound for European Americans. President Jefferson's orders were far-reaching. While Lewis and Clark did not discover a Northwest Passage or start the western fur trade or overland immigration, they certainly influenced the latter two movements. They provided valuable information about the topography, the biological sciences, the ecology, and ethnic and linguistic studies of the American Indian. The mysteries of the vast area known as the Louisiana Purchase quickly disappeared after Lewis and Clark.
The Louisiana Purchase was the most influential and important land purchases in American history. The acquired land in this historical purchase proved to far outweigh what most Americans at the time could imagine. The Louisiana Purchase more than doubled the size of the United States, and lead to many great discoveries and societal benefits. Some of the major and most prominent ways that the Louisiana Purchase influenced the evolution of American were the expeditions of Louis and Clark on the newly acquired westward territory, increase in the countries resources, which in turn increased in trade and resulted in a richer, more economically stable country, and it also played a very pivotal role in the relationship with African Americans, which still is remembered and prevalent in today's society.
to Europe to try to persuade the British to accept a military alliance should the
Though initially his decision was criticized, Thomas Jefferson 's pursuit of the Louisiana Purchase doubled the size of the United States, as well as impacted the economy, religion, and race of the nation.
American history is accompanied by a long list of explorers who first discovered and explored the massive continent. All of the explorers had an impact on the development of America. The Lewis and Clark expedition, also known as the Corps of Discovery, stands prominently at the top of this list. The Lewis and Clark Expedition has had a significant political, social, and economic effect on America. They were the first to map out the west and set off westward expansion.
Perhaps the greatest advantage of buying the Louisiana territory was avoiding a potential war with France. Jefferson had originally wanted to peacefully acquire the land from the declining Spanish empire, but a plan of peaceful waiting was disrupted by the prospect of having “much more powerful France … as a next-door neighbor” (http://www.monticello.org). Once France took over the territory, Jefferson knew he had to act quickly and with “action more visible than diplomatic maneuvering”, so he quickly sent Robert Livingston, and later James Monroe to France, initially only to bargain for the purchase of the port city New Orleans (http://www.monticello.org) (http://www.presidentprofiles.com). However, France’s problems regarding North American colonization continued to mount: the French army was unable to put down a slave uprising in Hispaniola, and the French were at war with the British (http://www.encyclopedia.com). Realizing that his dreams of American colonization were over, and that he needed money to fund his war, Napoleon, realizing the “futility of his plan” authorized a fifteen million dollar counter-offer to the U.S offer to buy New Orleans for two million (http://www.encyclopedia.com). Realizing that there would not be a better time, or offer, Jefferson signed the treaty and “Congress quickly approved the purchase”, taking advantage of the French misfortune to double the size of the U.S (http://www.encyclopedia.com). The deal appealed to Jefferson, who would rather acquire the territory through peaceful means than “through fifty thousand men” and a costly war (James Jackson to the Senate). Senator James Jackson used arguments like these to convince the wary members of the senate that “seem[ed] to be displeased” that the Purchase of Louisiana came “peaceably and at probably ten times less expense than… forcible
Thomas Jefferson was the third American President. Due to the fact that he was such an early President, he influenced our political system greatly, both in the short and long term with his seemingly quiet approach to congressional matters. During his presidency, many things happened that changed the United States as we know it. He coordinated the Louisiana Purchase, assisted in implementing the twelfth amendment, formed the character of the modern American President, and cut the U.S.’s war debt by a third.
President Jefferson was instrumental in the Louisiana Purchase, which secured an area extending from Canada to the Gulf and the Mississippi to the Rockies, for fifteen million dollars. This purchase also led to the planning and organization of the Lewis and Clark expedition. However, the argument over whether or not Florida was included in the Louisiana Purchase caused many sarcastic attacks on Thomas Jefferson from members of congress.
Sometimes, when people do you a favor, you don’t always appreciate it at the time, but later on, you thank them for it. Jefferson was one such person, and, while he did not always have such a loose interpretation of the Constitution as he did when he bought the Louisiana purchase, he was justified in purchasing it due to his power to make treaties with the agreement of ⅔ of Congress. This made him justified due to the fact that it decreased conflict and decreased tension in general between the United States and France. Not only this, but it was also a formally concluded upon and ratified agreement between the United States and France, which, definitionally, would make the Louisiana Purchase a treaty.