Chapter 6: Section 4

Chapter 6: Section 4

The Louisiana Purchase

Main Ideas:

• As American settlers moved West, control of the Mississippi River became more important tot the United States.

• The Louisiana Purchase almost doubled the size of the United States.

• Expeditions led by Lewis, Clark, and Pike increased Americans' understanding of the West.

• Under President Jefferson's leadership, the United States added the Louisiana Territory.

American Settlers Move West

• In the early 1800's thousands of Americans settled between the Appalachians and the Mississippi River.

• Kentucky, Tennessee, and Ohio were admitted into the Union.

• Trade in these states depended upon the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers.

• The Port of New Orleans was very important.

• Jefferson worried that a foreign power might shut down access to New Orleans.

Americans Settlers Move West

• Spain controlled both New Orleans and Louisiana.

• Spain found it impossible to keep Americans out of the vast region.

• Spain traded Louisiana to France, passing the problem to someone else.

Louisiana

• Before handing Louisiana over to France, Spain closed New Orleans to American shipping.

• U.S. ambassador Robert R. Livingston was sent to try to negotiate the purchase of New Orleans to France. James Monroe went to help Livingston.

Napoleon and Louisiana

• France was led by Napoleon Bonaparte, a dictator that had conquered most of Europe and had his eyes set on an empire in North America.

• Plan: Use French colony of Haiti as a supply base to send troops to Louisiana.

• Napoleon's plan had to change plans when some enslaved Africans revolted and freed themselves from French rule.

• He tried to gain control of Haiti but was defeated so he had to let go the plan to build an American empire.

Jefferson Buys Louisiana

• When Americans met with French foreign minister Charles Talleyrand to buy New Orleans he offered to sell all of Louisiana.

• Napoleon had France at war with Great Britain, and he needed money for military supplies.

• Livingston and Monroe bought Louisiana for $15 million.

Jefferson Buys Louisiana

• Jefferson was troubled. His strict construction view of the constitution did not mention purchasing foreign lands and he did not want to spend large amounts of public money.

• He bought it with the belief it would benefit the country.

• October 20, 1803 Senate approved the Louisiana Purchase which doubled the size of the U.S.

Explorers Head West

• Americans knew little about western Native Americans or the land they lived on.

• Jefferson wanted to learn more about the people and the land West.

• Jefferson wanted to see if there was a river route that could be taken to the Pacific Ocean.

Lewis and Clark Expedition

• 1803: Jefferson asked Congress to fund an expedition to explore the West.

• Meriwether Lewis led the expedition and chose his friend Lieutenant William Clark to be the co-leader of the expedition.

Lewis and Clark Expedition

• Lewis spent weeks studying with experts about plants, surveying and other subjects.

• He planned to take detailed notes about what he saw.

• The 2 men along with 50 skilled frontiersmen formed the Corps of Discovery.

Lewis and Clark Expedition

• May 1804 the Lewis and Clark Expedition began its journey to explore the Louisiana Purchase.

• Traveled up the Missouri River to the village of St. Charles.

• Once past St. Charles there would be no chance for more supplies.

Contact with Native Americans

• Summer of 1804: Corps of Discovery pushed more than 600 miles upriver without seeing any Native Americans.

• Lewis and Clark spotted Native Americans with a herd of buffalo and used interpreters to talk to the leaders of those they met.

Sacajawea

• Shoshone interpreter best known for being the only woman on the Lewis and Clark Expedition into the American West.

• Captured by an enemy tribe and sold to a French Canadian trapper who made her his wife around age 12.

• At age 16 Sacajawea was pregnant with her 1st child and hired with her husband as an interpreter on the Lewis and Clark expedition.

• Her newborn son went on the expedition with his parents.

Contact with Native Americans

• After crossing the Rocky Mountains Lewis and Clark followed the Columbia River.

• Native American groups such as the Nez Perce provided the expedition with food.

• November 1805: Lewis and Clark reached the Pacific Ocean.

• March 1806: Lewis and Clark set out for home.

Contact with Native Americans

• No river route was found across the West to the Pacific Ocean.

• The expedition was considered a success because they collected valuable information about Native Americans, western plants and animals.

Pikes Exploration

• 1806: Zebulon Pike was sent on another mission to the West.

• Mission: find the starting point of the Red River.

• U.S. considered the Red River to be a part of the Louisiana Territory's western border with New Spain.

• Zebulon Pike reached the summit of the Rocky Mountains in present-day Colorado now known as Pikes Peak.

Pikes Exploration

• 1807: Pike traveled in to Spanish held lands and he was arrested.

• After his release he praised the Spanish and offered the first description of the Southwest to the Americans.