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The Louisiana Purchase

The Louisiana Purchase

Assessment

Presentation

Social Studies

6th - 8th Grade

Hard

Created by

Steven Scheffler

Used 1+ times

FREE Resource

12 Slides • 0 Questions

1

The Louisiana Purchase

American Nation 10.2

2

​Control of the Mississippi

  • ​By 1800, almost one million Americans lived between the Appalachian Mountains and the Mississippi River

  • ​With few roads west of the Appalachians, farmers relied on the Mississippi River to ship their wheat and corn

  • ​First, they sent their produce down the river to the city of New Orleans

  • From there, ocean-going ships carried the produce to ports along the Atlantic coast

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​Mississippi River (continued)

​In 1795 Spain was in control of New Orleans

​Spain sometimes threatened to close the port to Americans

​In 1795, Spain agreed to let Americans ship their goods down the Mississippi and store them in New Orleans in the Pinckney Treaty

​In 1800, Spain gave Louisiana back to France

4

​Napoleon

  • ​French ruler Napoleon Bonaparte, had set out to conquer Europe

  • ​Thomas Jefferson was worried he would also try to conquer North America

  • ​Napoleon wanted to grow food in Louisiana and ship it to French islands in the West Indies

  • ​Enslaved Africans in Haiti, led by Toussaint L'Ouverture revolted against French rule

  • ​in 1804, Haitians declared their independence from France

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​United States Buys Louisiana

​Thomas Jefferson wanted to buy New Orleans

​He wanted American farmers to always be able to ship their crops

​Jefferson sent Robert Livingston and James Monroe to negotiate the

purchase of New Orleans

​They were authorized to offer up to $10 million

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  • ​Livingston and Monroe negotiated with Talleyrand, the French foreign minister

  • ​At first, Talleyrand showed little interest in their offer

  • ​However, losing Haiti caused Napoleon to give up his plan for an empire in the Americas. He also needed money to pay for his costly wars in Europe

  • ​Suddenly, Talleyrand asked Livingston if he wanted to buy all of Louisiana

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  • ​Livingston and Monroe were not authorized to buy all of Louisiana

  • ​But, Jefferson wanted control of the Mississippi River

  • ​They agreed to pay the French $15 million for Louisiana

7

​Was the Purchase Constitutional?

  • ​Jefferson liked the deal to buy Louisiana but was not sure if he actually had the power as president to purchase Louisiana

  • ​The Constitution said nothing about a President having the power to buy land

  • ​In the end, Jefferson decided that he did have the authority to buy Louisiana

  • ​He reasoned that the Constitution allows presidents to make treaties

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  • ​At Jefferson's request, the Senate approved the treaty, and the Louisiana Purchase went into effect.

8

​Planning an Expedition

  • ​Few Americans knew anything about the Louisiana territory

  • ​In 1803, Congress provided money for a team of explorers to study the new lands

  • ​Jefferson chose Meriwether Lewis, his secretary, to head the expedition, or long voyage of exploration

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​Lewis and Clark Expedition

  • Lewis asked William Clark to go with him​

  • ​about 50 men went with Lewis and Clark

  • ​In May 1804, Lewis and Clark started up the Missouri River from St. Louis

  • ​They traveled across the plains and met people of various Indian nations

  • ​Sacagawea joined the expedition as a translator

  • ​In the Rocky Mountains, Lewis and Clark corssed the Continental Divide, a mountain ridge that separates river systems flowing toward opposite sides of a continent

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  • ​Lewis asked William Clark to go with him​

  • ​about 50 men went with Lewis and Clark

  • ​In May 1804, Lewis and Clark started up the Missouri River from St. Louis

  • ​They traveled across the plains and met people of various Indian nations

  • ​Sacagawea joined the expedition as a translator

  • ​In the Rocky Mountains, Lewis and Clark crossed the Continental Divide, a mountain ridge that separates river systems flowing toward opposite sides of a continent

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  • ​After building canoes, Lewis and Clark's party floated toward the Columbia River into the Pacific Northwest

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​Pike explores the West

  • ​Zebulon Pike explored the upper Mississippi River, the Arkansas River, and parts of present-day Colorado and New Mexico

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The Louisiana Purchase

American Nation 10.2

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