louisiana purchase use with worksheet
TRANSCRIPT
Louisiana Purchase
Use with Accompanying Worksheet
Napoleon Bonaparte originally wanted the Louisiana area because he needed land to feed his soldiers as they (France) expanded their influence in the Caribbean. He was hoping to also expand French territory on this continent.
The United States wanted to buy New Orleans from France.
Why New Orleans? Control of Shipping Port Why was Napoleon
willing to sell? Needed $ to finance his
war in Europe
We paid $15 million for the whole thing!
What a Deal!
It comes to only a few (4) cents per acre. The tricky part was that the ambassadors had to make the decision on the spot without contacting the president because there was no communication available like today. (They were actually only authorized to purchase New Orleans.) It was a good call. They decided yes, President Jefferson was glad, and Congress approved the purchase.
Today’s National Debt
In today’s dollars, that would still be only about $294,666,514. A killer deal no matter how you look at it!
Today, our national debt grows at a rate of 3.68 billion per day. That means that our national debt increases just over 300 million every 2 hours. So 2 hours growth of today’s national debt would cover the total cost of the Louisiana Purchase!
Why was it such a great investment?
The Louisiana Purchase doubled the size of the U.S.
It opened up the continent to westward expansion
It gave us control of the Port of Mississippi and the lower Mississippi River
Two Reasons why we purchased Louisiana
Reason #1: The offer may not
always be available, especially if Napoleon was replaced as leader of France.
Reason #2 If U. S. turned down the
offer, the French might settle in the area & expand. The U.S. did not want to compete for territorial control.
Cost of the Lewis and Clark Expedition
$38,722.25
What did Jefferson Want?
Could the land be settled? What, exactly, was out there? People,
plants, animals Detailed notes from Lewis and Clark Northwest Passage (water route across the
continent)