The Jefferson Era

The Louisiana Purchase

Chapter 8, Section 2Pages 272 - 277

Did You Know?

In 1997 the United States government decided to mint anew dollar coin featuring a woman.

Some of the women nominated by citizens to grace thecoin included civil rights activists Rosa Parks andSojourner Truth, first ladies Martha Washington andEleanor Roosevelt, and poet Emma Lazarus, amongothers.

The winner? Sacagawea, the Native American womanwho helped lead explorers Lewis and Clark westward.

Americans Settlers Move West

In the early 1800s, thousands of Americans settled in the

area between the Appalachians and the Mississippi River.

The pioneers loaded their belongings onto Conestogawagons and made the long, tiring journey over theAppalachian Mountains to the area west of the

MississippiRiver known as the Louisiana Territory.

As the region’s population grew, Kentucky, Tennessee,

and Ohio were admitted into the Union.

Americans Settlers Move West

The city of New Orleans located at the mouth of the Mississippi, was a very important port.

The busy docks of New Orleans were extremely important

to the American farmers in the west and contributed greatly to westward expansion.

Spain controlled both New Orleans and Louisiana.

Although Spain owned Louisiana, it could not keep the

Americans from moving into the territory.

A Secret Agreement

In 1802 Spain changed its policy and refused to allow

American goods to move into or past New Orleans.

Jefferson confirmed that Spain had transferred theLouisiana Territory to France in a secret agreement.

The United States was surprised and fearful that Napoleon

Bonaparte, France’s leader, wanted to increase his empire

in Europe and the Americas.

Napoleon and Louisiana

France was led by Napoleon Bonaparte, a powerful ruler who had conquered most of Europe.

Napoleon wanted to build a world wide empire and expand part of it to North America.

Napoleon’s Plans

Napoleon had a plan to use the colony of Haiti (in the Caribbean), as a supply base.

However, enslaved Africans had revolted and freed themselves from French rule.

Napoleon sent soldiers to regain control, but they were

defeated in 1802.

This defeat ended Napoleon’s plans to expand to North

America.

The Nation Expands

The United States bought the Louisiana Territory from France, not just New Orleans.

The French need money to finance Napoleon’s plans forwar against Britain, so while American diplomats were inFrance, French foreign minister Charles de Talleyrandinformed them that the entire Louisiana Territory was forsale.

A price of $15 million was negotiated for the territory.

With the purchase, the size of the United States doubled.

The Louisiana Purchase

The United States ratified the treaty with France inOctober 1803 to make the Louisiana Territory

purchaselegal.

Jefferson was interested in knowing more about the lands

west of the Mississippi River.

Jefferson sent Meriwether Lewis and William Clark toexplore the new territory even before the LouisianaPurchase was complete.

Louisiana Territory

Lewis and Clark

Jefferson saw the expedition as a scientific adventure,while Congress was interested in commercial

possibilitiesand places for future posts.

Lewis and Clark put together the Corps of Discovery andleft St. Louis in the spring of 1804.

● Along the way they kept a journal of valuable information on people, plants, animals, and geography of the West.

● After traveling nearly 4,000 miles in 18 months, they reached the Pacific Ocean.

Lewis and Clark --- Map

Contact with Native Americans

During the summer of 1804 the Corps of Discovery had traveled more than 600 miles up river without seeing any Native Americans.

Lewis and Clark encountered the Native Americans when they came upon huge buffalo herds.

Lewis and Clark used interpreters to talk to the leaders of

each of the peoples that they met.

One such interpreter was a Shoshone girl names Sacagawea.

Sacagawea

Sacagawea was the wife of a French fur trapper by the

name of Toussaint Charbonneau.

Sacagawea also helped he expedition by naming plantsand by gathering edible fruits and vegetables for thegroup.

Finding the Pacific

After crossing the Rocky Mountains, Lewis and Clark

followed the Columbia River.

In November 1805, Lewis and Clark reached the Pacific

Ocean.

The explorers stayed in the Pacific Northwest during the

rough winter and in March 1806, Lewis and Clark set out

on the long trip home.

Zebulon Pike

Jefferson sent another expedition to explore the

wilderness.

Lieutenant Zebulon Pike led two expeditions into a region

that is now Colorado.

There he found a snowcapped mountain he called Grand

Peak. Today it is called Pikes Peak.