A History of the Louisiana Purchase

Imagine hundreds of miles of empty land, ready to be put to use, with thousands of people racing to claim it. That was what the louisiana purchase was like in 1803. The louisiana purchase was a crucial time in history. Some important parts of the louisiana purchase are, the land, the problems they faced, and the important people.

The Land

The louisiana purchase land was eight hundred twenty-seven thousand sq miles of land or fifteen states. It had completely doubled the size of the U.S. and was so important! It happened in 1803, and costed fifteen million U.S. dollars, which is equivalent to 1.2 trillion dollars in today's money. It was a major part in making the united states what it is today. Also, the united states got control of the port of new orleans and the mississippi river, which were both used by farmers to ship crops. One bad thing about the louisiana purchase is that the united states invaded numerus indian tribes. The indians must have been furious, because united states invaded their land without permission and they later had to leave for no reason.  

The Problems They Faced

        Although the louisiana purchase seemed to be a flawless plan their was a few problems. The purchase made goods go down the mississippi river into the sea. This costed people lots of money. In addition, the louisiana purchase almost didn't happen at all! Thomas Jefferson was worried about how the Constitution did not allow the executive branch to attain land through treaty. This was the biggest problem to Jefferson, as he was a strict constitutionalist. Also, Thomas Jefferson bought the land not knowing how much was in it. They had not researched deep enough to find the borders of the land . So they could not know if they actually got what they wanted.

Then they were told that the borders were to the mississippi river. But they did not know where the river was so they still did not know.

The Important People

        There were a lot of people who helped out during the louisiana purchase, including Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence and third U.S. president. Jefferson had dreamed of expanding the united states, and turned out, he got to. Two other people were, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark. After the louisiana purchase was complete Thomas Jefferson asked them to take a journey around the louisiana purchase land and map it out, and they did. Lewis and Clark were polite on their journey and traded with the indians in need. This was one case of politeness on their journey A woman brought her child with an abscess in the lower part of the back, and offered as much corn as she could carry for some medicine we administered to it of course very cheerfully this was a journal entry written by meriwether Lewis. Also, according to Author Anita Yasuda, the Senate made the law to let Thomas Jefferson buy Louisiana, it wasn't on the Constitution to let a president buy land but they made it happen that Thomas Jefferson could buy Louisiana. Napoleon, ruler of France, Sold Louisiana to America, they had Louisiana before America did, France only had Louisiana for two years before Thomas Jefferson purchased it.

        In conclusion, the louisiana purchase was very important, and it took a lot of help to make it happen. I think it's safe to say how astonishing the louisiana purchase was. What do you think about the louisiana purchase and how it affected the United States now.

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