Benefit Of The Louisiana Purchase

The Louisiana Purchase Let us take a trip back in history to look at the Louisiana Purchase. At the very beginning of the 17th century, France traveled the Mississippi River valley and thereby established scattered settlements in the region. By the middle of the 18th century, France was powerful and controlled a large portion of what is now known as the United States. The Louisiana Purchase which transpired in 1803 was basically a land deal between the United States and France with the US acquiring nearly 827,000 square miles of land which was located west of the Mississippi River for $15M. This was a major purchase as having access to the port of New Orleans was critical to American commerce. It was thought at the time that only the revolutionary …show more content…
It is most important to realize the economic opportunity in a city with a port. This is a benefit relative to jobs and the ability to increase revenue to the state and the city. This was a huge benefit for the US in the past and is also a benefit today as more than 90 percent of global trade moves by ship. Other benefits include the US gaining control of New Orleans and the Mississippi River, gaining control of more land for farming and natural resources, and finally the purchase removed France from North …show more content…
The first was that many Americans opposed the Louisiana Purchase especially the members of the Federalist Party as they felt they were already the minority in both houses of Congress. This purchase would reduce their clout which was their major concern. The treaty did not state specific boundaries which were realized when Lewis and Clark left St. Louis to explore the northern portion of Louisiana. The boundaries had not been set. This was a dispute between the US and Spain until 1819 when the Adams-Onis Treaty gave the US all of Florida in exchange for surrendering its claim to Texas. This was a large land mass that had caused a major conflict for some time. Having more land also meant that the US had to defend and protect a country that was now at least twice as large as it had been before. This would mean more soldiers to protect the people in case of a war. The US would also need to manage how Americans explored and settled in the new land. Larger borders gave people the advantage to explore areas that were not protected by the military because of such a fast expansion. Lastly, the US would need to improve the ways of traveling within the new