Louisiana Purchase Essay

Introduction: The Louisiana Purchase, that was signed in 1803, was a land deal between the US and France, in which the US acquired 827,000 square miles of land west of the Mississipi River for $15 million. The Louisiana territory included land from fifteen present US states and two Canadian provinces. The territory contained land that forms Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska; the portion of Minnesota west of the Mississippi River; a large portion of North Dakota; a large portion of South Dakota; the northeastern section of New Mexico; the northern portion of Texas; the area of Montana, Wyoming and Colorado; Louisiana west of the Mississippi River; and small portions of land within the present Canadian provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan. The Kingdom of France controlled Louisiana from 1699 until it was owned by Spain in 1762. Napoleon, hoping to re-establish the empire in North America, regained ownership of Louisiana. Napoleon decided to sell Louisiana to the United States. The Louisiana Purchase occurred during the term of President Thomas Jefferson. Background By the middle of the 18th century, France controlled more of the present-day United States than any other European power. In 1796, Spain had allied with France, against Britain, causing it to use its navy to cut off Spain from America. France had given up its North American territories at the end of the French and Indian War (Seven Years War). New Orleans and Louisiana were transferred to Spain in 1762 and French territories east of the Mississippi, including Canada, were given to Britain, in 1763. But Napoleon, who took power in 1799, aimed to restore France’s presence on the continent. A conflict over navigation of the Mississippi had been resolved in 1795 with a treaty in which Spain recognized the United States’ right to use the river and to deposit goods in New Orleans. In 1798, Spain protested against this treaty, prohibiting American use of New Orleans, upsetting the Americans. In 1800, Louisiana was ceded by Spain to France in the Treaty of San Ildefonso. The French leader Napoleon Bonaparte viewed Louisiana as the cornerstone of his new colonial empire. Louisiana remained under Spanish control, until a transfer of power to France on November 30, 1803, three weeks before the formal cession to the United States on December 20, 1803. James Monroe and Robert Livingston had traveled to Paris to negotiate the purchase of New Orleans in January 1803. The Louisiana Purchase was by far, the largest territorial gain in history. Its purchase doubled the size of the United States. The depletion of the French army in Saint Domingue and the impending war between Great Britain and France cause the diversion of resources from Louisiana. The diversion of the resources will …show more content…
It also has a scope of the events before the purchase of Louisiana like the treaties involving France and Spain and others. The processes during this event is also included. This scope does not include the events during and after the Napoleonic Wars.
Data Gathering and Methodology My data comes mostly from the internet like journals and articles about the Louisiana Purchase. I also read some historical books about the said event that also comes from printed documents. I analyzed the data from these sources and I found out that they are all the same. They have the same information like the cause that leads to the Louisiana Purchase, the process of the negotiations between the United States and France, the persons involved, the significance of the event and the aftermath of the event. I also look at the maps before and after the event to see the difference in the size of the territory acquired and also to look at the territorial claims and boundaries. I found out that after the Louisiana purchase, the size of the United States doubled than before the purchase. The articles I used has the same information about the Louisiana Purchase. I found the information on these articles and journals very reliable and accurate because one of the articles has the photograph of the finished treaty between the United States and France. The maps are also reliable and accurate. It summarizes the events that led to the Louisiana