The Louisiana Purchase

In 1803, America bought the Louisiana territory from Napoleon. Napoleon had gotten the property from Spain in the hopes of spreading his empire to America. However, once he realized that this wasn't going to happen, he decided to sell Louisiana to America for $15 million. This purchase doubled the size of the US. Jefferson was looking forward to exploring this new piece of the country. He sent Meriwether Louis on an expedition to collect all the information he could about Louisiana. Accompanied by William Clark, 50 soldiers and woodsmen, and Native American Sacajawea, Lewis set out on his journey. It took more than 2 years for him to complete this expedition.

The Lousiana purchase was seen as unconstitutional at first. Monroe and Livingston, who had gone to negotiate, had purchased the land when it was in doubt that the government had the power to obtain new land. After some consideration, Jefferson decided that everything was alright. He then allowed the Senate to ratify it as being part of the US. This land proved to be a good asset to the US. It later became part of the Cotton Kingdom, bringing in a lot of income for the South. It also gave the US more access to the Mississppi River. Overall, the Louisiana purchase was a good decision on America's behalf.