1. The Louisiana
Purchase

2. Louisiana Purchase

3. Louisiana Purchase
• Napoleon was selling the territory
o Because during his conquest of Europe, Haiti was giving him problems
o During the French Revolution, the slaves revolted.
• Out of 600.000 people living in Haiti, 500,000 were slaves
• The Haitian problem made Napoleon think if he
couldn’t hold a small island how could he hold the
huge territory of Louisiana.
• So Napoleon decides to sell the Louisiana Territory
to the United States

4. Louisiana Purchase
• Napoleon was known to make decisions quickly but also
change his mind just as quick
• He offered the whole territory to the Americans
o Which surprised the Americans
• The American ministers in Paris (James Monroe and
Robert Livingston) offered $15 million
o Napoleon accepted
• News was greeted with shock, delight, and dismay
o Nothing in Constitution about how Congress could buy land from a foreign
country
• Many were opposed to the purchase
o Eastern states opposed because they feared too many states would be made
and the United States would no longer be an Atlantic-seacoast nation.
o Feared that the original thirteen states would not run the Union anymore

5. Louisiana Purchase
• Can someone raise their hand and answer the
questions
o Why do you think the purchase of the Louisiana Purchase was so
important to the American government?
o What were the nations reactions to the purchase of the territory?

6. Louisiana Purchase
• The purchase was so important to the Americans
because it would give them a better way of trading
to different parts of the country and also to foreign
countries.
• It doubled the area of the United States
• Made it possible to keep going west
• It also connected the country together
o The Mississippi River has many tributaries that branch off into other rivers
that stretch from eastern United States to the western United States.

7. Lewis and Clark
Expedition
• When the Louisiana Purchase was
cemented, the United States needed
someone to survey what they had
bought
o Appropriated $2500 for the exploration
• Hired Meriwhether Lewis and William
Clark with 40 other men
• Were to look for a water route to the
Pacific Ocean, to study the Indian
Tribes, the rocks, the plants, and
animals of the region
• Started westward from the mouth of
the Missouri River in the spring of
1804
• Met Sacajawea who guided the
expedition

8. Lewis and Clark
• Meriwhether Lewis was • William Clark was a
a Captain in the U.S. Captain in the U.S.
First Infantry Fourth Infantry
• Became friends in the
Army

9. Lewis and Clark

10. Lewis and Clark
• I will pair you up with a partner
• After you are paired up I want you both to take a
look at these two pictures.
• Imagine your pair are Lewis and Clark and you
have just been told that you will be the ones
exploring the Louisiana territory
o How do you feel about being picked to explore?
o What would you need for the journey?
o You are six months into the journey, what do you see, hear, feel?
o Imagine you are in a canoe paddling down a winding, wild river. How are
you paddling? How does the water feel?
o Lastly, draw a picture, write a song or rap, or write a story of your travels.

11. Lewis and Clark