chapter 11.2 the louisiana purchase

Chapter 11.2 The Louisiana Purchase

• As Napoleon attempted to rebuild France– He wanted to raise an

army large enough to take over Europe!!

– In order to do that, he needs to make some money.

France, 1802

• Napoleon starts to look for ways to make money:

• Two ideas:– Take back some old

French colonies in Bahamas

– Attack America and take more land…

1802Napoleon decides to try to retake Haiti• Used to be a French colony

• Was taken back by slaves led by Toussaint – Louverture– Former slave who was the son of

a African king

• Napoleon sends 3,000 men by boat to take back island– Most die of yellow fever on the

way there!

– Napoleon loses and heads back to France….

– How else can France make money?

Thomas Jefferson gets information that France is looking for some $$$

• Pres. Jefferson sends Sec. of State Monroe to France

• One goal:– Find out if they are

interested in selling New Orleans.

• We would buy it to keep access to Gulf of Mexico from Mississippi River

Napoleon gives us more than we ask for…

• Napoleon argues that without New Orleans, there is no need to keep the Louisiana Territory at all. – Would we be interested in

buying all of it?

– Problem: We’ve never been there ourselves• We don’t know what we will

find– Rivers? – Mountains? – Prairies? – Swamps?

Napoleon offers us a deal we could not refuse…the Louisiana Purchase

• New Orleans– $10 million

• $1,000 an acre

• All of the Louisiana Territory – $15 million

• $ 4 an acre

• We buy all of it on May 2, 1803.

• On a side note,– Ohio became the 17th state on

March 1, 1803• Hurray!

So, what did we just buy? • We have no idea…so let’s go

explore.

• Meriwether Lewis and William Clark are hired to explore the new territory.

• Goal:– Head NW across Louisiana Territory

– Find the Pacific Ocean

– Identify all:

• Rivers• Mountains• Animals• Indians

Lewis and Clark Expedition

Lewis and Clark Finds…Great Plains

Lewis and Clark Finds…Buffalo on the range

Lewis and Clark Finds…the Rocky Mts.

Lewis and Clark Finds…West Coast

Other Explorers• Zebulon Pike

– Army officer hired to search the SW part of Louisiana Territory

• Goal:– Follow Red River SW to see

where it ends• Found Pike’s Peak

– Largest mountain in Rocky Mts.

• Gets caught in Spanish territory– Modern day New Mexico

What Pike would’ve seen…Pike’s Peak

What Pike would’ve seen…desert

What Pike would’ve seen…more desert

Review Questions

• What island did Napoleon fail to conquer in the Bahamas?

• How much money did we purchase the Louisiana Territory for from France?

• What were the names of the explorers sent to research the new land purchased in the Louisiana Territory?