Louisiana Purchase

The Louisiana Purchase was an important event in 1803. The United States bought a large area of land from France. This land was called Louisiana and was mostly west of the Mississippi River. It included parts of many states we know today.

The United States paid fifteen million dollars for the land. This almost doubled the size of the country.

Before this, France had controlled the land for many years. Napoleon Bonaparte decided to sell it because he needed money and had problems in other parts of his empire. The president of the United States at the time was Thomas Jefferson. He really wanted to buy the land, especially the important port city of New Orleans. He sent two men to France to negotiate. They ended up buying the whole area, not just New Orleans.

The Louisiana Purchase changed the United States forever. It gave the country much more land and helped shape what the United States is today. The land from this purchase now makes up parts of fifteen U.S. states and even some areas in Canada.

Background

In the 1700s, the land called Louisiana was important to European countries. It was part of France's overseas empire, but France gave it to Spain in 1762 through a secret agreement. After France lost a big war called the Seven Years' War, Spain controlled the land west of the Mississippi River, and Britain controlled land to the east.

After the United States was created, Americans wanted to use the Mississippi River freely for their trade. They thought they would get the land bit by bit. But there was a worry that another country might take it from Spain.

New Orleans was a key port for shipping goods from the western areas of the United States. In 1795, a treaty with Spain let American merchants use New Orleans to store their goods. This treaty also said Americans could use the whole Mississippi River, which was very important for trade.

In 1798, Spain stopped letting Americans use New Orleans, which made them very unhappy. Later, Spain gave Louisiana back to France in a secret deal in 1800. This land was still under Spanish control until November 1803, when it was passed to France, and then just weeks later, France sold it to the United States.

Negotiation

In 1801, Napoleon sent troops to a place called Saint-Domingue. Some Americans were worried France might invade. Jefferson wanted to stay calm. He sent someone to Paris to try to buy New Orleans to protect land near the Mississippi River.

By 1803, Napoleon had other problems. His plans were not working, and war with Britain might happen. He decided to sell a lot of land to the United States. The sale was much bigger than just New Orleans—it nearly doubled the size of the country. The United States paid fifteen million dollars for the land. The deal was signed on April 30, 1803, and announced on July 4, 1803. This event is known as the Louisiana Purchase.

Domestic opposition and constitutionality

After returning from France with news of the purchase, an official announcement was made on July 4, 1803. This gave President Jefferson and his team time to discuss whether the purchase followed the rules of the Constitution. Jefferson thought about changing the rules to allow the purchase, but his team convinced him it wasn’t necessary. Jefferson believed the purchase was right because it would protect Americans.

Some people opposed the purchase. Jefferson’s actions were questioned because he usually stuck closely to the Constitution. The Federalists, a group that supported strong central government, opposed the purchase. They were worried about the cost and thought Jefferson was being inconsistent.

Many in the House of Representatives also opposed the purchase. The vote to approve the purchase was very close, failing by just two votes. Some Federalists even claimed the land belonged to Spain, not France, but records showed otherwise.

Historians have different views on whether Jefferson acted fairly. Some say he stretched the Constitution to make the purchase happen. Others argue that the president has the power to make treaties, which is what Jefferson did. The Senate approved the treaty, and Congress agreed to pay for it by borrowing money from banks in Britain and the Netherlands. The Senate voted 24 to 7 to ratify the treaty on October 20, 1803. The next day, they allowed Jefferson to take control of the new land and set up a temporary government. Congress also approved plans for missions to explore and map the territory, including the famous Lewis and Clark Expedition.

Formal transfers and initial organization

France took control of New Orleans on December 20, 1803, in a special ceremony at the Cabildo in what is now Jackson Square. Just three weeks earlier, Spanish leaders had given the land to France.

Later, on March 9 and 10, 1804, another ceremony happened in St. Louis to pass control of Upper Louisiana from Spain to France, and then to the United States. For a while, this area was managed as a military district. Eventually, the land was split into the Territory of Orleans and the District of Louisiana, which was later renamed the Territory of Louisiana. New Orleans became the main city for the Orleans Territory, and St. Louis for the Louisiana Territory.

Financing

The American government paid for the land by using bonds and taking on some French debts. They asked a London bank, Francis Baring and Company, to help. This bank worked with another bank in Amsterdam, Hope & Co., to finish the purchase.

The banks helped the French and American negotiators agree on a price of 80 million francs ($15 million). This was less than the original price. The banks bought the bonds quickly to give France the money fast. The banks paid France in steps over time. The United States finished paying these bonds in 1823.

Boundaries

When the United States bought Louisiana from France in 1803, people were not sure where the borders of the land were. France and Spain, who had controlled the land before, had not clearly marked the edges.

The United States thought Louisiana stretched from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains and down to the Rio Grande. Spain thought it only included land along the west side of the Mississippi River, plus the cities of New Orleans and St. Louis. In 1819, the two countries signed the Adams–Onís Treaty, which mostly agreed with the United States’ view and helped set the final borders.

President Jefferson sent explorers like Lewis and Clark to map the area. Their trips helped show where the borders should be.

Slavery

See also: History of slavery in Louisiana, History of slavery in Missouri, and Slavery in the United States

When the United States got the Louisiana Territory, it was hard to govern. Many people there were from France, Spain, and Mexico, and most were Catholic. There were also many enslaved Africans because Spain allowed the transatlantic slave trade. In places like present-day Louisiana, Arkansas, and Missouri, some people already owned enslaved people.

Many people from Saint-Domingue (now Haiti) ran away to south Louisiana after a big uprising of enslaved people. They brought enslaved people with them. Some people in the Southern United States were worried that new territory might make enslaved people want to rise up. They asked the U.S. government to let slavery continue in the new lands.

As the Louisiana Territory was divided, laws about slavery were made. Later, the question of whether slavery could continue became a big debate. This disagreement helped lead to the American Civil War many years later. The Missouri Compromise in 1820 was one attempt to solve this problem for a time.

Asserting U.S. possession

The United States wanted to control the area because trade along the Mississippi and Missouri rivers was important. In 1804, the U.S. used an old Spanish fort near St. Louis for trading. In 1808, they built two military forts with trading posts along the rivers.

During the War of 1812, British forces and their allies defeated U.S. troops, and the U.S. had to leave several forts. U.S. control of the Louisiana Purchase area was confirmed by the Treaty of Ghent in 1815. Later, the U.S. built or expanded more forts along the rivers.

Impact on Native Americans

See also: Indian Reserve and the Louisiana Purchase

When the United States bought land from France, the Native American tribes living there were not asked. Over the next 40 years, many tribes were moved from their homes to new places. This led to sad events like the Trail of Tears.

The purchase started long discussions about whether Native American lands were respected. In the 1930s, many tribes asked for money because of what happened. This led to a law in 1946 called the Indian Claims Commission Act. By 2017, the United States had paid tribes for the lands from the Louisiana Purchase.