The Louisiana Purchase

The Louisiana Purchase was an event that heavily influenced the country of America. It began when Napoleon Bonapart needed funds for his European Campaigns, so he offered to sell it to America. Originally his dream for the property were to expand the reach of France into the New world and he wanted to promote the sugar trade, however, these hopes were dashed by some major problems and as he saw no further point in keeping the land, he offered it to President Thomas Jefferson for $0.03 per acre. In all there were 828 thousand square miles of property in the purchase. It was sold for 27 million dollars and by acquiring this massive piece of land, America doubled the amount of territory that it had in its holdings. Even though this was a great advancement for America, President Thomas Jefferson was over-stepping his bounds, as he did not consult the congress or the public when this arrangement was made, he simply announced it after wards, and this encouraged other presidents following him to step beyond their authority. After the purchase, Thomas Jefferson arranged for an expedition so that he would know what exactly he had acquired and to see if a continual waterway that would lead to the ocean, this could improve travel and trade in America. Jefferson appointed Meriwether Lewis to be the leader of the expedition, he had the knowledge of zoology, celestial navigation, medicine, and botany. Jefferson, in addition to funding the expedition also bought supplies that were needed for it. Lewis, however, obtained the weapons that they would take with them, and the expedition, also acquired a 55 foot keelboat, along with some smaller boats. William Clark was appointed to be the co-commander of the expedition. The Corpse of Discovery set off on May, 1804, to explore this uncharted area. During the expedition the explorers had contact with many friendly Indians, they traded with them and asked them for directions. Although, there were quite a few friendly Indians, there were also some hostile ones who did not want to associate with the travelers. Along their journey they also came across several grizzly bears, fortunately for the most part, no one was injured, but apart from Indians and bears the traveling was still difficult, it was probably hot in the day and the terrain was likely rocky and unforgiving in many places. As the expedition continued, many samples of plants, minerals, and animals were collected and preserved, these were also named and cataloged. During one interaction with the Indians, a woman named Sacagawea, agreed to come on the remainder of the expedition, and she had a French husband who came as well, from then on Sacagawea was able to assist them and give good information and direction. Once the Corps of Discovery reached the end of their expedition, they were unsuccessful in finding a continual waterway to the ocean, but they had explored the area of the Louisiana Purchase, met with many friendly Indian tribes, and cataloged dozens of different species of plants and animals. Therefore, the Louisiana Purchase was a significant occurrence in the history of the development of the United States of America, and following that, the Lewis and Clark expedition was also a great benchmark in the history of exploration.