Louisiana Purchase Powerpoint

1. The Louisiana Purchase

2. Louisiana Purchase 1803 • The Louisiana Purchase has been called the “greatest real estate deal in U.S. history” • Stretching from British Columbia to New Orleans, from the Ohio River to the eastern border of New Spain (roughly the eastern edge of today's mountain time zone), the Louisiana Territory covered 909,000 square miles. • The land mass was first claimed by France, ceded (gave up power) to Spain in 1762, and then ceded back to France nearly 40 years later. 

3. After France's official offer arrived from Emperor Napoleon I, President Thomas Jefferson felt obliged to accept without delay for two reasons: Napoleon's offer was only valid as long as he remained ruler of France The French territory blocked the continued western expansion of the U.S. Finally, after signing the Louisiana Purchase Treaty (1803) on May 2, the U.S. took possession on December 20, 1803.  It cost $15 million, doubled the size of the U.S., had an enormous impact on the expansion of the U.S., offering vast lands for farming and grazing, as well as mineral resources. The purchase helped to grow the wealth of the country and contributed to its growth as a world power.

4. Louisiana Purchase Challenges Constitutional: Thomas Jefferson, a strict Constructionist, was the president who purchased the territory from France. Under his point of view, he was not allowed to make land purchases for the country with the U.S government’s money, but he did it anyway because it was a great deal. At the time, many leaders in the United States were against the Louisiana Purchase. They thought that Thomas Jefferson didn't have the right to make such a large purchase of land and that we would soon be at war with Spain over the land. The purchase was nearly cancelled by Congress and only passed by the vote of 59-57.

5. Louisiana Purchase Challenges • Diplomatic: Napoleon, who had risen to power in the French Revolution, threatened to block American access to the important port of New Orleans on the Mississippi River. Blocking American access to New Orleans was a huge threat to American interests that President Jefferson considered changing his traditional foreign policy stance to an anti-French alliance with the British. At the same time that he sent diplomats to France to bargain for continued trade access along the Mississippi, he also sent diplomats to Britain to pursue other policy options. James Monroe, the person negotiating in Paris, was empowered to purchase New Orleans and West Florida for between two and ten million dollars. Napoleon needed money to continue his war against Britain so he offered all of the Louisiana territory.

6. Napoleon Bonaparte • Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821) was a French military leader and emperor who conquered much of Europe in the early 19th century. Born on the island of Corsica, Napoleon rapidly rose through the ranks of the military during the French Revolution (1789-1799). • Napoleon first seized political power in a coup (overthrowing the government) in 1799. The coup resulted in the replacement of the extant governing body—a five-member Directory—by a three-person Consulate. The first consul, Napoleon, had all the real power; the other two consuls were figureheads. Napoleon eventually abolished the Consulate and declared himself Emperor Napoleon I of France. He was the first emperor of France from 1804-1815 • During the Napoleonic Wars, France conquered Egypt, Belgium, Holland, much of Italy, Austria, much of Germany, Poland and Spain. France directly conquered or controlled through alliance most of western Europe by 1812. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=by8QoBTGLII

7. Louisiana Purchase & Slavery • The issue of slavery in the western lands of the Louisiana Purchase became a major issue in later years and part of the cause of the American Civil War.  • Southerners hoped to see these new territories admitted as slaver territories, as this would provide more members in the U.S. Congress coming from slave states. This could lead to national legislation designed to expand slavery and ensure its survival. • At this time, many northern states had moved to ban slavery. The Abolition Movement was also growing at this time. Discovery Ed video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=paRKNVALBag

8. The Lewis and Clark Expedition • Was a U.S. military expedition, led by Capt. Meriwether Lewis (Thomas Jefferson’s personal secretary) and Lieut. William Clark, to explore the Louisiana Purchase and the Pacific Northwestfrom May 14th 1804 to Sept. 23rd 1806 • Started from St. Louis Missouri to the Pacific Ocean • Jefferson had instructed Lewis to make observations of latitude and longitude and to take detailed notes about the soil, climate, animals, plants, and native peoples. Lewis identified 178 plants new to science, including bitterroot, prairie sagebrush, Douglas fir, and ponderosa pine, as well as 122 animals, such as grizzly bear, prairie dog, and pronghorn antelope. • Brain PopVideo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOX4Z9rQokY

9. YorkWilliam Clark’s Slave • York was a black slave/personal servant owned by Clark since childhood and did not have a choice but to come on the expedition with him. • York handled firearms, killed game and helped to navigate trails and waterways. In December 1804, York was one of 15 men on a dangerous buffalo hunt to replenish their supply. • Many men couldn’t swim, but York could.

10. More About York • He was treated as almost equal during the expedition. • York invested every ounce of his strength in furthering the expedition's success, once even risking his life to search for Clark in a severe storm. • He received not one dime for his hard work and loyalty, let alone any farmland. What he wanted was his freedom, so he could live with his wife. • At least 10 years after the expedition, Clark granted York his freedom.

11. Sacagawea • Lewis & Clark built Fort Mandan, a winter encampment on the Missouri River in North Dakota. They recruited Toussiant Charbonneau, a French-Canadian trapper living in the village, to be a translator for French and Hidatsa (Indian). He had an Indian wife named Sacagawea who was only 16. • Sacajawea was born into a tribe of the Shoshone in Idaho. When she was about 12, she and several other girls were kidnapped by a group of Hidatsa warriors during a battle. At about 13 years of age, Sacagawea was sold to Charbonneau and taken as a wife. He had also taken another young Shoshone named Otter Woman as a wife. • The captains felt that because of her Shoshone heritage, Sacagawea could be important in trading for horses when the Corps reached the western mountains and the Shoshones. While Sacagawea did not speak English, she spoke Shoshone and Hidatsa. Her husband Charbonneau spoke Hidatsa and French. • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lS5xP6-H0JY

12. Timeline of Events 1804 • January - In secret communication to Congress, Jefferson seeks authorization for expedition – first official exploration of unknown spaces undertaken by United States government. Appropriation of $2,500 requested. (Final cost will be $38,000.) • May 14th 1804 - They traveled in big keelboat (55 long, 8 feet wide, capable of carrying 10 tons of supplies) and two smaller boats called pirogues from Camp Dubois • August 3rd - First official council between representatives of United States and western Indians occurs north of present-day Omaha, when Corps of Discovery meets with small delegation of Oto and Missouri Indians. Captains establish routine for subsequent Indian councils: hand out peace medals, 15-star flags, and gifts; parade men and show off technology (magnets, compasses, telescopes, Lewis’s air gun); give speech saying Indians have new “great father” far to the east and promising future of peace and prosperity if tribes don’t make war on whites or other tribes.

13. August 30th - Expedition holds friendly council with Yankton Sioux (near what is now Yankton, South Dakota). According to Yankton oral tradition, when a baby is born, Lewis wraps him in a United States flag and declares him “an American.” • September 7th – The men took a prairie dog out of its hole to ship back to Jefferson, so it could be put in an exploration museum. • Sept 25th - Near what is now Pierre, South Dakota, the Teton Sioux (the Lakota) demand one of the boats as a toll for moving farther upriver. A fight nearly ensues, but is defused by the diplomacy of a chief named Black Buffalo. • November 4th - The captains hire Toussaint Charbonneau. Having been told that the Shoshones live at the headwaters of the Missouri and have many horses, the captains believe the two will be helpful when the expedition reaches the mountains. • December 17th - Clark notes a temperature of 45 degrees below zero – “colder than I ever knew it be in the States.” A week later, on Christmas Eve, Fort Mandan was considered complete and the expedition had moved in for the winter.

14. Timeline of Events 1805 • January - The Mandan Indians and explorers hunt buffalo together after their “buffalo calling” ceremony • February 11th - Sacagawea gives birth to a baby boy, Jean Baptiste. • April 29th – They reach Montana and encounter grizzly bears • Late July - Sacagawea begins recognizing familiar landmarks (up until now, the route has been as unknown to her as to the explorers) and points out the place where the Hidatsas had captured her five years earlier. • August 8th - Sacagawea recognizes another landmark – Beaverhead Rock, north of present-day Dillon, Montana – and says they are nearing the river’s headwaters and home of her people, the Shoshones.

15. August 17th - They discover a village of Shoshones and the Shoshone chief, Cameahwait, turns out to be Sacagawea’s brother. The captains name the spot Camp Fortunate. • Sept 9th - They camp south of present-day Missoula, Montana, at a spot the captains call Travelers Rest, preparing for the mountain crossing. Indians tell them that by following the Missouri to its source, they missed a shortcut from the Great Falls which could have brought them here in 4 days. Instead, it has taken them 53. • October 18th- They see Mount Hood, Oregon. Seen and named by a British sea captain in 1792, it is a fixed point on the expedition’s map, proof they are at last approaching the ocean. • November 7th – They reach the Pacific Ocean and then traveled south through California. Later that month, they all voted and decided to spend the winter in (modern day) Astoria Oregon.

16. Timeline of Events 1806 • March 23rd – Lewis & Clark start heading home • July 3rd - After re-crossing the Bitterroots, the expedition splits into smaller units, in order to explore more of the Louisiana Territory. Clark takes a group down the Yellowstone River; Lewis heads across the shortcut to the Great Falls and then explores the northernmost reaches of the Marias River (and therefore the Louisiana Territory). It will mean they will be split at one point into 4 separate groups. • July 26/27th – Lewis camps with the Blackfeet warriors but they catch the Blackfeet trying to steal their horses and guns so they end up killing two of the Indians. That was the only act of bloodshed during the entire trip. Lewis leaves a peace medal around the neck of one Indian and then leaves the area very fast.

17. August 12th- Lewis and Clark reunite • August 14th – They arrive back at the Mandan villages and the captains say good-bye to Charbonneau, Sacagawea, and Baptiste. • September – Throughout this month, they travel 70 miles per day often not even stopping to hunt in order to get back sooner. On the 23rd, they finally return home. • Later that fall, Lewis is named governor of the Louisiana Territory; Clark is made Indian agent for the West and brigadier general of the territory’s militia.

20. The nations that set up colonies in North America had been giving medals to Native American chiefs for many years. By the time George Washington became the first president of the new United States of America, the giving of medals was an important part of peaceful relations between the Indian nations and the colonizing nations. The chiefs proudly wore those medals as signs of their being leaders and of their friendship with the nations that gave the medals. The medals were given when peace treaties were signed and at other events. Making friends with the Native American nations was important for the Lewis and Clark expedition. Not only was it part of their mission as given by the President, but the expedition could hardly hope to make it through the dangerous, uncharted lands they were exploring without help from those who lived there. The Native Americans taught the explorers about plants for food and medicine, drew maps and served as guides, and provided horses and hides for clothing. And peace medals paved the way to this friendship and cooperation.

21. On the front of Jefferson’s medal, a side view of the president’s head and shoulders is surrounded by his name, his title as President, and the year he became president. The handshake on the back stands for friendship between the American government and the Indian nations. Above the hands are a crossed pipe and tomahawk. Written among the images is the message “Peace and Friendship.”

23. Manifest Destiny • Manifest destiny was a widely held cultural belief in the 19th-century United States that American settlers were destined to expand across North America. It means “Obvious fate” • Before the American Civil War the idea of Manifest Destiny was used to validate continental acquisitions in the Oregon Country, Texas, New Mexico, and California. Later it was used to justify the purchase of Alaska and annexation of Hawaii. • There are three basic themes to manifest destiny: • The special virtues of the American people and their institutions • The mission of the United States to redeem and remake the west in the image of the agrarian East • An irresistible destiny to accomplish this essential duty

24. The Mexican Cession The Mexican Cession is the region in the modern-day southwestern United States that Mexico ceded (surrendered) to the U.S. in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848 after the Mexican–American War.