The Louisiana Purchase

The Louisiana Purchase PDF Author: Thomas Fleming
Publisher: Wiley
ISBN: 0471484407
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 192

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Book Description
From The Louisiana Purchase Like many other major events in world history, the Louisiana Purchase is a fascinating mix of destiny and individual energy and creativity. . . . Thomas Jefferson would have been less than human had he not claimed a major share of the credit. In a private letter . . . the president, reviving a favorite metaphor, said he "very early saw" Louisiana was a "speck" that could turn into a "tornado." He added that the public never knew how near "this catastrophe was." But he decided to calm the hotheads of the west and "endure" Napoleon's aggression, betting that a war with England would force Bonaparte to sell. This policy "saved us from the storm." Omitted almost entirely from this account is the melodrama of the purchase, so crowded with "what ifs" that might have changed the outcome-and the history of the world. The reports of the Lewis and Clark expedition . . . electrified the nation with their descriptions of a region of broad rivers and rich soil, of immense herds of buffalo and other game, of grassy prairies seemingly as illimitable as the ocean. . . . From the Louisiana Purchase would come, in future decades, the states of Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota, and large portions of what is now North Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, Minnesota, Colorado, and Louisiana. For the immediate future, the purchase, by doubling the size of the United States, transformed it from a minor to a major world power. The emboldened Americans soon absorbed West and East Florida and fought mighty England to a bloody stalemate in the War of 1812. Looking westward, the orators of the 1840s who preached the "Manifest Destiny" of the United States to preside from sea to shining sea based their oratorical logic on the Louisiana Purchase. TURNING POINTS features preeminent writers offering fresh, personal perspectives on the defining events of our time.

The Louisiana Purchase

The Louisiana Purchase PDF Author: Thomas Fleming
Publisher: Wiley
ISBN: 0471484407
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 192

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Book Description
From The Louisiana Purchase Like many other major events in world history, the Louisiana Purchase is a fascinating mix of destiny and individual energy and creativity. . . . Thomas Jefferson would have been less than human had he not claimed a major share of the credit. In a private letter . . . the president, reviving a favorite metaphor, said he "very early saw" Louisiana was a "speck" that could turn into a "tornado." He added that the public never knew how near "this catastrophe was." But he decided to calm the hotheads of the west and "endure" Napoleon's aggression, betting that a war with England would force Bonaparte to sell. This policy "saved us from the storm." Omitted almost entirely from this account is the melodrama of the purchase, so crowded with "what ifs" that might have changed the outcome-and the history of the world. The reports of the Lewis and Clark expedition . . . electrified the nation with their descriptions of a region of broad rivers and rich soil, of immense herds of buffalo and other game, of grassy prairies seemingly as illimitable as the ocean. . . . From the Louisiana Purchase would come, in future decades, the states of Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota, and large portions of what is now North Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, Minnesota, Colorado, and Louisiana. For the immediate future, the purchase, by doubling the size of the United States, transformed it from a minor to a major world power. The emboldened Americans soon absorbed West and East Florida and fought mighty England to a bloody stalemate in the War of 1812. Looking westward, the orators of the 1840s who preached the "Manifest Destiny" of the United States to preside from sea to shining sea based their oratorical logic on the Louisiana Purchase. TURNING POINTS features preeminent writers offering fresh, personal perspectives on the defining events of our time.

The Louisiana Purchase

The Louisiana Purchase PDF Author: Robert D. Bush
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 113507772X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 225

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Book Description
In 1803, the United States purchased 828,000 square miles of land from France at a price of approximately three cents per acre, dramatically altering the young nation’s geography and its political future. President Thomas Jefferson had struggled for three years over the purchase, which many believed to be unconstitutional, during which time the land changed hands between the French and the Spanish. In perhaps the nation's most formative development since the Revolutionary War, the deal secured the U.S. territory that would become fifteen new states, sparked intense public argument about the American Frontier, and ensured Jefferson a complicated legacy in American history. With special attention to the diplomatic and constitutional background of the purchase, The Louisiana Purchase examines the event in the context of the Atlantic world, including the impact of the French Revolution and Napoleonic wars in Europe, colonial revolutions in the Caribbean, and the westward expansion of the U.S. population. In five concise chapters bolstered by primary documents including treaties, letters, and first-hand observations, Robert D. Bush introduces students to the political history of this momentous land acquisition.

Whole Country in Commotion: the Lousiana Purchase & the American Southwest (p)

Whole Country in Commotion: the Lousiana Purchase & the American Southwest (p) PDF Author:
Publisher: University of Arkansas Press
ISBN: 9781610754590
Category : Arkansas
Languages : en
Pages : 252

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Book Description


The Louisiana Purchase and American Expansion, 1803–1898

The Louisiana Purchase and American Expansion, 1803–1898 PDF Author: Sanford Levinson
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1461644682
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 271

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Book Description
The 1803 purchase of the Louisiana Territory was a watershed event for the fledgling United States. Adding some 829,000 square miles of territory, the Louisiana Purchase set a striking precedent of Presidential power and brought to the surface profound legal and constitutional questions. As the nation continued to expand westward and into the Pacific and Caribbean, critical social, political and constitutional questions arose that greatly tested American resolve and reshaped the nation's founding premises. In this exciting collection, Sanford Levinson and Bartholomew Sparrow bring together noted scholars in American history, constitutional law, and political science to examine role that the Louisiana Purchase played in shaping both the expansionist policies of the nineteenth century and critical interpretations of the Constitution. The Louisiana Purchase and American Expansion, 1803–1898 provides a fascinating overview of how the U.S. Constitution and the American political system is inextricably tied to

A Wilderness So Immense

A Wilderness So Immense PDF Author: Jon Kukla
Publisher: Anchor
ISBN: 0307493237
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 444

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Book Description
In A Wilderness so Immense, historian Jon Kukla recounts the fascinating tale of the personal maneuverings, political posturing, and international intrigue that culminated in the greatest land deal in history. Spanning nearly two decades, Kukla’s book brings to life a pageant of characters from Thomas Jefferson, James Monroe, and John Jay, to Napoleon and Carlos III of Spain and other colorful figures. Employing letters, memoirs, contemporary documents, and a host of other sources, Kukla creates a complete and compelling account of the Louisiana Purchase. From the hinterlands in Kentucky to the courts of Spain, France, and England to the halls of Congress, he re-creates the forces and personalities that turned a struggle for navigation rights on the Mississippi into an event that doubled the size of the country and altered the destiny of the United States forever.

The Nation's Crucible

The Nation's Crucible PDF Author: Peter J. Kastor
Publisher: Yale University Press
ISBN: 030012824X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 325

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Book Description
In 1803 the United States purchased Louisiana from France. This seemingly simple acquisition brought with it an enormous new territory as well as the country’s first large population of nonnaturalized Americans—Native Americans, African Americans, and Francophone residents. What would become of those people dominated national affairs in the years that followed. This book chronicles that contentious period from 1803 to 1821, years during which people proposed numerous visions of the future for Louisiana and the United States. The Louisiana Purchase proved to be the crucible of American nationhood, Peter Kastor argues. The incorporation of Louisiana was among the most important tasks for a generation of federal policymakers. It also transformed the way people defined what it meant to be an American.

Louisiana Purchase

Louisiana Purchase PDF Author: Peter Roop
Publisher: Open Road Media
ISBN: 1504010140
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 41

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Book Description
The big purchase that led to fundamental questions about what America would become In 1803 President Thomas Jefferson bought the Louisiana Territory from the French for $15 million, extending the United States beyond the Mississippi River for the first time. Now the United States had big questions to answer: How would Louisiana be governed? How would it be divided? Would it be comprised of free states or slave states? What would happen to the Native Americans? With biographical sketches of the people who helped forge the answers to these questions, such as Lewis and Clark, Napoleon Bonaparte, and of course, Thomas Jefferson, this is the tale of the expansion of the United States into a new territory as well as a new era.

Notes on the State of Virginia

Notes on the State of Virginia PDF Author: Thomas Jefferson
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Indians of North America
Languages : en
Pages : 400

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Book Description


The Louisiana Purchase

The Louisiana Purchase PDF Author: Blythe Lawrence
Publisher: Weigl Publishers
ISBN: 1489698760
Category : Juvenile Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 32

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Book Description
In the 1790s, trade was a major part of the U.S. economy. At this time, most goods were sent by boat. So, the country needed cities with ports. The city of New Orleans was especially important. It sits on the Mississippi River, and it borders the Gulf of Mexico. Find out more in The Louisiana Purchase, a title in the Building Our Nation series. Building Our Nation is a series of AV2 media enhanced books. A unique book code printed on page 2 unlocks multimedia content. These books come alive with video, audio, weblinks, slideshows, activities, hands-on experiments, and much more.

Native America, Discovered and Conquered

Native America, Discovered and Conquered PDF Author: Robert J. Miller
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN: 0313071845
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 241

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Book Description
Manifest Destiny, as a term for westward expansion, was not used until the 1840s. Its predecessor was the Doctrine of Discovery, a legal tradition by which Europeans and Americans laid legal claim to the land of the indigenous people that they discovered. In the United States, the British colonists who had recently become Americans were competing with the English, French, and Spanish for control of lands west of the Mississippi. Who would be the discoverers of the Indians and their lands, the United States or the European countries? We know the answer, of course, but in this book, Miller explains for the first time exactly how the United States achieved victory, not only on the ground, but also in the developing legal thought of the day. The American effort began with Thomas Jefferson's authorization of the Lewis & Clark Expedition, which set out in 1803 to lay claim to the West. Lewis and Clark had several charges, among them the discovery of a Northwest Passage—a land route across the continent—in order to establish an American fur trade with China. In addition, the Corps of Northwestern Discovery, as the expedition was called, cataloged new plant and animal life, and performed detailed ethnographic research on the Indians they encountered. This fascinating book lays out how that ethnographic research became the legal basis for Indian removal practices implemented decades later, explaining how the Doctrine of Discovery became part of American law, as it still is today.