Louisiana Territory In The 1800s
The Louisiana Territory
In the 1800s, this was the nation’s first opportunity to expand their territory. At this time, America was very vast. One of the reasons they wanted this land was that they wanted possession of the port city of New Orleans, near the mouth of the Mississippi River. This river was very desirable, because the farmers depended on freely moving their crops along the river. It was everything to them.
Florida
After President Thomas Jefferson has acquired Louisiana through diplomacy, he went after Florida. Spain had colonized Florida in the 1500s, and by the 1800s, there was a large population of Seminole Indians, Spanish colonists, English traders, and runaway slaves. Jefferson set out to buy Florida, so he sent out two diplomats …show more content…
A lot of the region was great for growing cotton, the most valuable crop. This desire started with Moses Austin, a banker and business owner that dreamed of starting a U.S colony in then Spanish Texas. In 1821, Spanish officials granted Austin a huge piece of land. After Moses died that same year, his son Stephen took over his dream. Austin agreed to Mexico’s terms, and had soon attracted 297 families, who would soon be known as “The Old Three Hundred” in Texas. By 1830, Stephen had attracted 25,000 Americans living in Texas, compared to 4,000 Tejanos. This caused tension between the two groups.In 1833, Austin traveled to Mexico and presented the Texans' demands to the new head of the Mexican government, General Antonio López de Santa Anna. The general was a power-hungry dictator who once boasted, “If I were God, I would wish to be more.” Rather than bargain with Austin, Santa Anna had him arrested and jailed for promoting rebellion. Soon after Austin was released in 1835, Texans rose up. Determined to crush the rebels, Santa Anna marched north with some 6,000 troops. For many years there was a very intense back in forth between the two groups, but in the end, our nation took Texas, and it became
In the 1800s, this was the nation’s first opportunity to expand their territory. At this time, America was very vast. One of the reasons they wanted this land was that they wanted possession of the port city of New Orleans, near the mouth of the Mississippi River. This river was very desirable, because the farmers depended on freely moving their crops along the river. It was everything to them.
Florida
After President Thomas Jefferson has acquired Louisiana through diplomacy, he went after Florida. Spain had colonized Florida in the 1500s, and by the 1800s, there was a large population of Seminole Indians, Spanish colonists, English traders, and runaway slaves. Jefferson set out to buy Florida, so he sent out two diplomats …show more content…
A lot of the region was great for growing cotton, the most valuable crop. This desire started with Moses Austin, a banker and business owner that dreamed of starting a U.S colony in then Spanish Texas. In 1821, Spanish officials granted Austin a huge piece of land. After Moses died that same year, his son Stephen took over his dream. Austin agreed to Mexico’s terms, and had soon attracted 297 families, who would soon be known as “The Old Three Hundred” in Texas. By 1830, Stephen had attracted 25,000 Americans living in Texas, compared to 4,000 Tejanos. This caused tension between the two groups.In 1833, Austin traveled to Mexico and presented the Texans' demands to the new head of the Mexican government, General Antonio López de Santa Anna. The general was a power-hungry dictator who once boasted, “If I were God, I would wish to be more.” Rather than bargain with Austin, Santa Anna had him arrested and jailed for promoting rebellion. Soon after Austin was released in 1835, Texans rose up. Determined to crush the rebels, Santa Anna marched north with some 6,000 troops. For many years there was a very intense back in forth between the two groups, but in the end, our nation took Texas, and it became