What Was The Louisiana Purchase

The Louisiana Purchase was the greatest land purchase in US History. It nearly doubled the Nation's size and it would bring much wealth to the nation. For example, in time gold would be discovered in the west and farming would be used on the land. This territory had been owned by different nations as a result of the French Indian war. However, in the end, it was sold to the US by the French. Jefferson had a plan for this land, although not everyone agreed with him buying the land. The treaty was still signed in 1803. This purchase would allow for the US to expand and gain wealth.
Background Information
Beginning in the 1700s, the French explored the Mississippi valley and established settlements there. France owned much of North America. However,
Therefore, to get money to finance the war, they sold the land to the US. However if France had not agreed to sell their land, the US would have gone to war for it. This was because New Orleans was important to Americans and so if they had to pay for using the port that they would consider war. This would not be unsupported as documents say that the governor of the Mississippi Territory believed that 600 militiamen would be enough to take hold of New Orleans and Federalist Senator James Ross of Pennsylvania recommended taking the city with 50,000 men. Jefferson’s party, the Democratic-Republicans, supported a resolution that would keep 80,000 soldiers ready to march. As stated above the US would have most likely gone to war for the territory, but France sold it for 15 million dollars. For 15 million dollars, the US got each acre for only 5 cents. The US used $3 million in gold as a down payment, and bonds to pay for the land. Although the land was sold for $15 million, this was expensive for the US and forced them to get loans from European banks and with interest the price would really cost $23
With this not happening, information about the west would be limited. There would be no maps or any scientific discoveries found due to the expedition. Also, if France did not sell its territory, the US must have stopped expanding as France was an ally in the American Revolution, would be in their way. This would have had changed many other things. For one, there would be no war with Mexico as the US would have not shared a border with them. Also, slavery might have decreased as the US stated that there would be a boundary where there could be slaves and there was less land in which it was legal to have slaves. Also, without the purchase there would be no manifest destiny. This was the belief that there would be no stopping territorial expansion of the boundaries of the United States westward, all the way until the Pacific