Title: The Louisiana Purchase
1The Louisiana Purchase
2Control of the Mississippi
- By 1800, nearly 1,000,000 Americans lived between
the Appalachian Mountains and the Mississippi.
Most were farmers. - With few roads in the area, they relied on the
Mississippi River to transport their goods.
3Control of the Mississippi
- They sent their goods down the Mississippi to the
city of New Orleans. - From there, larger ships carried them up the
Atlantic coast to large cities. - Spain controlled New Orleans, and often
threatened to close the port to Americans.
4The Pinckney Treaty
- In 1795, President Washington sent Thomas
Pinckney to find a way to keep the port open to
Americans. - In the Pinckney Treaty, Spain agreed to let
Americans ship their goods down the Mississippi
and store them in New Orleans.
5A French Empire
- However, in 1800, Spain gave Louisiana back to
France. - President Jefferson suspected that Napoleon was
building an American empire and decided to make
an offer to buy New Orleans.
6The Pinckney Treaty
- Luckily, Napoleon gave up on an American empire
when a revolution in the Caribbean made Haiti
independent of the French. - Jefferson sent James Monroe and Robert Livingston
to France to buy New Orleans and Florida with the
offer of 10 million.
7The Louisiana Purchase
- Napoleon decided to abandon the Caribbean and
sell Louisiana to fund his costly European wars. - Monroe and Livingston agreed to buy the Louisiana
Purchase from France for 15 million.
Robert Livingston
8Was the Purchase Constitutional?
- Jefferson was cheerful with the deal, but not
certain if the president had the constitutional
power to buy the land. - However, the purchase was too good to pass up.
- Congress approved the land deal in 1803, doubling
the size of the United States.
9Planning an Expedition
- Jefferson immediately prepared a team to explore
the new lands, choosing Lewis and Clark to lead. - The object of your mission is to explore the
Missouri river, and such principal streams of it
as by its course and communication with the
waters of the Pacific ocean Thomas Jefferson,
1803
10The Purposes of the Expedition
- Military Most members were soldiers.
- Exploratory To explore the new borders of US
and discover new wonders in the west. - Trade Discovering an all-water route across the
continent would provide a more direct trading
route with India and China. - Scientific To classify new species of plants
and wildlife and study western geology. - Tribal Relations To meet Native tribes and
begin trading relations.
11The Journey Begins (1804)
- The Corps set out from Camp Dubois and up the
Missouri on May 14, 1804. However, the first year
of the voyage was a tough one. - Several of the men had attempted desertion and
others had been flogged for inappropriate
behavior. - Sergeant Floyd died of a ruptured appendix in
Iowa. - In September, an argument between the expedition
and the Teton Sioux nearly ended in a battle.
12A Bittersweet Winter
- The winter of 1804-5 was extremely cold.
- Lewis and Clark studied the land to the west from
the Hidatsa and explorers in the Mandan villages. - Here they also hired Charbonneau and his wife
Sacagawea, who had her child Pomp that winter. - As a woman with a child, Sacagawea made the
expedition look less like a war party to tribes
along the way. She was also an interpreter,
healer and sometimes a guide.
13On the Road Again (1805)
At The Great Falls a Grizzly snuck up on Lewis
while his rifle was unloaded. Lewis ran away
into the river and used his espontoon to ward off
the bear.
- That spring many of the men left back home,
taking specimens with them. The remaining 33
members moved on up the Missouri. - In April they entered Montana, passing by the
White Cliffs and Decision Point, where the men
nearly mutinied. - They were shocked by all the wildlife, and
finally saw a grizzly, or White Bear for the
first time.
14The Corps Moves On
- Once reaching the Great Falls, the Corps spent a
month portaging around the falls. - Clark scouted ahead through the Gates of the
Mountain and found the Three Forks in late July.
Sacagawea recognized the country from her youth
to the Corps delight. - They followed the Jefferson river, which soon
forked, and the party followed the Beaverhead
River. - After a time Sacagawea recognized another
landmark Beaverhead Rock they were in the
Shoshones territory.
15More Help from Tribes
- Lewis finally reached the source of the Missouri
at Lemhi pass, but realized that he would need
help crossing the endless mountains. - Luckily, he established good relations with 3
tribes in the Rocky Mountains - The Shoshone, Sacagaweas tribe, shared horses
and guides. - The Salish fed and clothed the Corps for a week
before the expedition crossed Lolo pass. - The Nez Pierce nursed the men back to health
after they had nearly starved and froze to death
in the Rocky Mountains.
16The Ocean at Last!
- The Corps raced down the Colombia River, finally
reaching the ocean just before the winter. - They quickly built Fort Clatsop, named for the
local Indians, in modern-day Astoria. - In the spring, they returned along the same path,
meeting most the same tribes along the way. - The party split in Lolo and explored new paths in
Montana.
17The Separation
- Clark and the majority of the party headed south
across Bozeman Pass to explore the Yellowstone
River. - Along the way they looked for the Crow tribe, but
never saw them. However, all of their horses
were taken by the Crow in only two nights! - Lewis took a shortcut to the Great Falls and
roamed into Blackfeet country, where he and his
men fought with (and killed) two young Blackfeet
men, then raced back to meet Clark.
Near present-day Billings Clark signed his name
in a huge rock pillar he named for Sacagaweas
son, Pomp. Pompeys Pillar is the only physical
sign left behind by the expedition that can still
be seen today.
18Reunited
- Lewis finally caught up to Clark in early August
near the confluence of the Missouri and
Yellowstone. - The captains dropped off Sacagawea, Pomp and
Charbonneau at the Mandan Villages, as well as
John Colter, who wished to stay and become a
mountain man. - They were not safe yet though, as Cruzatte proved
when he shot Lewis in the butt after mistaking
him for an elk!
19The Swift Ride Home (1806)
- Now headed downstream again in August, the party
moved about 70 miles a day (instead of 10 to 20
upstream.) - Finally, on September 23rd almost three full
years after they set out Lewis and Clark
returned to St. Louis. - One man claimed it was as if they had just
returned from the moon!
20The Entire Journey
21The Legacy of Explorers
- Zebulon Pike was another explorer, who journeyed
along the Mississippi River and into Colorado and
New Mexico. - He was arrested by the Spanish, however, and sent
back to the U.S. - The Journeys of Pike and Lewis and Clark excited
Americans, but pioneers did not immediately
settle these western lands.
22Threats from Overseas
23Setting the Scene
The Captain said if we would come up, he would
give us some drink As soon as we got on the
quarter deck they surrounded us and the second
mate clapped a pistol to my chest. He said If
you move an inch, I will blow your brains out.
- Four American sailors who had been kidnapped by
the British navy off the coast of India saw their
chance to escape one night. - They jumped into a small boat and rowed as fast
as they could. Unfortunately, they were
intercepted by another British boat before they
could reach the shore.
24Yankee Traders
- After the Revolution, American trade grew
rapidly. - Ships from New England went on voyages that
sometimes lasted years. - These Yankee traders traded New England ice for
the spices and silks of India and China.
25Yankee Traders
- More than 10 years before Lewis and Clark, Yankee
merchants had already sailed up the pacific
coast. - So many traders had visited the tribes there that
the local Indians knew white men as Boston.
Robert Gray explored and traded along the
Colombia River for America
26Yankee Traders
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- Trade was especially risky on the Mediterranean
Sea, where pirates of the Barbary States (along
North Africa) demanded a yearly tribute (bribe)
to avoid attacks. - When Jefferson refused to pay this tribute, the
Barbary States declared war on the U.S. - Jefferson responded by blockading the pirate
capital of Tripoli. Admiral Stephen Decatur
burned pirate ships while the marines launched a
surprise attack on Tripoli by land. - By 1805, the ruler of Tripoli signed a treaty
promising not to interfere with American ships.
27American Neutrality is Violated
- Unfortunately, Britain and France went to war
again in 1803. - The U.S. tried to remain neutral and profit from
trade with both nations. - Again, both Britain and France disregarded
American neutrality by capturing American ships
bound for Europe.
28Impressment Gangs
- The British navy badly needed more sailors, so
they stepped up their impressment of Americans
(forcing them to become sailors.) - Impressment gangs had already swept the villages
of England and now they were taking our young
men. - Furious Americans demanded a war against Britain.
29Jeffersons Embargo
- Jefferson knew that the American navy was no
match for the British, so he avoided war and
tried to hurt both France and Britain with a
world Embargo (ban on trade.) - He felt that trade was the most powerful weapon
that we could use in our defense.
Many Americans opposed the embargo, saying that
it wouldnt hurt our enemies soon enough.
30Jeffersons Embargo
- The Embargo Act kept us out of a war and did hurt
Britain and France, but it hurt American shipping
and Agriculture even more. - Both France and England were vast empires, that
could trade with any of their colonies. Americans
had far fewer trading partners.
31Jeffersons Embargo
- Supplies were cut off from Americans we could
not buy British molasses, sugar or tea. - American exports dropped by 80 million in one
year. American docks were filled with supplies
with nobody to buy them. - Many merchants protested and even smuggled goods
to avoid this unpopular act.
32The Embargo Fails
- By 1809, even Jefferson admitted that the Embargo
Act had failed. - Congress replaced the Embargo act with the
Nonintercourse Act, which allowed Americans to
trade with all nations except Britain and France.
- This act was also unpopular, but the Republican
candidate James Madison still easily won the
Presidential election in 1808 when Jefferson
decided to leave office.