The Louisiana Purchase Chapter 11 Section 2 Pages

Problems west of the Appalachian Mountains Spain owned the lower Mississippi River and New Orleans This caused problems for Americans living west of the Appalachian Mountains Americans depended on the river to ship their goods to the East and the West Indies

The Louisiana Territory The Louisiana Territory- Land west of the Mississippi river to the Rocky Mountains In 1800 Spain had ceded (granted control of) this area to France

Jefferson's Fears: When Jefferson heard about this he feared that Napoleon Bonaparte (Dictator of France) would want to take over part of the American Colonies (including the Florida's) Trade would be disrupted on the Mississippi river by France

Jefferson’s Plan Jefferson did not want to see more American land in the hands of Europeans Robert Livingston (ambassador to France) was given permission to offer to buy New Orleans and West Florida James Monroe (a Diplomat and former VA Governor) was sent to help negotiate the purchase The House of Representatives only wanted to spend $2 million but Jefferson authorized $10 million

Revolution in the Caribbean A revolt in French territory (Saint Dominique) was able to over throw Napoleon’s army and become the Republic of Haiti This as well as the French war with Britain ended Napoleon’s interest in a French empire in America

The Louisiana Purchase Napoleon preferred to sell the territory to America then see the British take control of it He also was in need of money to help pay for the war with Britain In 1803 the Livingston and Monroe agreed to buy the territory for $15 million This almost doubled the size of the United States