The Louisiana Purchase (1803-1804)
1763: French And Indian War, all lands east of the Mississipi river was ceded to Britain by France
1783: American War for Independence, British surrendered => Newly formed America acquired all lands East of the Missipi River
1803: President Thomas Jefferson negotiated a deal for about $15 million with the new ruler of France, Napoléon Bonaparte
(Napolen needed money to fund his military campaigns, felt little use of the Louisiana Territory, which had a very few European settlers and no actual administration
=> Geographic area of the US doubled in size
-Upon acquiring the Louisiana Territory, the US claimed the exclusive rights to purchase or forcibly take lands from various American Indian tribal governments who actually owned them. Not all of these interactions and treaties between the US government and the tribal governments were fair- many came from broken treaties, coercion, forced removal of indegenous inhabitants, and threats of violence
The Expedition of Lewis and Clark(The Corps of Discovery) (1805~1806)
Few Months later of the Louisiana Purchase: Jefferson received approval from the congress to assemble a team of men
- Who?
Led by Meriwether Lewis(Personal Secretary) & William Clark(One of Lewis’s military commanders)
Guidance by Sacagawea (Only woman in the group with an infant child, Wife of French fur dealer in the corps of Discovery)
Helped ease the fear of the Native American people the Corps encountered in their journey - Why?
To search for an uninterrupted water route to the Pacific Ocean - How?
Traveled West of the St.Louis (In present-day Missouri)
In the NPS(National Park Service), the Lewis and Clark National Historical Trail is administered
Trail runs west of the St.Louis to the Pacific Ocean along all kinds of terrain(modern highways) through 11 states over approximately 3700 miles(roughly 6000km)
Recently the National Historic Trail was expanded through 5 more states - Result:
Ultimately learned that was not possible
However they did discover Mullan Road (An overland route from Upper end of the Missouri River(Present day, Montana) -> Rocky Mountains -> Onward to the Columbia River(Flows through the present-day Orgeon and Washington States to the Pacific)
Kept detailed journals
Documents of 120 animals and 182 plants(Many of which were previously unknown to Americans) and Specimans
Knowledge of nine Native American Languages - Time:
Forward journey: Traveled for 18 months before reaching the Pacific Ocean in November of 1805
Return Journey:
Took just under a year, ending in September of 1806.
The cession of Florida from Spain(1819)
1765:
British had previously acquired Florida from Spain
(Britain had previously acquired Florida from Spain in 1765, as compensation for Spain’s involvement as an enemy of Britain in the French and Indian War)
End of the American War for Independence:
British was forced to surrender Florida to Spain
Florida had remained loyal to Britain during the American War for Independence
1810:
After the US was formed as a new nation, American settlers in West Florida began rebelling against Spanish rule
The U.S. then annexed parts of Western Florida from Spain, claiming the area had been part of the Louisiana Purchase from France
1818(Few Years Later):
The U.S. Army under General Andrew Jackson invaded Florida as part of a war against the Seminole Indians, who had joined with escaped slaves and were seen as a threat to the neighboring U.S. state of Georgia.
1819:
All of Florida became part of the U.S.
As the Spanish government had been weakened by the French invasion of Spain under Napoléon Bonaparte, the U.S. government demanded that Spain cede all of Florida to the U.S., and Spain complied with that demand.