2. The Louisiana Purchase is the treaty that
gave the United states 828,000 miles of land west of the
Mississippi River.
• The land was bought from the
French
• The cost was practically
nothing—it was less than 5
cents an acre
• It contained land from the
Mississippi River to the Rocky
Mountains
• The land was mostly
wilderness, so even though
we know there are resources
there now, the French may
not have known it then, so it
didn’t factor into the price
3. What made this incredible trade
possible? leader
Napoleon Bonaparte,
of France at the time, had
originally wanted a
Caribbean empire. However,
after the slaves revolted in
Haiti and France lost control
of some of their Caribbean
territory, Napoleon wanted to shift the empire to an empire in
Europe. In order to fund this endeavor,
he wanted to get rid of all his territory in Louisiana. Therefore, he
was able to sell the land to Thomas Jefferson for such a low price.
4. Why was it Important?
• American territory was
increased by nearly
double the territory it had
before
• It ensured that Americans
would have complete
control of the land and
Europeans couldn’t have
any kind of rule over it
• It allowed American trade
routes to expand, so it
helped the economy
