The document provides information about the Louisiana Purchase of 1803. It discusses how the growing American population along the Mississippi River relied on access to the port of New Orleans to ship goods. Spain controlled New Orleans but allowed American access. France later gained control of Louisiana from Spain and was looking to sell the territory. President Jefferson sent representatives to negotiate the purchase of New Orleans but they ended up purchasing the entire Louisiana Territory for $15 million, doubling the size of the United States. The constitutionality of the large land purchase was questioned but it opened up the Mississippi River for American expansion.