Key Questions:    

• What pieces of legislation led to the territorial expansion of the United States?
• What were the international and domestic reasons for the Louisiana Purchase?
• What were the positive and negative effects of the Louisiana Purchase?
• Which of Lewis and Clarke's original objectives came to fruition?
• Why was the Mexican War criticized?

Getting Bigger

 

When the first group of British colonists landed on Virginia in the early 17th century, they were overwhelmed by the vast, unexplored area known today as America.  Over the next four centuries, through a series of treaties and purchases the United States  would stretch from the Atlantic to the Pacific.  

Mountains and rivers defined the early boundaries of the American territories.  Throughout the 1800s expansion by the English colonists in areas west of the Appalachians was often met with Indian resistance.  Because England could not fund comprehensive protection for these frontier settlers, England issued the Proclamation of 1763.  This British declaration established the originial Western boundary of the American colonies at the Appalachian Mountains.  

This boundary in name alone, was later discarded following the American War for Independence.  One of the terms of the Treaty of Paris of 1783 was that Britain would surrender the territory expanding west to the Mississippi.  Ironically, the population of this territory was less than 1% British.  However,  based on European rules of land claim Britain ceded this vast territory to the new American nation.   

In the late 18th century, "Going West" meant moving past the Appalachian Mountains into the forested land sparsely populated by Choctaws, Chickasaws and Cherokees.  The existence of California and the Rocky Mountains was not a reality for these early western frontier settlers. 

When Thomas Jefferson became the third president of the United States, parts of the American continent were claimed by Spain, France, Britain, and Russia.  Of particular interest to Jefferson was the French control of New Orleans.  Because New Orleans stood at the mouth of the Mississippi, Jefferson realized a continued foreign presence at this port city would consistently affect maritime commerce from Canade to the Gulf of Mexico.  

A series of international events led to the Louisiana Purchase of 1803.  First, Napoleon was attempting to expand the French empire while maintaining control of the colonies already under French rule.  Unfortunately, thousands of his troops died in Haiti trying to put down a slave revolt led by Toussaint L'Ouverture.  Second,  France renewed its tensions with Britain.  

What is ironic about the British deciding  boundaries on land occupied primarily by Indians?