Download The Louisiana Purchase in 1803

Lesson Strategy for the Louisiana Purchase Bicentennial
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“Blessings of a Free Government”
The Louisiana Purchase in 1803
Grades: 4-12
Suggested Time Frame: Two, 50-minute time periods
Ties to the Arkansas History Guidelines of 1997 (grades 4-12):
1.1.5., 1.1.10., 1.1.11., 1.1.15., 2.1.4., 2.1.7., 2.1.9., 2.1.12., 3.1.16., 3.1.7., 3.1.12., 5.1.7.,
5.1.13., 5.1.14., 5.1.15., 5.1.17., 6.1.12., 6.1.14.
Objectives:
•
•
To investigate the events leading up to the Louisiana Purchase in 1803.
To identify the personalities involved in the Louisiana Purchase negotiations.
Materials Supplied by Teacher:
Poster board or butcher paper
Colored pencils or paint
Index cards (several colors)
Notebooks
Markers
Suggested Literature for Students 4-12 on the Louisiana Purchase:
Meet Thomas Jefferson by Marvin Barrett (Library Binding, 1999). Grades 4-8.
Napoleon Bonaparte (People Who Made History) by Raymond Obstfeld (Greenhaven Press, 2001).
Grades 4-8.
Thomas Jefferson: Third President of the United States by Albee Monsell (Aladdin
Paperbacks, 1998). Grades 9-12.
What’s the Deal? Jefferson, Napoleon and the Louisiana Purchase by Rhoda
Blumberg (National Geographic Society, 1998).
Grades 9-12.
Vocabulary:
Rene Robert Cavalier, Sauer de la Salle: French explorer in North America who led an expedition down the
Mississippi River and claimed the geographic region for King Louis XIV of France. He named the area
“Louisiana.”
French and Indian War: war between France and Great Britain from 1756 to 1763 that
determined control of over the colonial territory of North America.
Thomas Jefferson: political figure, diplomat, scientist, architect and author from Virginia.
Jefferson served in the Continental Congress from 1775 to 1776. He was the U.S. Secretary of State under President George Washington from 1790 to 1793, vice president and president from 1801 to 1809. Jefferson authorized the purchase of the colony of Louisiana in 1802 and 1803.
Mississippi River: largest river in North America, with major tributaries draining an area of approximately
1,200,000 square miles. This river was a major transportation route to the city of New Orleans.
New Orleans: center of commerce in the lower Mississippi River Valley. The United States wanted to own this
city in order to gain access to the Gulf of Mexico and trade routes in and out of the interior of North America.
Treaty of San Lorenzo: (also known as Pinkney’s Treaty) treaty between the United States and Spain in `795 to
fix the boundary of the U.S. at 31 degrees North latitude and give Americans commercial rights on the Mississippi River through Spanish-held territory.
Treaty of Sal Ildefonso: secret treaty that restored the colony of Louisiana to France from Spain in 1800.
James Monroe: Revolutionary War veteran, member of the Continental Congress, governor of Virginia and ardent supporter of Thomas Jefferson. Monroe was sent to France in 1802 to help Robert Livingston negotiate the
Louisiana Purchase. He was elected president in 1816.
Napoleon Bonaparte: Corsican-born Emperor of France and King of Italy who began his career as a soldier, supporter of the French Revolution and leader of French forces against Britain, Austria, Russia and Sweden. He
authorized the sale of French-owned Louisiana to the United .States in 1803.
Marquis Francois de Barbe –Marbois: statesman who negotiated the Louisiana Purchase for the French government and Napoleon Bonaparte in 1803.
Robert Livingston: ambassador to Paris who was given the authority by President Thomas Jefferson to negotiate
to purchase the colony of Louisiana from France in 1802.
Territory: geographic area owned by a particular country or government.
Republic: government having a chief of state who is not a monarch. The supreme power of the republican government resides in a body of citizens that are entitled to vote officers and representatives.
Cabildo: government structure in New Orleans that housed the transfer ceremony between France and the
United States in 1803.
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Background Information:
Lea Flowers Baker
Education Coordinator, Department of Arkansas Heritage
“On this important acquisition, so favorable to the immediate interests of our Western citizens, so
auspicious to the peace and security of the nation in general, which adds to our country territories so
extensive and fertile, and to our citizens new brethren to partake of the blessings of freedom and selfgovernment, I offer to Congress and our country my sincere congratulations.”
--President Thomas Jefferson
January 16, 1804
Between 1686 and the 1760s, the French dominated the
Mississippi River Valley when a French explorer named Rene
Robert Cavalier, Sieur de la Salle explored the area and
claimed the land and its watershed for the French King, Louis
XIV. La Salle named the area “Louisiana” after the French
king. Following soon afterward, the French began to colonize
various parts of the new colony of Louisiana, including New
Orleans (1718), Biloxi (1699), Mobile (1701) and a trading
house later named Arkansas Post (1686). After the French
and Indian War, the French began losing control of the
lower Mississippi River Valley region and turned over large
Rene Robert Cavalier, Sieur de la
parts of the colony of Louisiana to its rivals, England and
Salle, ca. 1600s. Courtesy of the
Spain after 1763.
Texas Historical Commission.
During the late 18th century, Thomas Jefferson, Secretary of
State to the United States, showed interest in the land that lay
west of the Mississippi River and its large, navigable waterway.
He believed the ownership of this western land was necessary
to American growth and protection. So, in the 1790s,
Jefferson assumed that the United States “by Nature…and by
Treaty [had] a right to the navigation of the Mississippi
[River].” In order to obtain this goal, Jefferson had to deal
with the owners of the territory of Louisiana— Spain.
French colonial seal, ca. 1700s.
Courtesy of the New Orleans Public
Library.
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The Spanish, viewing Americans as aggressive and greedy land grabbers, did not want to give
up their North American possession in Louisiana. However, they realized that the Americans
were “new and vigorous people, hostile to all subjection, [were] advancing and multiplying…
with prodigious rapidity.” They knew it would be impossible to stop the Americans from
eventually taking over and seizing property in Louisiana and in 1795, they conducted the
Treaty of San Lorenzo that gave the Americans right of navigation on the entire Mississippi
River as well as a right of deposit of American goods at the river ports in New Orleans.
La Familia de Carlos IV by court
painter, Francisco de Goya y Lucientes,
ca. early 1800s. Courtesy of the Prada
Museum, Madrid, Spain.
As a result of this treaty between the United States and Spain, river traffic on the Mississippi
increased and settlement in the Ohio Valley flourished. Waterfronts in New Orleans were
crowded with American vessels and flatboats but each time Americans had to dock or deal
with the Spanish ports in New Orleans, they had to have licenses and fill out paper work.
This became a source of disagreement between Americans and Spanish officials in New
Orleans. As a result of the problems in New Orleans, travel and trade to the interior United
States and settlers in the Ohio Valley was difficult. As an alternate, these settlers began to
purchase their goods from the east coast (Baltimore, New York) rather than those coming up
the Mississippi River. This was financially ruinous for those persons whose livelihood
depended upon trade on the Mississippi River. Seeing American citizens panic at this
problem, Jefferson tried to calm people by stating that the United States “could, in the case of
necessity, make itself independent of New Orleans by developing the rival port of Natchez
[Mississippi],” as a commercial center. Since 1798, the United States controlled the port
town. Using Natchez was a worst-case alternative to Jefferson, but not a long-term solution
since it was slow to get cotton and goods in and out of its river ports.
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Throughout the 1790s, Jefferson did not believe that the
situation of port access in New Orleans would change and
that the United States would buy city for its own.
Jefferson began to consider alternative routes to the
interior of the United States, including going through the
English Turn located downriver from New Orleans,
Baton Rouge to Natchez, or Mobile, Alabama to the
Tennessee River.
President Thomas Jefferson,
ca. early 1800s. Courtesy of
the Library of Congress.
However, events were to play in Jefferson’s favor. Fearing
even further American expansion and aggression, the
Spanish secretly ceded the territory of Louisiana back to
the French government in 1800 after signing the Treaty
of San Ildefonso. Meanwhile, Jefferson had been elected
president and wanted to find out of this rumor of a secret
treat was true. He sent his ambassador to Paris, Robert
Livingston, to investigate. Livingston did not have to
look very hard. The rumor proved to be true and this
resolved Jefferson to obtain the City of New Orleans for
his own, “There is on the globe one single spot, the
possessor of which is our natural and habitual enemy. It
is New Orleans, through which the produce of threeeighths of our territory must pass to market, and from its
[the West] fertility it will ere long yield more than half of
our whole produce and contain more than half our
inhabitants.”
Robert Livingston, minister to France during the
Louisiana Purchase negotiations in 1802 and 1803
Courtesy of the Louisiana State Museum.
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James Monroe, ca. early 1800s, chief negotiator
in Paris during the Louisiana Purchase treaty.
Courtesy of the Library of Congress.
Jefferson gave Livingston the permission
to try and purchase “the island of New
Orleans and the Floridas” in 1802 for $9
million. To the Spanish, this action was
aggressive and they decided to close the
city port of New Orleans to American
trade and shipping. As a reaction to the
port closing, Jefferson sent his second
emissary, James Monroe, to Paris as an
envoy extraordinary to help Livingston
make an arrangement. Livingston’s
original bargaining possibilities included
to give the United States “so much of Louisiana as lay above the mouth of the river
Arkansas” for a barrier between France and Canada. He wanted the French to retain the
country “lying on the west of the Mississippi and below the Arkansas river” as a barrier
between the United States and Spanish Mexico. Finally, he wanted the French to retain
east Florida as far as the Perdido River and cede West Florida, New Orleans and the
territory on the west bank of the Mississippi [River] “above the Arkansas [River]” to the
United States. Technically, east Florida never belonged to the French and Livingston left
this out of his bargaining. Livingston went so far as to say that New Orleans was not
ideally situated for the French and that they should take Fort Leon, on the opposite bank
of the river, since it was
“higher, healthier and
more defensible…” He said
the west bank of the river
was ideal for settlement
and could be a place of
twin cities astride a great
river – French and American.
Map of New Orleans showing
the Mississippi River, ca. 1803.
Courtesy of Virtual New
Orleans.
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The French government shocked Jefferson, Livingston and Monroe when they offered the
entire territory of Louisiana to the United States. The First Consul of France, Napoleon
Bonaparte, was suffering from various military defeats on the European continent and was
short of cash to fund his European wars. Jefferson was thrilled with this offer and authorized
the purchase of the entire territory of Louisiana. It is fitting that the negotiations for
Louisiana should take place under Jefferson’s presidential administration since he was always
interested in westward
expansion and settlement.
Monroe and Livingston jumped
on this “all or nothing” offer
proposed by Bonaparte’s
emissary, Marquis Francois de
Barbe-Marbois and purchased
the territory of Louisiana for a
final price of $15 million. This
price added over 800,000 square
miles of land and doubled the
size of the United States at a cost
of less than three cents an acre.
After the treaty was negotiated,
Livingston said, “We have lived
long, but this is the noblest work of
our whole lives. From this day the
United States takes their places
among the power of first rank.” The
deal was made known to
Jefferson on the 3rd of July and
announced to the public on the
27th anniversary of the
Declaration of Independence.
Napoleon Bonaparte crossing the
Alps, ca. early 1800s. Courtesy of
the Louisiana State Museum.
Marquis Francois de Barbe Marbois, ca. late
1700s. French Minister of Finance that
offered the colony of Louisiana to the
Americans in 1803. Courtesy of the
Louisiana State Museum.
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What did the United States get in
exchange for $15 million? First of
all, the United States was already
the largest republic in the world –
even without the territory of Louisiana. It was the largest country
geographically and could be divided
into several parts: east coast and
west coast, old and new, seaboard
and interior. At the single stroke of
a pen, the territory of Louisiana
doubled the area of the United
States and allowed for greater
expansion by settlers. Jefferson prematurely commented that the territory was blessed “with
room enough…for all descend[ants] to the 1,000th and 1,000th generation” to spread out.
Finally, the French presence in America was no longer a threat to security. However, the
Spanish continued to hold parts of Florida and present-day Texas but the United States
government immediately began placing pressure on them to obtain these areas.
For the most part, Americans were thrilled with the purchase of new land. National pride
replaced regional pride (at least for a time) and the self-confidence of the country grew within
the American people. People wanted to move westward and this situation led to new
problems: Could land be added to a federal republic by the president without the consent of
the Congress? Could people living in Louisiana be made citizens of the United States without
their consent? How could American institutions replace European laws that had been in place
since the 16th century? How could potentially new states be bound together with the older
ones? What would happen to the American Indians? Some of these questions would not be
answered until the 20th century.
Some of the problems that were
immediately taken care of by
Jefferson and the United States
government included the
inhabitants living in the territory
of Louisiana. Government
officials automatically assumed
that they would transfer their
allegiance to the United States
and receive the benefits of
American citizens. One congressman even wondered why anyone,
given the option, could “be so
unwise as to prefer being the colonists of a distant European Power, to being members of this
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immense Empire, with all the privileges of American citizens.” Of course, this offer was
extended to white persons, not American Indians or slaves.
Jefferson did not want to make states from the territory of Louisiana. Instead, he wanted to
annex the area and introduce the people of the territory of Louisiana to American laws and
traditions. The people and their homes would receive “territorial” status to the United
States. The territory was divided into parts, including the Territory of Indiana and the District
of Louisiana (of which Arkansas was a part). The northern part of the territory of Louisiana
ended at the 33 degree North latitude. South of this latitude, the persons located in this area
were associated with the Territory of Orleans (mostly the Gulf Coast regions of Louisiana,
Mississippi and Alabama).
The French citizens of the District of Louisiana
were singled out as being members of very foreign
cultures that were to be governed with an iron fist
in order to turn their European ways of law and
society into an orderly American system. At
Arkansas Post, the French and Spanish found
themselves in the same boat as their relatives in the
District of Louisiana. They were having to
amalgamate themselves into the American system
that had been imposed upon them. Jefferson’s
plan was a bitter pill for the French to swallow.
The new government naturally favored Americans,
forced the French to do business in the English
language, and threatened the French with loss of
their property. They were also prohibited from
bringing slaves into the Louisiana territory.
Francois Marie Petit de Coulange de
Vilemont, ca. mid-1700s, a habitant of
Arkansas Post. Courtesy of Judge Morris
Arnold, Little Rock, AR
Jefferson’s legal system was based on English
Common Law. The French hated this new system
because it was too divisive. It emphasized the individual (especially white men) rather than the family unit. It forced the male of the household to
become the legal head of the family. All inheritance was distributed through him rather than
a man and his wife (as was common
under the French system). Moreover, it denied legal rights to persons who were of mixed
blood. In old French society, these people were very common (even in Arkansas where the
French often intermarried with American Indians; and in New Orleans where French often
had liaisons with slaves that resulted in mixed blood children) and previously had more
freedom and protection under French customs (where it was more accepted) than they were to
receive under the Americans.
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However, one aspect the French in the territory of Louisiana
liked about the new system was the ability to try criminal
cases in court by jury of peers. This was considered personal
protection and something different from what they had
known under Spanish rule. All of these laws reached into
Arkansas.
Governor William C. C.
Claiborne of the District of
Louisiana, ca. early 1800s. Courtesy of the Historic New Orleans
Collection.
The transfer of the territory of Louisiana to the United States
took place at the government structure known as the Cabildo
in New Orleans on December 20, 1803. William C.C.
Claiborne and General James Wilkinson represented the
United States and accepted the transfer from French
authorities in New Orleans. Claiborne became the first new
governor of the Louisiana Territory and Wilkinson was the
military commander. A second transfer ceremony was held
in St. Louis, Missouri, on March 9, 1804. Between 1809 and
1811, the present-day state of Louisiana was prepared for
statehood and was one of the first to be carved from the
Louisiana Purchase. Eight years later, Arkansas would follow.
Suggested Activities:
1. Learn more about the main personalities involved in the Louisiana Purchase: Napoleon
Bonaparte, Thomas Jefferson, James Monroe, Robert Livingston and Francois de BarbeMarbois. Graph their goals for the Louisiana Purchase, noticing overlaps of interests and
their differences.
2. Identify the relationship between France, Spain and the United States in relation to the
Louisiana Purchase. Define the role of each in North America in the late 1700s.
3. Compare the careers of President Thomas Jefferson and Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte of
France.
4. Using the information gained from this lesson, draw a political cartoon about the Louisiana Purchase.
5. Investigate the geography of the Gulf of Mexico in relation to Jefferson’s plan of using several ports as a deposit for American shipping (New Orleans, Biloxi, Natchez, English Turn
outside New Orleans, Isle of New Orleans, West Florida). Why was New Orleans the only
port that was desirable for the Americans to own in the early 1800s? Make topographic
maps of these areas and compare each.
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Suggested Activities (continued):
6. Using a rubric for grading, create a portfolio on the Louisiana Purchase. Have students
read and write about the events of 1803 and grade accordingly:
A) What vision did Thomas Jefferson have of expanding America?
B) Discuss the importance of the port of New Orleans in America
(students should include economics and national security in the
understanding of this issue). What alternates to New Orleans did
Jefferson propose or investigate?
C) Identify and write about the key concepts and personalities of the
Louisiana Purchase in 1803.
7) Read a book about Thomas Jefferson to younger students.
RUBRIC SCORES:
5) Strong thesis, responds to
question.
4) Thesis stated, answers
question.
3) Addresses question but
has weak structure and
focus.
2) Poor focus, fails to answer
question adequately.
1) Fails to address the question, confused and unfocused.
0) No thesis, no attempt to
address the question.
Works Cited in this Lesson:
Baker, William Donald. The Louisiana Purchase National Historic Landmark Nomination (Little
Rock: Arkansas Historic Preservation Program, 1993), pp. 1-4.
Cunningham, Noble E. In Pursuit of Reason: the Life of Thomas Jefferson (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1987).
Ellis, Joseph J. American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson (New York: Vintage Books,
1996).
The Lewis and Clark Expedition, 1804-1806: The Louisiana Purchase (Broadsheet 1) (Jackdaws
Publications).
Meinig, D. W. The Shaping of America: A Geographical Perspective on 500 Years of History,
Volume 2 (Continental America, 1800-1867) (New Haven: Yale University Press).
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This lesson is made possible by the Department of Arkansas Heritage and the Arkansas
Natural and Cultural Resources Council for the Louisiana Purchase Bicentennial Committee.
Written by Lea Flowers Baker, Education Coordinator, Department of Arkansas Heritage and
reviewed by Melissa Whitfield, Communications Director, Department of Arkansas Heritage.
For more information on the Louisiana Purchase Bicentennial, contact Education Coordinator, Department of Arkansas Heritage, 1500 Tower Building, 323 Center Street, Little Rock,
Arkansas 72201; (501) 324-9150 (phone), (501) 324-9154 (fax); e-mail
[email protected] or check our or website at www.arkansasheritage.com.
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