Jefferson's Great Purchase Opens Up Possibilities

By Jonathan P.

Recently, President Thomas Jefferson, with the help of Robert Livingston and James Monroe bought the whole Louisiana Territory from ruler of France, Napoleon Bonaparte. What originally started out as Jefferson asking for two small states to expand sailing options turned into something that may change lives.

Livingston and Monroe were told by President Thomas Jefferson to pay France $10,000,000 for the ports of New Orleans and Florida. It was going to be a good deal, especially since that would allow us to use those ports for sailing and trading, but when they were offered the whole Louisiana Territory, they couldn't refuse!

This was the biggest purchase of land ever made in our history as a nation, and it was definitely worth the money! The Louisiana Purchase is the treaty that was signed by Robert Livingston and James Monroe, giving us complete control of the Louisiana Territory, a huge piece of land that is about 800,000 square miles long! The question is, now that we have all that land, what are we going to do with it?

Financially, we now have much more farmland to grow diverse crops found only in the west, and, the wide, open spaces give much more room for growing cattle. There are even rumors that many pieces of gold lie scattered far out in the west! Treasure hunters, farmers, and explorers alike, heed this call and explore!

Probably one of the greatest things about the Louisiana Purchase is that there was no fighting over the land between Jefferson and Bonaparte, we bought the land peacefully. This really proves that Thomas Jefferson has the skills required to lead our nation. Expect more on this topic soon!