Lousiana Purchase and Corps of Discovery

Causes/Effects of the Lousiana Purchase

• Causes

  • Jefferson’s personal interests in nature and empire

  • American desire for New Orleans amid fears they would lose access

  • Jefferson’s desire to remove Europeans from North America

  • French defeat in Haiti has Napolean refocus on Europe

• Effects

  • Doubles size of United States

  • Opens access to new resouces and farmland

  • transforms US economy

  • removal of American Indians

  • expands slavery in the US

  • further fractures America (sectionalism)

Corps of Discovery

• Military expedition led by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark sent by Jefferson to explore western United States after Lousiana Purchase

• Goals of the Corps of Discovery - explore/learn about newly acquired land and learn about/trade/remove American Indians from US-owned land