Did the Louisiana Purchase change the lives of Americans? Was the Lewis and Clark expedition really significant? How did Manifest Destiny change the lives of the Americans? In this speech I will discuss why the Louisiana Purchase and the Lewis and Clark expedition were not completely the main motivations for the American philosophy of Manifest Destiny. I will also explain what the Louisiana Purchase was and how it affected the lives of the Americans, what happened during the Lewis and Clark expedition and who it effected the most and the Manifest Destiny.
During the 1800 the United States brought 28,000 square miles of land from France. During the time that the United States brought the piece of land Bonaparte Napoleon was the ruler of France. President Jefferson offered to pay a maximum of $10 million for east of Mississippi and New Orleans. But when meet with the French representative, the French representative said it was $15 million for the whole of the Louisiana or the deal was off. America at the time was very much an agricultural society. The Americans were desperate for more land, and Jefferson knew they would not give up on buying the west where the land was there. The French were keen to sell because once the Americans had their Independence, France was forced to decide how significant it would be to send their armies across an ocean to fight, when they were still fighting back home in Europe.
France and Spain decided to sign a secret pact, the Treaty of Ildefonso. This stated that the Spanish would give Louisiana to France. Bonaparte Napoleon came to a conclusion that having Louisiana wasn't worth the hassle, because he was getting ready for a war against Britain. French not only sold the land but they were selling the...
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... travelling and expansion were a part of the spirits Manifest Destiny. It was believed by the Americans that it was God’s belief that spread over America, and to control the country as they wanted to.
Another main motivation for the Manifest Destiny is A Sense of a Mission and The Dark side. Some saw Manifest Destiny was the American power of North America. It was a humane way to spread the American freedom to different places. This is linked to the Louisiana Purchase because once again the Americans brought the land from the French.
To conclude I believe that the Louisiana Purchase and Lewis and Clark expedition was linked to Manifest Destiny but were not the main motivations for it. This is because the Manifest Destiny was mainly about the expansion of Land and how white Americans at the time believed that God gave them the ultimate power to do almost anything.
The Louisiana Purchase stands as an iconic event today that nearly doubled the size of America, ultimately introducing the United States as a world power. In 1762, during the Seven Years’ War, France ceded its control of the Louisiana Territory to Spain (Britannica). However, when Napoleon Bonaparte assumed control of France in 1799, France rallied as a world power once more. Bonaparte’s interest in the Louisiana Territory spiked, and he pressured Spain’s king, Charles IV to relinquish his control of the land on October 1, 1800. This was known as the Treaty of San Ildefonso (Britannica). In view of the transfer between France and Spain, president Thomas Jefferson sent Robert R. Livingston to Paris in 1801. Jefferson became worried, because
The Louisiana Purchase came as a surprise that neither Thomas Jefferson nor anyone else had ever dreamed of. It began with Thomas Jefferson sending two men, James Monroe and Robert R. Livingston, to Paris to negotiate the acquisition of New Orleans with the government of the feared Napoleon Bonaparte. Napoleon had roused fears once France acquired Louisiana from the Spanish. Concerned with French intentions, Thomas Jefferson took immediate action and sent his two men to negotiate. The negotiation didn’t go as intended at all. We asked to buy New Orleans, but Napoleon offered the entire Louisiana Territory. Apparently, Napoleon had little use for Louisiana. He also couldn’t spare any troops to defend the enormous amount of territory. Napoleon needed funds more than anything, so he could support his military ventures in Europe. This led to the exhilarating time of April, 1803 when Napoleon offered to sell Louisiana to the United States.
One of the central pillars of American history and idealism is the concept of manifest destiny. Which according to the Random House Dictionary is the nineteenth century belief and doctrine of the United States, that it was their God given destiny to expand its territory over North America, thereby enhancing their sovereignty and increasing their political, economic and social influence on the world stage. This term was not created until later in the century, post Lewis and Clark expedition. However it was most certainly one of the main goals of the expedition. Lewis and Clark were not the first group of white men to explore areas of the west, though none were quite as influential or as important to supporting manifest destiny. However these two explorers, Lewis and Clark not only supported manifest density, they also made significant contributions to scientific and cartographical knowledge of the western frontier. Their voyage across the United States stands out from other explorations of the west, due to the numerous journals that Lewis and Clark as well as their expedition team wrote in, almost every day. These journals represent first hand records of everything they encountered, thus preserving their journey for hundreds of years to come and allowing for their additions to the scientific community of the United States to be preserved.
The Louisiana purchase was a very significant event in the United States of America that changed the country we live in today. Since, “1762, Spain had owned the territory of Louisiana, between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains” (Office of the Historian). This purchase led to many great things due to the French now having possession over it. Even though the French sold major land in the Louisiana Purchase, the money gained by France and the land acquired by America was a win for both sides of the deal.
Captain Meriwether Lewis and William Clark took the risk of life, limb, and liberty to bring back the precious and valuable information of the Pacific Northwest of the United States territory. Their accomplishments of surviving the trek and delivering the data to the U.S. government, have altered the course of history, but have some Historian’s and author’s stating, “It produced nothing useful.”, and having “added little to the stock of science and wealth. Lewis and Clark’s expedition is one of the most famous and most unknown adventures of America’s frontier.
Man has always had the desire to expand, venture forth to develop greater wealth. With the acquisition of the Louisiana Territory and the prospects of future land acquisition, Americans used the idea of Manifest Destiny to justify their actions for moving westward and their treatment of Native Americans. The idea of Manifest Destiny was created directly by the European-used Doctrine of Discovery and industrialization; this direct correlation was proven to be true from the verdict of the court case Johnson v. M’Intosh.
Manifest Destiny was the idea that it was the United States’ destiny to take over all of North America from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Most of the public was in favor of territorial expansion, though some politicians felt it contradicted the constitution.
The United States saw its territory more than double in the first three decades of the 19th century. Bursting with nationalist fervor, an insatiable desire for more land, and a rapidly increasing population, the western frontiers of the United States would not remain east of the Mississippi. The eventual spread of the American nation beyond the Mississippi into Native and French land, referred to as “Manifest Destiny” by John O’Sullivan, was rationalized as a realization of their God given duty. The Louisiana Purchase set the precedent for unrestricted westward expansion in America, and allowed for others to follow in his footsteps. Characterized by racist overtones, a lack of the “consent of the governed, and ethnic cleansing, there is no valid distinction between this American continental expansion and the international expansion sought by Europe in the late 19th and 20th centuries, and is clearly imperialist in nature.
The Louisiana Purchase was the result of Manifest Destiny by Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson wanted to build a bigger nation than what it was. This was one of the biggest and famous negotiations in U.S history. However there was deceit and war between this negotiation between France, Spain, and the United States. All the nations mentioned own a part of the United States but the real question was who wanted it more?
On December 20, 1803, the Louisiana Purchase was finalized, which resulted in the transfer of power over the territory from France to the United States. The Louisiana Purchase (1803) served as the catalyst for Westward Expansion in American society. Furthermore, it was an examination of conscience for President Thomas Jefferson, as he grappled with the constitutionality of an acquisition of this magnitude. In addition to this, the Louisiana Purchase (1803) transformed America into the industrial and agricultural giant it has become. Had it not been for the Louisiana Purchase (1803), America as we know it today would not exist.
To begin with, the need Americans felt to expand west caused the government to seek more geographical territory and “Expansion westward seemed perfectly natural to many Americans in the mid-nineteenth century.”. The Louisiana purchase was one of the first expansions that made a big impact on the United States and initiated this movement. Events such as the Texas annexation and the Oregon Treaty of 1846 were parts of Manifest Destiny. These events expanded the national territory and encouraged people to settle further west, north, and south. Many of the treaties signed became controversial, but the governments' priority was for the nation to grow in size and importance.
In 1803 the United States would make the largest and possibly most controversial land purchases in American history, the Louisiana Purchase. During the years leading up to this event the United States was still trying to solidify a national identity. There were two subjects that were causing for division of the new national identity, one being westward expansion. The Northern states and Federalists opposed the idea of westward expansion while the Southern States and the Jeffersonians backed this purchase. Although there was a struggle for a single national identity and this controversial purchase did not aid in finding that single identity, it was still the right decision for the United States. By purchasing this land from the French the United States would not share a colonial boundary with the French who were continuing to gain power under Napoleon. Purchasing the Louisiana Territory would prove to be beneficial for the United States for more reason than one.
The famous phrase “Manifest Destiny” was made up by a journalist in 1844. The idea of Manifest Destiny was that the people of the east had a divine and God-given right to settle in the west. God put the land there for the taking, and so the immigrants answered His call with westward expansion. My belief is that Manifest destiny was a necessary evil. The idea of manifest destiny expanded the west and provided homes and jobs. but on the other side of the coin manifest destiny ran the Native Americans out of their land and kept pushing them further and further west.
The Manifest Destiny, the migration to the West, brought a great change in the history of United States. With this Western movement, the half of our country was formed and developed. The improvements of United States western land made the nation stronger and richer than any other country. Initiated by the Santa Fe and Oregon Trails, Manifest Destiny of United States never stopped from the expansion of the West.
Hestedt, G. (2004). Manifest destiny. Encyclopedia of American foreign policy. Retrieved August 14, 2008, from Facts on File: American History Online database.