USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -The Louisiana Territory was vast, stretching from the Gulf of Mexico in the south to Rupert’s Land in the north, and from the Mississippi River in the east to the Rocky Mountains in the west. Acquiring the territory doubled the size of the United States.

Detailed explanation-2: -The Treaty of Paris (1783) had stipulated that the Mississippi would be the western boundary of the United States and that it would be open to Americans for navigation.

Detailed explanation-3: -Westward expansion began in earnest in 1803. Thomas Jefferson negotiated a treaty with France in which the United States paid France $15 million for the Louisiana Territory – 828, 000 square miles of land west of the Mississippi River – effectively doubling the size of the young nation.

Detailed explanation-4: -In August 1805, the Lewis and Clark expedition reached Lemhi Pass, the western edge of the Louisiana Territory and the United States. For months, they had fought their way up the Missouri river to reach its headwaters.