USA HISTORY

THE VIRGINIA DYNASTY 1801 1825

PRESIDENT JEFFERSONS ELECTION AND JEFFERSONIAN DEMOCRACY

Question [CLICK ON ANY CHOICE TO KNOW THE RIGHT ANSWER]
Why did Jefferson want to own New Orleans?
A
for access to Pacific Ocean
B
to control the Mississippi River
C
to support Westward expansion
D
to create a vacation spot for Americans
Explanation: 

Detailed explanation-1: -Jefferson’s men were in Paris because he wanted to buy the port of New Orleans. To him, New Orleans was key: Whoever owned it would be America’s natural enemy because that nation would control the channel through which produce from more than a third of the United States had to pass.

Detailed explanation-2: -Why did Jefferson seek to control the Mississippi River? He knew we needed control to be able to transport goods. Also, in 1800, Spain signed a treaty giving Louisiana back to France.

Detailed explanation-3: -When France offered to sell the Louisiana Territory to the United States in 1803, Jefferson wanted to seize the opportunity to double the size of the nation and to provide future generations with a seemingly inexhaustible supply of new farmland.

Detailed explanation-4: -New Orleans was a port city with stores of supplies that could be seized. Control of the Mississippi River would have given the British the upper hand in the war. They would have controlled waterways throughout the Louisiana Territory as well as the Port of New Orleans and access to the Gulf of Mexico.

There is 1 question to complete.