Transcript Ch. 20: The Louisiana Purchase

Ch. 20: The Louisiana Purchase
Vocabulary:
continental divide, expedition, Thomas
Jefferson, Meriwether Lewis, William
Clark, Sacagawea
The Louisiana Purchase
• In 1803 the Thomas
Jefferson bought the
Louisiana Purchase
from France for
$15,000,000.
• It covered 828,000,000
acres.
• The United States
government paid about
55 cents per acre.
Thomas Jefferson
President of the
United States
Napoleon Bonaparte
Emperor of France
The Louisiana Purchase
• Jefferson thought there
might be a water route that
stretched all the way across
the country from the
Mississippi River to the
Pacific Ocean.
• He paid Meriwether Lewis
and William Clark to check
it out.
• They formed a team of 45
men called the Corps of
Discovery.
Meriwether Lewis
William Clark
The Expedition
• In 1804, the Corps of
Discovery left the Mississippi
River at St. Louis.
• They travelled down the
Missouri River as far as they
could go.
• Half way down the Missouri
River, Lewis and Clark hired a
fur-trader named Toussaint
Charbonneau.
• His wife, Sacagawea was very
helpful to the Corps, because
as a Shoshone, she knew how
to translate for some of the
Native American tribes that
Lewis and Clark encountered.
Sacagawea
The Expedition
• Once they got to Great Falls
the Missouri River turned
South.
• The expedition struggled to
find a pass through the
Rocky mountains when they
reached the Continental
Divide.
• After splitting up Lewis and
Clark both arrived at the
Pacific Ocean in the Oregon
Territory.
Outcome of the Expedition
• While exploring, the Corp of Discovery did
not find a water route to Pacific Ocean, nor did
they blaze a path for future settlers.
• They did bring back important maps of the
regions they explored, information about
plants and animals that lived west of the
Mississippi River and established peaceful
relationships with some of the Native
American tribes that they met.
Questions about Chapter 20
1. Who were the two men President Jefferson chose to
lead the Corps of Discovery?
2. What did Sacagawea do that was so important to
the Corps of Discovery?
3. Why did President Jefferson send an expedition to
explore the Louisiana Territory?
4. What country did the United States purchase the
Louisiana Territory from?
5. Was the Corps of Discovery successful? Why or
why not?