Brazil and the United States: An Intercultural Exchange in Araguaína: The Louisiana Puchase

Hello UFT!!! We’re excited to see you all soon! Until then, today’s blog post is another historical one. It’s about a very important event in U.S. history- The Louisiana Purchase. Purchase means “to buy.” In this deal, Thomas Jefferson (the 3^rd president of the United States, 1801-1809) bought Louisiana and a whole lot more land from France.

The deal went down on April 30^th, 1803. This was what we call a win-win situation. It means that everyone involved gets what they want or need. France was in need of some cash. The U.S. could double its size. Before the United States stretched from the Atlantic to the Pacific oceans, it was just the territory that you seen in orange on the map. The other land was owned by France and Spain.

France wanted to have a large influence in the new land and especially in New Orleans. Due to some conflicts outside of the United States (namely the Haitian Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars), the area lost its usefulness and money seemed like the better option.

Thomas Jefferson asked two explorers to investigate the territory’s resources including a means to travel the country by water. Meriwether Louis and William Clark (better known as Louis and Clark) also had an “Indian” or Native-American girl with them. Her name was Sacagawea. She acted as a guide for Louis and Clark. In my opinion, Sacagawea probably did the bulk of the “discovering” while Lewis and Clark were credited.

In 2000, President Bill Clinton commissioned gold dollars with her image to be made. Around that time she also posthumously (after death) received another award. It’s been my experience that until then she was nothing more than part of the myth or legend of the New World, much like Pocahontas.

Please feel free to comment, compare, disagree, etc. We’d love to hear from you!!

To read more about the Louisiana Purchase:

http://www.gatewayno.com/history/LaPurchase.html