How The States Got Their Shapes – Part 3: The Louisiana Territory

Last month we learned how the great Midwest was shaped after the Revolutionary War was over. This month we will examine the one purchase of land that more than doubled the size of our young country: The Louisiana Purchase. In 1803, President Thomas Jefferson sent a delegation to France to negotiate the purchase of a small territory around New Orleans. When the delegation came back, they announced they were successful in buying New Orleans, as well as all of the territory north and west that France once held. This ended up shaping 14 new states, and creating a nightmare between those who wanted slave states and those who wanted free states. Join us this month as we explore how all this got sorted out.