Those were the words written by a journalist describing a monumental event that would forever mark the history of America: the Louisiana Purchase. The history of the Louisiana Territory was primarily that of property transfers between Spain and France. It was originally claimed by Spain during the exploration of the New World. However, Spain lost the territory to the French setters, who called the area New France. After the Seven Years' War, Spain reconquered Louisiana. During this period, the port city of New Orleans grew to become a major commercial center in North America. Through the Pinckney Treaty of 1795, the United States gained permission to use New Orleans for trade and to navigate the Mississppi River, which was crucial to westward expansion. By the 1800s, America's South and frontier were quite dependent on the use of New Orleans for commercial success. Changes came with the Treaty of San Idelfonso in 1800, in which Spain transferred the Louisiana Territory back to France. Napoleon, in 1801, sent troops to protect New Orleans, causing a mild panic in the United States. President Jefferson already knew the need for America to make New Orleans its own and saw its opportunity not only to secure American commerce but also to realize his dream of an Empire of Liberty, essentially an expanding America. Between 1801 and 1802, Jefferson sent Robert Livingston and James Monroe to Paris with the mission of acquiring the port of New Orleans and its environs. Instead of offering to sell New Orleans, the French offered America the entire Louisiana Territory, an attractive proposition since the price was only $5 million more than the United States was willing to give for New Orleans alone. Orleans. Here we meet the various... half of the document ...the Ark Expedition helped map out the Louisiana Purchase and helped provide valuable information that led to the subsequent acquisition of the Oregon Territory. In short, Lewis and Clark helped open up the West. If not for Jefferson's bold purchase of the Louisiana Territory, the United States of America would never have become the most blessed and powerful nation on the face of the earth. Jefferson's vision of an expanding America led to one of the most influential events in American history. The Lewis and Clark Expedition played a crucial role in opening this vast new western frontier. The Louisiana Purchase and the events that followed were truly monumental, although not many knew it at the time. As Fisher Ames wrote after the Louisiana Purchase: “Now, adding this unmeasured world beyond [the Mississippi], we rush like a comet into infinite space.!”