Z 2 An 12 INCREDIBLE FACTS ABOUT THE LOUISIANA PURCHASE by Anita Yasuda STORY LIBRARY
JEFFERSON DREAMS OF AN EMPIRE OF LIBERTY At the beginning of the 1800s the There were only 16 states Great United States did not look like it Britain held the land to the north does today It was much smaller Spain controlled the Floridas to the Most Americans lived on the East South and the land in the far west Coast near the Atlantic Ocean The Floridas included the present day Florida and the land along the coast of Louisiana France claimed the central part of what is the United States today In 1801 Thomas Jefferson became the third president of the United States Since he was a young boy Jefferson had been fascinated with the West But no one knew much about the geography or wildlife of the area Even less was known about President Thomas Jefferson
DISTRICT OF MAINE BRITISH TERRITORY NEW YORK RHODE ISLAND CONNECTICUT INDIANA OHIO DELAWARE TERRITORY TENNESSEE MISSISSIPPIGEORGIA TERRITORY PACIFIC OCEAN SPANISH FLORIDA GULF OF MEXICO the hundreds of American Indian tribes living there The West North America Number of years in 1803 Thomas Jefferson served as president was part of Jefferson's dream of an empire of liberty He believed that the United States needed to grow Before the end of his first term Jefferson would have the opportunity to buy land from the Mississippi River all the way to the Rocky Mountains This area was called Louisiana Territory Jefferson wanted the United States to grow Jefferson wanted the West explored In the early 1800s parts of the present day United States were owned by Great Britain Spain and France Many American Indian tribes lived in the
