Week three Reflection Journal
This week while reading the material, my interest focused in on the story of Jefferson acquiring the state of Louisiana. It is considered one of the most significant events in history in that Jefferson believed that the United States should grow in size. The Louisiana Purchase doubled the size of the country adding either all or part of thirteen to seventeen states from Louisiana to North Dakota (USA Today). Jefferson served under his rival, John Adams, who took office as president after George Washington, and become the nation’s third president in 1800. On the other hand we have Napoleon Bonaparte, who rose to power through serving in the French military. Napoleon rose to power during the French Revolution, to which he acquired a rank of general from the battlefield at age twenty four. …show more content…
He appealed to the people of France by encouraging and energizing the luxury goods industry that was so vital to the French economy. After Napoleon secured his position and power, he chose to sell the Louisiana territory to fund the war against England. However, this was done through negotiations from James Monroe and Robert Livingston, who was commissioned to secure the purchase of Louisiana. Around January of 1803, after receiving word that Napoleon’s was with Great Britain was on the verge of defeat, Napoleon claimed that the entire colony of Louisiana as lost thus forwarding the selling of Louisiana through the French Treasury Minister Francois Marquis de Barbe Marbois and the American representatives (USA Today). The negotiations led to the agreement to sell the land of Louisiana for fifteen million dollars for over eight hundred twenty seven thousand square miles of land, which equates to about three cents per acre. How would we all like to be able to have inherited that land at that price? There was an official ceremony that commemorated the transfer of power from France to America and was held at the Cabildo in New