President Thomas Jefferson believed that for Americans to be virtuous and free, they needed farmland. He wanted to expand westward to create more farmland. Jefferson also wanted to obtain the Port of New Orleans at the mouth of the Mississippi River so farmers could easily transport their goods. He facilitated the purchase of New Orleans and the rest of the French territory from France in 1803 for $15 million. This new land was called the Louisiana Territory and stretched partway across the continent. It was the first step in expanding the United States. The purchase of the Louisiana Territory led to a pattern of westward expansion through payment, negotiations, and conflict.


Read the passage from the website: www.expandingcountries.edu/unitedstates/louisianapurchase


The Louisiana Purchase doubled the size of the United States and vastly increased its resources and riches. The roles of the president and the Constitution were also defined, as it was determined that the president could purchase the land without consulting Congress. Despite the advantages of expanding westward, one prominent disadvantage was the growing tension between slave states and free states regarding whether new states would permit slavery. The opportunity to grow a nation would endanger its very survival during the Civil War.


According to the information in both texts, how did the Louisiana purchase benefit the United States?


By securing the Mississippi River and the Port of New Orleans to open the door to westward expansion

By strengthening the nation's ally, France

By making President Jefferson happy that the United States had more farmland

By showing the growing tension between slave and free states over whether new states would permit slavery