Question

2. What was the significance of the Louisiana Purchase for the United States

Answer 1

Louisiana Purchase, the western half of the Mississippi River basin bought by the United States from France in 1803; it was the highest land bargain in U.S. history at less than three cents per acre for 828,000 square miles The purchase doubled the size of the United States, significantly and strategically improved the government, provided a powerful catalyst for western expansion, and affirmed the theory of the Federal Constitution's implied powers.

However, close talks with Talleyrand seemed to be all but unlikely. Livingston had to be satisfied with the tantalising glimpses of a potential compromise between France and the United States for months. But even this disappeared when news of the removal of the right of deposit by the Spanish governor hit the U.S. minister. He had reasonable reasons for assuming the worst of this intelligence: that Napoleon Bonaparte might have been responsible for this unfortunate act and that his next step may be to completely close the Mississippi River to the Americans. Livingston had just one trump to play, and with a flourish, he played it. He made it clear that, after all, a rapprochement with Great Britain could better suit his country's needs, and at that precise moment the Anglo-American rapprochement was about the least of the wishes of Napoleon.

It was uncertain exactly what the United States had bought. The treaty's wording was vague; the borders were not specifically defined. It offered no guarantees that West Florida was a part of Louisiana to be considered; it did not delineate the southwest frontier either. This was well understood to the American negotiators.
But a crucial issue surrounding the constitutionality of the purchase emerged before the United States could define defined borders with Louisiana. Did the United States Constitution allow for an act of this sort? The president, a rigid constructionist in theory, felt that it would be appropriate to change the Constitution to legalise the transaction; however, after due reflection and considerable oratory, by a vote of 24 to 7, the Senate accepted the treaty.

The Rocky Mountains were known as the western border of the Louisiana Territory, and the eastern border of the great purchase was called the Mississippi River for all practical purposes. Most of the region turned out to include invaluable natural deposits, fertile soil, fragile pasture land, trees, and wildlife resources. The states of Louisiana, Missouri, Arkansas, Iowa, North Dakota , South Dakota, Nebraska, and Oklahoma were carved out of this kingdom in their entirety; moreover, much of the land in Kansas, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, and Minnesota was in the area.