The Westward Expansion

The Westward Expansion began in 1803 with the Louisiana Purchase. President Thomas Jefferson wanted to make the United States a better place and to do so he believed that if people moved to the west that the nation would improve. ‘By 1840 almost 7 million Americans had migrated westward in hopes of securing land and being prosperous.’ This was the beginning of the westward expansion with the Louisiana Purchase.

The Louisiana Purchase was the bargain of the 19th century. It was the deal between the United States and France. It was what expanded the United States into double its size. Thomas Jefferson wanted control over the New Orleans’ Port, because American farmers will have great land, since New Orleans is at the mouth of the Mississippi

Jefferson finds out that Spain and France had made a treaty and Jefferson wants to talk with Napoleon. Jefferson wants to tell Napoleon that there are solutions to his problem that doesn 't involve war. French troops were arriving by the thousands, while President Jefferson was sending letters to James Madison which one was leaked and Napoleon was able to read. The letter read that if Napoleon takes over New Orleans then that the US would make an alliance with the British. Jefferson was scared of the British but he hoped that it would have an effect on Napoleon. If Jefferson was actually serious and if the US actually allied with the British, then history would have changed forever. On October 1802 Spanish again closes the ports to the Americans. The Americans get mad and assume that French are behind the embargo. The war finally ends in 1802 and France actually ends up losing at Saint-Domingue. Napoleon saw victory in months but he was wrong. The reason for France’s defeat was because Haiti used guerilla warfare, which was the first time for any country to use this type of attack in the history of modern warfare. Not only did France lose the war but they also lost liberty. Haiti was able to poison their food, their water, they would fight from trees, and they would run away and attack at night. They would attack in small groups and were very mobile. The French never experienced something like that. It was such a bloody war. “This was Napoleon 's Vietnam War” The guerrillas had a secret weapon as well so the French never really had a chance. The secret weapon; yellow fever. Napoleon 's troops were vulnerable to yellow fever, and cure was scarce. “Soldiers would die like flies.” Most of the soldiers died from disease than from the war. On September 1802 the French general writes to Napoleon that only about 4000 are still able to fight from the 30,000 thousand men that were brought in. After a few months the general dies as well. Napoleon now had 20,000 troops to