Why Was Thomas Jefferson Important

As a member of the founding fathers, Thomas Jefferson, also the third president, is an important figure in the United States. We’ll be looking more in depth at Thomas Jefferson and more over the importance of the decisions he made. These decisions Thomas Jefferson made were important to the growth of the United States that helped make this nation stronger. The reason why many people would remember the third president, Thomas Jefferson, is because of the Louisiana purchase and the expedition he had to arrange because of this purchase, but this expedition played an important role.

Thomas Jefferson is one of many people who are important figures in the history of the United States. Born in the Virginia colony into a wealthy family on April 13,

The Louisiana purchase happened when Thomas Jefferson was interested in New Orleans, which belonged to France at that time. New Orleans was a major seaport that was helpful to many American businesses and was helpful for trading. Louisiana was a huge piece of land that contained 828,000 square miles. France had owned this land up until the French and Indian War, when France had to give up this land to Spain and the rest of it’s remaining lands to Great Britain. When Spain ruled over the Louisiana territory, it did not affect the United States, however in 1799, Napoleon Bonaparte took power over France. In 1802, Spain had returned back the Louisiana territory to France, which stopped America's access to the port. In 1803, Thomas Jefferson had sent the United States Minister Robert Livingston to try and buy the land from French Emperor Napoleon, who refused as he wished to create a huge empire that would include the Americas. Emperor Napoleon would soon run into money problems when he decided to offer the entire Louisiana territory for $15 million. This purchase of land would double the growing country, but many leaders of the United States opposed this idea of buying the Louisiana territory. Congress held a meeting to choose whether the purchase of the Louisiana territory would happen or it would be canceled. The Louisiana purchase was almost denied with the vote being 59-57. The Louisiana

Thomas Jefferson would put Meriwether Lewis in charge of the expedition. Meriwether Lewis was born in Virginia in 1774. When he was much older, he would join the state militia, but at the age of 27 Meriwether Lewis would become the personal secretary for the third president, Thomas Jefferson. Meirwether Lewis would choose William Clark as his co-leader. William Clark was also born in Virginia in 1774 and he would also join the state militia where he would meet Meriwether Lewis. During 1803-1804, Clark was in charge of recruiting members for the expedition. The expedition party contained around 45 people including an French-Indian interpreter and his pregnant wife, Sacagawea a Native American who belonged to the Shoshone tribe. Having someone who can translate was helpful because the expedition party met 50 rides, which included the Shoshone, the Mandam, the Minitari, the Blackfeet, the Chinook, and the Sioux. The expedition would first start at the Mississippi River where they would explore the land that was made up of the Louisiana before they had made it to the Pacific Ocean where they stayed for a bit before returning all the way back. The expedition was successful because the 8,000-mile journey provided new information about uncharted areas of North America.The new information helped produce new maps about the territory and new info. about “newly identified”