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Grade 4 Social Studies · World 5: A Young Nation Grows · Level 39
The Louisiana Purchase
Explain the 1803 deal with France, how it doubled the country, and that nations already lived there.
Warm-up, learn, try it together, practice, then a quick check. About 15 minutes.
What children learn in Level 39
- In 1801, farmers west of the Appalachians sent their crops down the Mississippi River to New Orleans. If anyone shut that port, their trade would stop. Then France took control of it.
- President Thomas Jefferson sent people to Paris to buy New Orleans. To their surprise, France offered to sell all of Louisiana.
- Why? France's ruler, Napoleon, needed money for war. He'd also lost Haiti, where enslaved people had risen up and won their freedom. His dream of an American empire was over.
- In 1803, the United States paid about 15 million dollars. The country about doubled in size, all the way to the Rocky Mountains.
- Remember who already lived there. Many American Indian nations called this land home. The United States bought France's claim, but those nations never agreed to it.
Georgia Standards of Excellence in Social Studies:
- SS4H3.c — Describe territorial expansion with emphasis on the Louisiana Purchase, the Lewis and Clark expedition, and the acquisitions of Texas (the Alamo and independence), Oregon (Oregon Trail), and California (Gold Rush and the development of mining towns).
- MGS.10 — Map and Globe Skill 10: compare maps of the same place at different points in time and from different perspectives to determine changes, identify trends, and generalize about human activities (introduced in Grade 4)