United States People Essay

Submitted By ilikedogs18
Words: 413
Pages: 2

10/7/09
Period 3
The Louisiana Purchase I believe that The Louisiana Purchase was a turning point in U.S. history because it expanded the country. America before the Louisiana Purchase was much unexplored. Most of the people in the United States were living along the east coast. After the Louisiana Purchase the United States people moved more west. America was starting to come together. Much more of the land to the west was explored. It also opened trade routes throughout America. Before the Louisiana Purchase the U.S. was much unexplored. People did not know what was past the Mississippi River. According to the 1790 Federal Census the United States was focused towards the east. The farthest inland people were settling was Kentucky. This means that the west was not populated by United States people. Also the land, plants, and animals were unknown. We did not know there were grizzly bears, the Rocky Mountains, various plants, and the Great Plains. On A. Arrowsmith’s map there was a lot of empty space in the west. The only thing that was on the map was everything from the Mississippi River to the east coast, the Rocky Mountains, and the western shoreline. On the Rocky Mountains there were paths through the middle to get across. These mysterious paths were made up. No American citizen had ever crossed over them. They just knew they were there. Life in America after the Louisiana Purchase was very different than before it. After the United States bought Louisiana people started exploring to the west. Louis and Clark were the