Part 1 of Essay
was the purchase of the French province of Louisiana by the United States in 1803. The province stretched from the Mississippi River westward to the Rocky Mountains and from the Gulf of Mexico northward to Canada, covering an area equal to that of the United States, prior to the purchase. Except for the Mississippi River ....

Part 2 of Essay
.... alert to the dangers of a powerful nation controlling the mouth of the Mississippi. He instructed the American minister to France, Robert R. Livingston, to open negotiations to buy New Orleans and some territory east of the city. A treaty would have to satisfy the financial claims that some United States citizens had against the French government. Finally the French continued to claim that the province still belonged to Spain. Jefferson sent James Monroe to help with the negotiations, and authorized him to spend n ....