placing herself at that door, assumes to us the attitude of defiance."

Our Purchase of Louisiana, 1803. To make matters worse, the Spanish commander at New Orleans suddenly took away our right to deposit goods at that port (1802). This meant the blocking of the Mississippi to American trade. It would also

The Cabildo, Jackson Square, New Orleans

The meeting place of the Spanish municipal authorities from 1795 to the day of transfer to French authority November 30, 1803. In the same room on the second floor, later the meeting-place of the Louisiana Supreme Court, Governor Claiborne received the keys of the city from the French governor, Laussat, December 20, 1803.

The lower floor is now used for a Municipal Court, and the upper, since 1910, has been a part of the State Museum.

mean war sooner or later; for the men of the West would not long endure this closing of their gateway to the world's markets. Jefferson saw that he must act at once, or these impatient frontiersmen would seize New Orleans and bring on a war. So the President sent James Monroe as special envoy to Paris, with instructions to purchase New Orleans, together with the strip of territory to the eastward.

Meantime, Napoleon felt obliged to give up his plans for a colonial empire. War with Great Britain was at hand, and Napoleon knew that he could not defend Louisiana against the mistress of the seas. In sore need of money for his armies, Napoleon declared that "it was best to sell when you could, what you were certain to lose." To the surprise of our envoys, he suddenly offered to sell to the United States not New Orleans alone, but the whole of the vast tract in the interior. Accordingly, in 1803 the treaty was signed by which we secured Louisiana for $15,000,000. Napoleon declared that he made

From the painting by Boqueta de Woissera in the Louisiana State Museum, showing the saw mills in the foreground, the shipping in the river, and the city, from the Marigny plantation.

the cession not so much on account of the price, as from motives of policy. "This accession of territory strengthens forever the power of the United States. I have just given to England a maritime rival that will sooner or later humble her pride.”

Jefferson was at first inclined to doubt whether the Constitution gave our government the right to purchase foreign territory and incorporate it into the Union. But he knew that the Louisiana Territory was of the utmost importance to the growth of our country, and he finally concluded that "the less said about the constitutional question, the better." Some of

the New England Federalists opposed the purchase because they thought it would lessen the future importance of their own section; but the treaty was promptly ratified by the necessary two-thirds vote of the Senate.

Results of the Louisiana Purchase. (1) This purchase more than doubled the area of the United States. It added an imperial domain of 875,000 square miles, from which thirteen states have since been formed.

(2) It made possible our westward expansion to the Pacific. (3) It encouraged immigration from Europe by opening up a vast area of cheap lands.

(4) The purchase satisfied the western settlers, for it secured the natural outlet for their commerce at New Orleans, which Spain had closed.

(5) War with France was avoided, a war almost certain to follow had the French attempted to colonize Louisiana.

Lewis and Clark Explore the Great West, 1804-1806. Even before Louisiana came into our possession, President Jefferson was planning an exploring expedition into the vast unknown country beyond the Mississippi. To penetrate the great West, with its mighty rivers and majestic mountains, its plains covered with herds of buffalo, its valleys peopled with warlike Indians, this was indeed an exploration to thrill the hearts of its leaders. So thought Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, the two young Virginians chosen to command the expedition. These pathfinders were to follow the Missouri River to its source, then cross the Rocky Mountains, and descend the nearest stream flowing to the Pacific.

Lewis and Clark started up the Missouri from a point near St. Louis in May, 1804. There were forty-five men in all, in three boats. After a difficult journey of sixteen hundred miles, the party reached the villages of the Mandan Indians, in North Dakota, where they spent the winter. In the following spring the explorers reached Great Falls, where the Missouri passes over a series of cataracts, forming thirteen miles of cascades and rapids. Hauling the boats and luggage around the falls was no easy task; but at last the expedition reached the highest source

of the Missouri. Here the boats were hidden, and the leaders prepared for the difficult journey across the mountains. Fortunately, a friendly band of Shoshone Indians was at hand, from whom Captain Lewis secured horses. Then followed weeks of hardship and hunger, while his men worked their way through the forest-clad passes of the Rockies. They finally came to one of the branches of the Snake River, where canoes were built in which the entire party soon reached and floated down the swift-flowing Columbia. On November 7, 1805, the roar of breakers was heard in the distance. The explorers had reached their goal at last. On the shore of the Pacific they built a camp, where they passed a second dreary winter.

The return journey was begun in March, 1806; and September of that year found the intrepid explorers again at St. Louis. Lewis and Clark had performed a feat without parallel in the history of exploration. They were the first white men to cross the continent within the boundaries of the United States. Their journal of the expedition gave the country its first definite knowledge about the great West. These pathfinders opened the way to the American fur trader and trapper, soon to be followed by the settler. Most important of all, their exploration of the Oregon country strengthened our title to that region, as against the claims of Great Britain and Russia.

Exploration of the Southwest, 1805-1806. Another explorer, Zebulon Pike, led an expedition to the headwaters of the Mississippi in an attempt to discover its source. The following year, Pike made a second exploration across Kansas and Colorado, and into New Mexico. In Colorado he discovered and ascended the lofty peak that bears his name. With a dozen of his hardiest followers, he then struck through the mountains and at last reached the Rio Grande. Here the little party was seized by the Spaniards and held for some time as prisoners.

The Conspiracy of Aaron Burr, 1806-1807. Following close upon these explorations, the West was the scene of another expedition led by the brilliant but unprincipled Aaron Burr. Twice Burr had failed to reach the goal of his ambition, first the presidency, and afterwards the governorship of New York. Both defeats he laid at the door of his personal enemy, Alexander Hamilton. Duelling was then a common practice; and, although Burr was Vice President of the United States, he sent a challenge to Hamilton and killed him in the encounter. This ended Burr's political career, but soon afterwards he formed a plan to conquer the Spanish possessions in the Southwest, and establish a government of which he should be the head. Jefferson believed that Burr also intended to capture New Orleans and detach the Mississippi Territory from the Union. While he was descending the Mississippi River with an armed force of one hundred men, Burr was arrested by federal officers and placed on trial for treason. He was acquitted of the charge because it could not be proven that he had actually levied war against the United States; but he was dishonored for life, and died many years later, a broken-hearted man.

War with the Barbary Pirates. To-day it seems almost beyond belief that the small Mohammedan states of northern Africa were able for many years to plunder the commerce of Christian nations. Not only did these pirates attack vessels, but they often seized the crews and passengers and held them for ransom. Instead of declaring war on the Barbary States, the maritime powers of Europe purchased peace by paying them an