And now that peace with the Indians was secure, many settlers flocked
into the country, and in 1893 Ohio was received into the Union as
the seventeenth state.
But the most interesting and important thing which happened during
Jefferson's time of office was the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. By
this a vast territory was added to the United States.
You remember that at the Peace of Paris after the British had
conquered Canada, the French gave up to Spain all their claims to
the great tract of land beyond the Mississippi called Louisiana.
When France gave up that vast territory to Spain she was weak. But
now again she was strong - far stronger than Spain - for the great
soldier Napoleon Bonaparte had risen to power. He now looked with
longing eyes on the lost province of Louisiana, and by a secret
treaty he forced the King of Spain to give back Louisiana to France.
As soon as this treaty was made known there was great excitement
in the United States. For if France planted colonies all along the
Mississippi the Americans would be shut out from the West, they
might even be shut off from the Mississippi, and unable to use it
for trade. And to the states bordering upon it this would have been
a great misfortune. For in days when there were few roads, and no
railways, the Mississippi was the only trade route for the Western
States.
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