Early United States · 1803-1806

The Louisiana Purchase and Lewis and Clark

In 1803 the United States doubles in size by buying Louisiana from Napoleon. Lewis, Clark, Sacagawea and their companions then travel to the Pacific and back through the lands of many Native nations. Students ask what was really bought.

Teach it live New Open on the map
Length
45 minutes
Ages
11–14
On the map
3 steps, AD 1800 to AD 1804
Live lesson
7 rounds, 3 on the map
Worksheet
Two A4 pages, with Classroom
You need
A projector; phones for live

Live lesson · new in Classroom

Teach it live. The class answers on their phones.

Put the board on the projector. Students join with a six-digit code, no account needed, and tap the map: where was the frontier, where did the grain come from. Their pins drop in together when you reveal, and the closest student takes the round.

€19 per month: every lesson live, every worksheet, cancel anytime. Rome at its height runs live for free.

A live lesson on the projector: the class's pins on the map around Alexandria, the closest students listed beside it A student's phone: the question and a map to tap
7 rounds
3 places to find on the map, quiz questions, a class vote and a one-line answer.
About 15 minutes
Run it as the map step, or to open the discussion. You move on with the space bar.
A report
Every answer, per student and per round, to read back or print after the lesson.
1

Introduction

5 min

Read aloud

In 1803 the United States doubles in size by buying Louisiana from Napoleon. Lewis, Clark, Sacagawea and their companions then travel to the Pacific and back through the lands of many Native nations. Students ask what was really bought.

By the end of the lesson, students can

  • Explain why Napoleon sold Louisiana and why Jefferson bought it.
  • Trace the route of the Lewis and Clark expedition from St. Louis to the Pacific.
  • Explain why Native nations saw the "purchase" very differently.
2

Explore the map

12 min

Project the map, or let students follow on their own devices. Each step opens the map at the right year and place.

a

AD 1800

Louisiana in 1800

Open the map in 1800 and zoom out over North America. Find the huge territory called Luisiana west of the Mississippi. Compare its size with the United States.

Open this view on the map
b

AD 1804

Up the Missouri

Zoom in where the Missouri River meets the Mississippi near St. Louis. Follow the Missouri north-west on the map. Why did the expedition travel by river?

Open this view on the map
c

AD 1804

To the Pacific

Type "Where did Lewis and Clark spend the winter of 1805?" in Ask the atlas. Look at the mountains they had to cross to get there.

Open this view on the map
3

Class discussion

14 min

Pick two or three. They run from what happened to why it mattered.

  1. Jefferson first wanted only New Orleans. Why was one city at the mouth of the Mississippi so important?
  2. Napoleon sold a territory far larger than France. Why would a conqueror sell land?
  3. France "sold" land where Native nations lived. What did the United States really buy?
  4. Sacagawea travelled with her baby son. How might her presence have helped the expedition?
  5. Jefferson asked Lewis and Clark to record plants, animals, peoples and languages. Why would a president want that knowledge?
4

Game round

9 min

Play the 1803 round of Rule History as Napoleon Bonaparte: you need money for war and Louisiana is hard to defend. After the class decides, discuss what the sale meant for the United States, and for the Native nations living there.

Open Rule History
5

Worksheet

5 min

This worksheet comes with Classroom

€19 per month unlocks every worksheet, every live lesson and the class workspace. The free lesson prints without a subscription.