The History and Impact of The Louisiana Purchase

The Louisiana Purchase was a deal between America and France that included 530 million acres of land sold for 15 million dollars. America bought this land from France during 1803 while under the presidency of Thomas Jefferson. While researching, I found two credible resources on the topic. One, an online article titled “Louisiana Purchase, 1803” from a website called “Office of the Historian”. The other was a journal entry I found in the JSTOR database, called “Party Politics during the Louisiana Purchase”. After reviewing both writings, I have come to the realization that there are multiple similarities and differences between the two when it came to discussing the topic of The Louisiana Purchase.

The online article “Louisiana Purchase, 1803” posted on the website “Office of the Historian”, is a short article that gets straight to the point of how the purchase came to be. It, first, briefly describes what the purchase was by stating, “The Louisiana Purchase encompassed 530,000,000 acres of territory in North America that the United States purchased from France in 1803 for $15 million.” (Louisiana Purchase, 1803, n.d). The article then goes into detail about the history of the land before the purchase and why the United States felt the need to make a deal with France in order to inhabit that territory. The writing further begins to explain the participants involved in the deal, the way it was exchanged, and why France decided to agree to the purchase.

In the online journal entry titled “Party Politics during the Louisiana Purchase” written by Sean M. Theriault, the author begins with the history and details of the purchase but then proceeds to discuss the deal from a social science prospective. First, the author introduces the topic of the Louisiana Purchase by describing the contents of the purchase and what was included. He then continues the article by discussing specific incidents related to the federal government that took place during the purchase, immediately following, and even years after the purchase was settled. The author states, “The Louisiana Purchase provides fertile ground or analyzing the transition from a colonial government to a modern-day democracy.” (Theriault 294-295). By saying this, the author is inferring that the Louisiana Purchase was a turning point in our nation’s government.

After reviewing both sources carefully, it has come to my attention that even though the two articles relate to the topic in two very different ways, they share some similarities. In both articles, the history of the Louisiana Purchase is covered. One, discusses how it became, while the other discusses what was included in the deal between the United States and France. Either way, both entries contain, almost entirely, of historical facts. Whether it be about the purchase, the participants involved, or the history following the purchase. Lastly, both articles touch on the topic of federal government and its role in the Louisiana Purchase.

While there are few similarities between the website article and the journal entry, they differ in more ways than one. For starters, the website article consisted of one page, while the journal entry, being more detailed, caps out at 32 pages. In the website article, “Louisiana Purchase, 1803”, only the topic of how the purchase came to be and how it occurred is portrayed. On the other hand, the journal entry “Party Politics during the Louisiana Purchase” by Sean M. Theriault, discusses deeper meaning into the purchase with topics such as federal government, social sciences, and history of our government following the purchase. While both writings portray the historical event very well, one dives into more detail than the other with deeper meaning and more critical thinking.

After researching articles and journal entries related to the topic of the Louisiana Purchase, I found two plausible sources. One, was an online article called “Louisiana Purchase, 1803” from the website “Office of the Historian”. The other was a journal entry I found from the JSTOR database, titled “Party Politics during the Louisiana Purchase” written by Sean M. Theriault. I found few similarities and many differences after carefully reviewing both writings. I believe that the online article “Louisiana Purchase, 1803” does a better job at describing how the event went down and the participants involved, while the journal entry “Party Politics during the Louisiana Purchase” exudes more critical thinking when discussing the social science perspective on the historical event.