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The Louisiana Purchase

Lesson Plan & Activities: 1800-1849: The Louisiana Purchase - Grade Level [4-12]

For centuries before 1800, Native tribal groups had inhabited the land of the Great Plains and the West. In that sense, they "owned" it. Between 1650 and 1800, a series of European governments — Spain, Britain, France and Russia — all sent explorers into parts of the West and "claimed" to own the land.

But in 1802, ownership of a large part of the West changed, and changed fundamentally. ... Read more