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January 1803

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Oppression
Louisiana Purchase Opens Mississippi Valley to Slavery

The 1803 Louisiana Purchase, celebrated as expansion of American freedom, was simultaneously the expansion of American slavery. President Jefferson and Congress debated slavery's extension into the territory. The purchase ultimately provided the geographic space for slavery to spread west of the Mississippi, creating the sugar parishes of Louisiana and the cotton kingdom of Mississippi, Arkansas, and Missouri over the following decades.

Events

  1. 1803
    Louisiana Purchase Opens Mississippi Valley to Slavery

    The 1803 Louisiana Purchase, celebrated as expansion of American freedom, was simultaneously the expansion of American slavery. President Jefferson and Congress debated slavery's extension into the territory. The purchase ultimately provided the geographic space for slavery to spread west of the Mississippi, creating the sugar parishes of Louisiana and the cotton kingdom of Mississippi, Arkansas, and Missouri over the following decades.

  2. 1803
    Louisiana Purchase Opens Mississippi Valley to Slavery

    The 1803 Louisiana Purchase provided geographic space for slavery's westward expansion. It created the sugar parishes of Louisiana and eventually the cotton kingdom of Mississippi, Arkansas, and Missouri. The purchase extended what Jefferson called the 'empire of liberty' — and of slavery.