The Louisiana Purchase - A Historical and Geographical Encyclopedia (Electronic book text)

In 2003 the United States will celebrate the bicentennial of an event that was much more than a simple real estate transfer between the French government and the newly established American Republic. The acquisition of Louisiana territory was one of the defining moments in American history, doubling the nation's size and changing the course of American civilization and culture. This volume includes an A-to-Z of signed articles, information on the early American West and the Westward movement itself, important historical figures, important concepts, the reactions of individual states, frontier outposts, Native Americans and the benefit and costs of westward expansion.