The Louisiana Purchase

The Louisiana Purchase

The Louisiana Purchase
Reading Level

	edHelper's suggested reading level:	high interest, readability grades 5 to 6
	Flesch-Kincaid grade level:	5.4

Vocabulary

	challenging words:		revolt, flagpole, military, ports, treaty, looming, ruler, power, west, between, leader, independence, million, mexico, acre, lead
	content words:		Appalachian Mountains, Mississippi River, New Orleans, At New Orleans, President Thomas Jefferson, North America, United States, Louisiana Territory, President Jefferson, United States Senate

Print The Louisiana Purchase
edHelper.com subscriber options:

	Print The Louisiana Purchase (font options, pick words for additional puzzles, and more)
	Quickly print reading comprehension
	Print a proofreading activity

Feedback on The Louisiana Purchase

Leave your feedback on The Louisiana Purchase (use this link if you found an error in the story)

The Louisiana Purchase
By Cathy Pearl

¹     In 1800, many Americans were moving west. Almost one million Americans lived between the Appalachian Mountains and the Mississippi River. A lot of them were farmers. There were not many roads in this part of the country. Farmers had a hard time selling the plants and animals that came from their farms. Because of this, they used the Mississippi River to ship their goods. They would put the items on boats. Then they would send the boats down the river. The goods would go to New Orleans. At New Orleans, the goods would be put on ships and taken to other ports.

²     Spain was in charge of New Orleans until 1800. In 1800, Spain signed a treaty with France. France was then in charge of New Orleans. President Thomas Jefferson was very worried. The French ruler may stop Americans from using the port.

³     Jefferson was right to be worried. The ruler of France wanted to use the port for his own country. He also hoped to start his own empire in North America. Part of the plans included Haiti. Unfortunately for the leader in France, the slaves in Haiti decided to revolt. The slaves managed to drive France out of the country. Haiti then declared its independence.

Paragraphs 4 to 10:
For the complete story with questions: click here for printable

Copyright © 2008 edHelper