The Louisiana Purchase combines documents and analytical essays timed for the bicentennial in 2003. This timely collection will explain: how and why the United States acquired the massive territory that more than doubled the size of the country; the profound social and political changes that came in the wake of the Purchase; its impact on such far reaching topics like the Constitution, slavery, federalism, political behavior, nation building, transportation, the media, and global affairs; how major historical figures like Thomas Jefferson, Aaron Burr, and James Madison, were influenced by the Purchase.