The Louisiana Purchase

The new reference series, Landmark Events in U.S. History, uses both contributed essays from eminent scholars and excerpts of primary source documents with explanatory headnotes to focus on critical events in American political history and explain how it came about and why it continues to play such a vital role in the history and political evolution of the United States. The first three books in the series are Marbury versus Madison, The Louisiana Purchase, and The Declaration of Independence.''''The Louisiana Purchase combines documents and analytical essays timed for the bicentennial year 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 thePurchase''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.

Peter J. Kastor is assistant professor of history and American culture studies at Washington University in St. Louis Robert E. Bonner is assistant professor of history at Michigan State University Mark Fernandez is associate professor of history at Loyola University of New Orleans Jay Gitlin is a lecturer in history and associate coordinator of the Howard R. Lamar Center for the Study of Frontiers and Borders at Yale University Sanford Levinson is professor of government and holds the W. St. John Garwood and W. St. John Garwood Jr. Regents Chair in Law at the University of Texas Law School James E. Lewis Jr. has taught at Hollins College, Louisiana State University, Widener University, and the University of Pennsylvania Peter S. Onuf is Thomas Jefferson Foundation Professor in the Corcoran Department of History at the University of Virginia James R. Sofka is assistant dean and assistant professor in the college of arts and sciences at the University of Virginia Andrew Trees recently completed a Ph.D. at the University of Virginia and has published numerous articles on the political culture of Revolutionary America Betty Houchin Winfield, professor of journalism at the University of Missouri-Columbia