The Louisiana Purchase

This CD-ROM tells the story of the greatest land deal in the Atlantic world through maps, documents and images digitized from the collections of Louisiana archives, museums, and libraries. Territorial maps, paintings and portraits, line drawings, steamboat manifests, baptismal certificates, and other documents illuminate the history of the time.

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A comprehensive resource for teachers, students, and the general browser, this easy-to-use multimedia CD-ROM tells the story of the greatest land deal in the Atlantic world through rare maps, documents, and images digitized from the rich collections of Louisiana archives, museums, and libraries. The story begins in the 1780s and ends in the 1820s, by which time a mythic transformation in US geography, collective identity, and the political landscape had occurred. More than 100 images - including territorial maps, paintings and portraits, line drawings, steamboat manifests, baptismal certificates, and other documents - illuminate the human history of the time and situate the Louisiana Purchase in the western sphere of commerce and culture. Leading scholars from the United States, Canada, and Europe introduce each image with an interpretive summary.