On April 30, 1803, the United States government made one of the
greatest land transactions of all time when it purchased from
the French Republic for $15 million dollars, a piece of real
estate extending from the Gulf of Mexico north to Canada, and
from the Mississippi River Basin west to the Rocky Mountains.
Called the Louisiana Purchase, this transaction added 830,000
square miles of uncharted wilderness to the territory of the
United States. The Louisiana Purchase opened the west for
settlement by Europeans and Americans and had grave implications
for American Indians, who would soon find their ancestral
homelands taken from them. It allowed for the extension of
slavery, brought an end to French and Spanish domination in
Arkansas and allowed a diversity of settlers to develop and
perpetuate their own cultures in the six distinct geographic
regions of the state. Play the games below or download the
lesson plans and activity sheets to learn more about the
Louisiana Purchase. Download these lesson plans and a