The 50 States:Nebraska- TeachersFirst Show Bird and Flower Geography and Landforms: Nebraska is bordered by South Dakota on the north and by Colorado and Kansas on the south. On the east, Nebraska is bordered by Iowa and Missouri, and on the west, by Colorado and Wyoming. Major Nebraska rivers include the Missouri, the Niobrara, and the Platte. Nebraska is located in the center of the continental United States, and is a land of plains, including the Dissected Till Plains, which cover the eastern fifth of the state, and the Great Plains which lie to the west of the state. The Dissected Till Plains consist of rolling hills and streams and rivers. This area is predominantly farm country. The Great Plains can be rough and hilly, but the southeastern section which includes lakes and wetlands, is also farm land. North of the Platte River in central Nebraska lies the largest area of sand dunes in North America, and is referred to as the Sand Hills. Finally, the northwestern portion of the state includes the High Plains, which rises to over a mile above sea level near the Wyoming border.

The far northwestern corner of Nebraska includes a small area of Badlands where wind and water have shaped the sandstone and clay into strange natural formations. Toadstool Park, part of the Ogallala National Grasslands, is part of this area. History: In 1541, Spanish explorer Francisco Vasquez de Coronado led an expedition across the US Southwest and claimed the entire territory for Spain, although no Spanish settlements were ever established in Nebraska. In 1682, French explorer Rene Robert Cavalier, Sieur de La Salle traveled the Mississippi River, and claimed all the land drained by the Mississippi and its tributaries for France. This area, which he named "Louisiana" in honor of King Louis XIV, included what is now Nebraska. In 1714, French explorer Etienne Veniard de Bourgmont traveled the Mississippi River and explored the mouth of the Platte River in Nebraska. At this point, both Spain and France had "claimed" the region of Nebraska, and in 1720, a group of 45 Spanish soldiers, led by Pedro de Villasur, marched into Nebraska hoping to drive out the French.

However, the Pawnee Indians attacked and killed most of the expedition in a battle near the Platte River. In 1739, two more French explorers, Pierre and Paul Mallet, traveled from Illinois to Santa Fe, New Mexico, named the Platte River and explored nearly the entire length of what is now Nebraska, solidifying the French claim to the area. The end of the Seven Years' War in Europe and in the American colonies meant that France had to give up its claims to land east of the Mississippi River to England, and its claims to lands west of the Mississippi to Spain, but French fur traders continued to live and trade in Nebraska. By 1800, French ruler Napoleon Bonaparte forced Spain to return the entire area of the Louisiana Territory to France, but then sold the area to the United States in 1803. Western Nebraska was acquired by treaty following the Mexican War in 1848. Lewis and Clark explored eastern Nebraska in the years between 1804 and 1806 as part of their travels throughout the entire Louisiana Purchase. In 1812 and 1813, Robert Stuart established the Oregon Trail, including the portion across Nebraska.

In 1823, a fur trader named Manuel Lisa began the first permanent white settlement at Bellevue for use as a trading post. The Platte Valley served as a natural highway for pioneers moving west along the Oregon Trail, the California Trail, and the Mormon Trail. Nebraska settlers made money supplying the wagon trains that passed through the area. Steam boat traffic along the Missouri River brought business up into the area, particularly to river ports like Omaha and Brownville. Nebraska became a US territory after the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act in 1854. At that time, the territory extended from latitude 40'''?N to the Canadian border, but was reduced to its present-day size by the creation of the territories of Dakota and Colorado. Congress passed legislation allowing statehood for Nebraska in 1864, but because the original state constitution did not permit blacks to vote, statehood was not conferred until 1867. The Union Pacific began its transcontinental railroad at Omaha in 1865, and in the next few years, the land boom in Nebraska became a rush.

The Homestead Act of 1862 gave settlers free land in exchange for the promise to live and develop the land, and eastern Nebraska's population went from 29,000 to 123,000 in ten years. In 1859, the Pawnee Indians had been defeated, and in 1880, war with the Sioux ended most Native American resistance to settlement. With the railroads, "cow towns" such as Ogallala and Schuyler became shipping points on overland cattle trails. Buffalo Bill's Wild West Shows began in Nebraska in 1882. In 1937, Nebraska became the only state in the Union to have a unicameral (one-house) legislature. Members are elected to it without party designation. Economy: Nebraska's economy is dominated by agriculture. The chief farm products are cattle, corn, hogs, soybeans, and wheat. Nebraska is second in the US in its cattle production. The largest industry in the state, food processing, is also related to its agricultural roots. More varieties of grass grow in Nebraska than in any other state, and this resource is valuable for livestock forage.

The cities of Dakota City and Lexington are among the largest meat-packing centers in the U.S. However, since World War II, manufacturing has increased in the state, and electrical machinery, metals, and transportation equipment are important industries. Oil was discovered in Cheyenne in 1949, and this also contributes to the state's economy. First Inhabitants: The earliest inhabitants of the land we now call Nebraska were nomadic hunters who lived on the land between 10,000 and 25,000 years ago. Archaeologists have found stone tools and weapons that these people used. Throughout history, the climate in Nebraska varied between long periods of drought and times of plentiful moisture. We know that at one time, the area was covered by an inland sea and had a tropical climate. Later, glaciers covered the land. This constant change meant that people came and went from the area. This created a diverse mixture of Indian languages and cultures. The Pawnee and their northern neighbors, the Arikaras lived in the area the longest. These people migrated northward about 500 years ago and established villages along the rivers in Nebraska. The Pawnees hunted buffalo and grew beans, corn and squash.

By the eighteenth century, other tribal groups, including the Omaha, Ponca and Oto people, migrated to the area and set up villages in the eastern part of the state along the Missouri River. Other groups, including the Lakota (Sioux), Arapaho and Cheyenne, came from forested areas north and east of the Missouri River. By 1800, there may have been 40,000 native people living in Nebraska. Spanish explorers brought horses to the Plains, and horses changed Native American culture forever. The Pawnees and Omahas began to use horses on their bison hunts and nomadic cultures like the Lakota began to center around horses and became completely dependent on bison for food, clothing, tools and other items. A second influence that changed Indian culture was the beginning of the fur trade in the eighteenth century. The Indians traded extensively with Europeans and began to use European guns, drink alcohol, and wear European clothing. Along with these trade items, the Europeans also brought diseases like measles and smallpox, and epidemics devastated the Indian population. Despite these changes, traditional Indian culture continued in Nebraska until the 1830s.

As white settlers moved into the area at that time, the US government began to negotiate with tribes for land grants. In the 1850s, Nebraska became a territory and the land was made available to settlers for ownership, despite the fact that the land had not actually been legally acquired from the Indians. Books Related To Nebraska Nebraska Map, Map of Nebraska, NE Map Disclaimer Close Disclaimer : All efforts have been made to make this image accurate. However Compare Infobase Limited, its directors and employees do not own any responsibility for the correctness or authenticity of the same. About Nebraska Map : The above map of Nebraska shows Iowa, South Dakota, Wyoming, Colorado, Kansas, and Missouri surrounding this landlocked state in the US. The map of the 16th largest US state depicts state highways, interstate highways, and US Federal highways . It also shows airports, railway network, national parks, lakes, and rivers. Lincoln, the capital city shown on the map, is home to unique museums worth exploring. Apart form the largest city, Omaha, other important towns such as Bellevue and Grand Island are also depicted on the map. This Nebraska map helps you explore popular tourist attractions and many historic trails in the state.

About Nebraska The state of Nebraska is located in both the Great Plains region and the Midwestern region of the United States. Nicknamed the “Cornhusker State,” it is the 16th largest state in the US. Omaha is the largest city and state capital is Lincoln. The state is divided into 93 counties. History of Nebraska Several indigenous tribes such as Omaha, Missouria, Ponca, Pawnee, and Otoe inhabited the region for thousands of years before the first European contact in the late 17th century. Over the next decades, Spanish and French explorers established trade relations with the Apaches. The territory was claimed by both France and Spain and was a part of the Louisiana territory. In 1762, under the Treaty of Fontainebleau after the Seven Years' War, France ceded the region to Spain. Following the purchase of Louisiana by the United States in 1803, Nebraska came under the its rule. The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 created Nebraska Territory, but the territory received its present shape only in 1861. During the American Civil War, the territory raised 3,000 men for the Union Army.

In March 1867, Nebraska was admitted as the 37th state of the US. Geography of Nebraska The state borders South Dakota to the north, Iowa to the east, Missouri to the southeast, Kansas to the south, Colorado to the southwest, and Wyoming to the west. It covers a total area of more than 77,220 square miles. Nebraska has two prominent land regions: Great Plains to its west and Dissected Till Plains to its east. Western Nebraska consists of diverse topography with regions like the Sand Hills, the Pine Ridge, and the Wildcat Hills. The significant rivers of the state are the Platte, Niobrara, and the Republican rivers. Nebraska experiences two different kinds of climate. The eastern part has a humid continental climate and the western part has a semi-arid climate. The summers are hot and winters are fairly cold across the state. It is also prone to thunderstorms. The Chinook winds also influence the climate of Nebraska. Panorama Point near the Colorado border, at an elevation of 1,655 meters, is the highest natural point in Nebraska.

Travel Destinations in Nebraska Known as a state of benevolent people, Nebraska holds many natural and historical attractions up its sleeve. Often ranked as the world's best zoo, Henry Doorly Zoo & Aquarium houses up to 17,000 animals belonging to 962 species. It features the world's largest indoor rainforest & desert ecosystem as well as the largest cat complex in North America. Cobblestone streets and renovated 19th-century buildings in Old Market in Omaha allow a glimpse into life of pioneers. The dramatic spire of Chimney Rock National Historic Site beckons thousands of tourists every year. Hiking trails in Scotts Bluff National Monument offer breathtaking views of the surrounding countryside. The Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum, Great Platte River Road Archway Monument, Sunken Gardens, Rock Island Railroad Depot Museum, and Ashfall Fossil Beds are prominent tourist attractions in Nebraska. Most Viewed Nebraska Maps Transportation in Nebraska Eppley International Airport (OMA) is the busiest airport in Nebraska. Amtrak stations in Omaha, Lincoln, Holdrege, Hastings, and McCook are served daily by the California Zephyr train.

The 480-mile-long I-80 is the primary east-west interstate highway in Nebraska. US 30, US 20, and US 2 are other notable routes. Education in Nebraska The Nebraska State College System comprises three public colleges: Wayne State College, Peru State College, and Chadron State College. University of Nebraska is the state's flagship public university and has four campuses. Bellevue University, Clarkson College, and Concordia University are some of the private colleges in Nebraska. Facts about Nebraska It is the only US state that is nonpartisan and has only one house. Nebraska has more miles of river and more underground water reserves than any other state in the US. Map of Cities in Nebraska Milestones: 1801–1829 - Office of the Historian Milestones: 1801–1829 Louisiana Purchase, 1803 The Louisiana Purchase encompassed 530,000,000 acres of territory in North America that the United States purchased from France in 1803 for $15 million.

The Louisiana Purchase As the United States spread across the Appalachians, the Mississippi River became an increasingly important conduit for the produce of America’s West (which at that time referred to the land between the Appalachians and the Mississippi). Since 1762, Spain had owned the territory of Louisiana, which included 828,000 square miles. The territory made up all or part of fifteen modern U.S. states between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains. The Pinckney treaty of 1795 had resolved friction between Spain and the United States over the right to navigate the Mississippi and the right for Americans to transfer their goods to ocean-going vessels at New Orleans. With the Pinckney treaty in place and the weak Spanish empire in control of Louisiana, American statesmen felt comfortable that the United States’ westward expansion would not be restricted in the future. This situation was threatened by Napoleon Bonaparte’s plans to revive the French empire in the New World. He planned to recapture the valuable sugar colony of St. Domingue from a slave rebellion, and then use Louisiana as the granary for his empire.

France acquired Louisiana from Spain in 1800 and took possession in 1802, sending a large French army to St. Domingue and preparing to send another to New Orleans. Westerners became very apprehensive about having the more-powerful French in control of New Orleans: President Thomas Jefferson noted , “There is on the globe one single spot, the possessor of which is our natural and habitual enemy. It is New Orleans.” James Monroe In addition to making military preparations for a conflict in the Mississippi Valley, Jefferson sent James Monroe to join Robert Livingston in France to try to purchase New Orleans and West Florida for as much as $10 million. Failing that, they were to attempt to create a military alliance with England. Meanwhile, the French Army in St. Domingue was being decimated by yellow fever, and war between France and England still threatened. Napoleon decided to give up his plans for Louisiana, and offered a surprised Monroe and Livingston the entire territory of Louisiana for $15 million. Although this far exceeded their instructions from President Jefferson, they agreed. When news of the sale reached the United States, the West was elated. President Jefferson, however, was in a quandary.

He had always advocated strict adherence to the letter of the Constitution, yet there was no provision empowering him to purchase territory. Given the public support for the purchase and the obvious value of Louisiana to the future growth of the United States, however, Jefferson decided to ignore the legalistic interpretation of the Constitution and forgo the passage of a Constitutional amendment to validate the purchase. This decision contributed to the principle of implied powers of the federal government. State of Nebraska | Article about State of Nebraska by The Free Dictionary State of Nebraska | Article about State of Nebraska by The Free Dictionary Also found in: Dictionary , Thesaurus , Wikipedia . Nebraska (nəbrăs`kə), Great Plains state of the central United States. It is bordered by Iowa and Missouri, across the Missouri River (E), Kansas (S), Colorado (SW), Wyoming (NW), and South Dakota (N). Facts and Figures Area, 77,227 sq mi (200,018 sq km). Pop. (2010) 1,826,341, a 6.7% increase since the 2000 census. Capital, Lincoln. Largest city, Omaha. Statehood, Mar.

1, 1867 (37th state). Highest pt., 5,426 ft (1,655 m), Kimball Co.; lowest pt., 840 ft (256 m), SE corner of state. Nickname, Cornhusker State. Motto, Equality before the Law. State bird, Western meadowlark. State flower, goldenrod. State tree, cottonwood. Abbr., Nebr.; NE Geography Nebraska is roughly rectangular, except in the northeast and the east where the border is formed by the irregular course of the Missouri River and in the southwest where the state of Colorado cuts out a squared corner. The land rises more or less gradually from 840 ft (256 m) in the east to 5,300 ft (1,615 m) in the west. The great but shallow Platte River, formed in W Nebraska by the junction of the North Platte and the South Platte, flows across the state from west to east to join the Missouri S of Omaha. The Platte and the Missouri, together with their tributaries, give Nebraska all-important water sources that are essential to farming in this agrarian state.

Underground water sources are also widely used for irrigation. The river valleys have long provided routes westward, and today the transcontinental railroads and highways follow the valleys. From the Missouri westward over about half the state stretch undulating farm lands, where the fertile silt is underlaid by deep loess soil. Nebraska's population is concentrated there; many are farmers who produce grains for the consumer market or for feeding hogs and dairy cattle. In this region also lie Nebraska's two major cities— Lincoln Lincoln. 1 City (1990 pop. 15,418), seat of Logan co., central Ill., in a farm area; inc. 1865. It is a shipping and industrial center in an agricultural area with light manufacturing. ..... Click the link for more information. , the capital and an important insurance center, and Omaha Omaha , city (1990 pop. 335,795), seat of Douglas co., E Nebr., on the west bank of the Missouri River; inc. 1857. The largest city in the state, it is a busy port of entry and a major transportation center. ..... Click the link for more information.

, the state's largest city and an important meat and grain distribution center—as well as many of the state's larger towns. To the west and northwest the Sand Hills of Nebraska fan out, their wind-eroded contours now more or less stabilized by grass coverage. Cattle graze on the slopes and tablelands, protected in the severe winters by the sand bluffs and the valleys. The climate is severely continental throughout Nebraska; a low of −40&degF; (−40&degC;) in the winter is not unusual, and during the short intense summers temperatures may easily reach 110&degF; (43&degC;). Rainfall is almost twice as heavy in the east as in the west. Yet in the west along the river valleys the mixture of silt and sand is watered enough to yield abundantly to cultivation, even under semiarid conditions. In the far west the land rises to the foothills of the Rocky Mts. and displays spectacular bedrock foundations. Hundreds of fresh and alkali lakes in the state attract sportsmen and campers. The pioneers' migration west over the Oregon Trail is commemorated by the Scotts Bluff National Monument and the Chimney Rock National Historic Site.

Other points of interest to the traveler include Father Flanagan's Boys Town, near Omaha; the Fort Niobrara National Wildlife Refuge, near Valentine; and the Homestead National Monument, near Beatrice. Economy Agriculture is Nebraska's dominant occupational pursuit. The state's chief farm products are cattle, corn, hogs, soybeans, and wheat. Nebraska ranked second among the states in cattle production in 1997. Wheat farming flourishes on the southwest plateaus, while irrigation along the Platte and its tributaries has increased the sugar-beet crop. The Univ. of Nebraska maintains agricultural experiment stations throughout the state. A program of soil conservation includes a shelter belt running across the state to check the effect of wind erosion, and dryland-farming techniques have been encouraged. Forest conservation is stressed, and the state (the birthplace of Arbor Day) has been very active in planting forests. Nebraska's largest industry is food processing, notably including beef production. The state has diversified its industries since World War II, and the manufacture of electrical machinery, primary metals, and transportation equipment is also important. Deposits of oil (discovered in Cheyenne co.

in 1949–50) contribute to the state's economy. Omaha and Lincoln are centers for insurance and telecommunications industries, and Offutt Air Force Base, near Omaha, was the cold-war center of the Strategic Air Command Strategic Air Command (SAC), former command of the U.S. air force (see Air Force, United States Department of the) charged with organizing, training, equipping, administering, and preparing strategic air forces for combat; it was headquartered at Offutt Air Force Base. ..... Click the link for more information. . Government and Higher Education Nebraska's constitution was adopted in 1875. It was amended in 1982 to ensure that rangeland and farmland could be sold only to a Nebraska family-farm corporation. The executive branch is headed by a governor elected for a four-year term. By constitutional amendment in 1934 the legislature was made unicameral (it is unique in the United States), with 49 members elected on a nonpartisan basis for terms of four years. The state elects three representatives and two senators to the U.S. Congress and has five electoral votes in presidential elections. In 1986, Nebraska's Kay A.

Orr became the first Republican woman to be elected governor of a state. E. Benjamin Nelson, a Democrat elected governor in 1990 and 1994, was succeeded by Mike Johanns, a Republican elected in 1998 and 2002. Johanns resigned in 2005 to become U.S. secretary of education, and was succeeded by fellow Republican Dave Heineman, who won election to the governorship in 2006 and reelection in 2010. Pete Ricketts, a Republican, won in 2014. The state's leading institution of higher education is the Univ. of Nebraska, at Lincoln, Omaha, and Kearney. Creighton Univ. is at Omaha. History Hunters, Explorers, and Fur Traders Nebraska's soil has been farmed since prehistoric times, but the Native Americans of the plains—notably the Pawnee Pawnee , Native North Americans whose language belongs to the Caddoan branch of the Hokan-Siouan linguistic stock (see Native American languages).

At one time the Pawnee lived in what is now Texas, but by 1541, when Coronado visited Quivira, they seem to have been settled in the ..... Click the link for more information. —devoted themselves more to hunting the buffalo than to farming, since buffalo, as well as the pronghorn antelope and smaller animals, were then abundant in the area. The Spanish explorer Francisco Vásquez de Coronado and his men were the first Europeans to visit the region. They probably passed through Nebraska in 1541. The French also came and in the 18th cent. engaged in fur trading, but development began only after the area passed from France to the United States in the Louisiana Purchase Louisiana Purchase, 1803, American acquisition from France of the formerly Spanish region of Louisiana. Reasons for the Purchase The revelation in 1801 of the secret agreement of 1800, whereby Spain retroceded Louisiana to France, aroused uneasiness in the United ..... Click the link for more information. of 1803. The Lewis and Clark expedition Lewis and Clark expedition, 1803–6, U.S.

expedition that explored the territory of the Louisiana Purchase and the country beyond as far as the Pacific Ocean. Purpose ..... Click the link for more information. (1804) and the explorations of Zebulon M. Pike (1806) increased knowledge of the country, but the activities of the fur traders were more immediately valuable in terms of settlement. Manuel Lisa, a fur trader, probably established the first trading post in the Nebraska area in 1813. Bellevue, the first permanent settlement in Nebraska, first developed as a trading post. Steamboats and Wagon Trains Steamboating on the Missouri River, initiated in 1819, brought business to the river ports of Omaha and Brownville. The natural highway formed by the Platte valley was used extensively by pioneers going west over the Oregon Trail and also the California Trail and the Mormon Trail. Nebraska settlers made money supplying the wagon trains with fresh mounts and pack animals as well as food. Nebraska became a territory after passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act Kansas-Nebraska Act, bill that became law on May 30, 1854, by which the U.S. Congress established the territories of Kansas and Nebraska.

By 1854 the organization of the vast Platte and Kansas river countries W of Iowa and Missouri was overdue. ..... Click the link for more information. in 1854. The territory, which initially extended from lat. 40°N to the Canadian border, was firmly Northern and Republican in sympathy during the Civil War. In 1863 the territory was reduced to its present-day size by the creation of the territories of Dakota and Colorado. Congress passed an enabling act for statehood in 1864, but the original provision in the state constitution limiting the franchise to whites delayed statehood until 1867. Railroads, Ranches, and the Growth of Populism In 1867 the Union Pacific RR was built across the state, and the land boom, already vigorous, became a rush. Farmers settled on free land obtained under the Homestead Act Homestead Act, 1862, passed by the U.S. Congress.

It provided for the transfer of 160 acres (65 hectares) of unoccupied public land to each homesteader on payment of a nominal fee after five years of residence; land could also be acquired after six months of residence at $1. ..... Click the link for more information. of 1862, and E Nebraska took on a settled look. The population rose from 28,841 in 1860 to 122,993 in 1870. The Pawnee were defeated in 1859, and by 1880 war with the Sioux and other Native American resistance was over. With the coming of the railroads, cow towns, such as Ogallala and Schuyler, were built up as shipping points on overland cattle trails. Buffalo Bill's Wild West Shows opened in Nebraska in 1882. Farmers had long been staking out homestead claims across the Sand Hills to the high plains, but ranches also prospered in the state. The ranchers, trying to preserve the open range, ruthlessly opposed the encroachment of the farmers, but the persistent farmers won.

Many conservationists believe that much of the land that was plowed under should have been left with grass cover to prevent erosion in later dust storms. Nature was seldom kind to the people of Nebraska. Ranching was especially hard hit by the ruinous cold of the winter of 1880–81, and farmers were plagued by insect hordes from 1856 to 1875, by prairie fires, and by the recurrent droughts of the 1890s. Many farmers joined the Granger movement Granger movement, American agrarian movement taking its name from the National Grange of the Patrons of Husbandry, an organization founded in 1867 by Oliver H. Kelley and six associates. Its local units were called granges and its members grangers. ..... Click the link for more information. in the lean 1870s and the Farmers' Alliances of the 1880s.

In the 1890s many beleaguered farmers, faced with ruin and angry at the monopolistic practices of the railroads and the financiers, formed marketing and stock cooperatives and showed their discontent by joining the Populist party Populist party, in U.S. history, political party formed primarily to express the agrarian protest of the late 19th cent. In some states the party was known as the People's party. ..... Click the link for more information. . The first national convention of the Populist party was held at Omaha in 1892, and Nebraska's most famous son, William Jennings Bryan, headed the Populist and Democratic tickets in the presidential election of 1896. Populists held the governorship of the state from 1895 to 1901. Twentieth-Century Changes Improved conditions in the early 1900s caused Populism to decline in the state, and the return of prosperous days was marked by progressive legislation, the building of highways, and conservation measures. The flush of prosperity, largely caused by the demand for foodstuffs during World War I, was almost feverish.

Overexpansion of credits and overconfidence made the depression of the 1920s and 30s all the more disastrous (see Great Depression Great Depression, in U.S. history, the severe economic crisis generally considered to have been precipitated by the U.S. stock-market crash of 1929. Although it shared the basic characteristics of other such crises (see depression), the Great Depression was unprecedented in its ..... Click the link for more information. ). Many farmers were left destitute, and many others were able to survive only because of the moratorium on farm debts in 1932. They received federal aid in the desperate years of drought in the 1930s. Better weather and the huge food demands of World War II renewed prosperity in Nebraska. After the war, efforts continued to make the best use of the water supply, notably in such federal plans as the Missouri River basin project Missouri River basin project, comprehensive plan authorized in 1944 for the coordinated development of water resources of the Missouri River and its tributaries, draining an area of c. ..... Click the link for more information. , a vast dam and water-diversion scheme.

Recent attempts to diversify Nebraska's economic base to reduce dependence on meat processing and agriculture have made Lincoln, where state government and the Univ. of Nebraska generate many jobs, a business center, along with Omaha. Among noted Nebraskans have been the pioneer and historian Julius Sterling Morton, who originated Arbor Day, and authors Willa Cather, Mari Sandoz, John G. Neihardt, Loren Eisley, and Wright Morris, all of whom have vividly described the state. Bibliography See J. C. Olson, History of Nebraska (2d ed. 1966, repr. 1974); M. P. Lawson and R. E. Lonsdale, Economic Atlas of Nebraska (1977); D. W. Creigh, Nebraska: A History (1977); Nebraska (1985), "Geographies of the United States" series.

Nebraska State Information Louisiana Purchase concluded - Apr 30, 1803 - HISTORY.com Louisiana Purchase concluded Publisher A+E Networks On April 30, 1803, representatives of the United States and Napoleonic France conclude negotiations for the Louisiana Purchase, a massive land sale that doubles the size of the young American republic. What was known as Louisiana Territory comprised most of modern-day United States between the Mississippi and the Rocky Mountains, with the exceptions of Texas, parts of New Mexico, and other pockets of land already controlled by the United States. A formal treaty for the Louisiana Purchase, antedated to April 30, was signed two days later. Beginning in the 17th century, France explored the Mississippi River valley and established scattered settlements in the region. By the middle of the 18th century, France controlled more of the modern United States than any other European power: from New Orleans northeast to the Great Lakes and northwest to modern-day Montana. In 1762, during the French and Indian War, France ceded its America territory west of the Mississippi River to Spain and in 1763 transferred nearly all of its remaining North American holdings to Great Britain.

Spain, no longer a dominant European power, did little to develop Louisiana Territory during the next three decades. In 1796, Spain allied itself with France, leading Britain to use its powerful navy to cut off Spain from America. In 1801, Spain signed a secret treaty with France to return Louisiana Territory to France. Reports of the retrocession caused considerable uneasiness in the United States. Since the late 1780s, Americans had been moving westward into the Ohio and Tennessee River valleys, and these settlers were highly dependent on free access to the Mississippi River and the strategic port of New Orleans. U.S. officials feared that France, resurgent under the leadership of Napoleon Bonaparte, would soon seek to dominate the Mississippi River and access to the Gulf of Mexico. In a letter to Robert Livingston, the U.S. minister to France, President Thomas Jefferson stated, “The day that France takes possession of New Orleans…we must marry ourselves to the British fleet and nation.” Livingston was ordered to negotiate with French minister Charles Maurice de Talleyrand for the purchase of New Orleans.

France was slow in taking control of Louisiana, but in 1802 Spanish authorities, apparently acting under French orders, revoked a U.S.-Spanish treaty that granted Americans the right to store goods in New Orleans. In response, President Jefferson sent future president James Monroe to Paris to aid Livingston in the New Orleans purchase talks. On April 11, 1803, the day before Monroe’s arrival, Talleyrand asked a surprised Livingston what the United States would give for all of Louisiana Territory. It is believed that the failure of France to put down a slave revolution in Haiti, the impending war with Great Britain and probable Royal Navy blockade of France, and financial difficulties may all have prompted Napoleon to offer Louisiana for sale to the United States. Negotiations moved swiftly, and at the end of April the U.S. envoys agreed to pay $11,250,000 and assumed claims of its citizens against France in the amount of $3,750,000. In exchange, the United States acquired the vast domain of Louisiana Territory, some 828,000 square miles of land.

In October, Congress ratified the purchase, and in December 1803 France formally transferred authority over the region to the United States. The acquisition of the Louisiana Territory for the bargain price of less than three cents an acre was Thomas Jefferson’s most notable achievement as president. American expansion westward into the new lands began immediately, and in 1804 a territorial government was established. On April 30, 1812, exactly nine years after the Louisiana Purchase agreement was made, the first of 13 states to be carved from the territory–Louisiana–was admitted into the Union as the 18th U.S. state. Related Videos Louisiana Purchase | Thomas Jefferson's Monticello Thomas Jefferson's Monticello Jefferson and Lewis and Clark Louisiana Purchase The Louisiana Purchase (1803) was a land deal between the United States and France, in which the U.S. acquired approximately 827,000 square miles of land west of the Mississippi River for $15 million. [T]his little event, of France possessing herself of Louisiana, ... is the embryo of a tornado which will burst on the countries on both shores of the Atlantic and involve in it’s effects their highest destinies.

1 President Thomas Jefferson wrote this prediction in an April 1802 letter to Pierre Samuel du Pont amid reports that Spain would retrocede to France the vast territory of Louisiana. As the United States had expanded westward, navigation of the Mississippi River and access to the port of New Orleans had become critical to American commerce, so this transfer of authority was cause for concern. Within a week of his letter to du Pont, Jefferson wrote U.S. Minister to France Robert Livingston: "every eye in the US. is now fixed on this affair of Louisiana. perhaps nothing since the revolutionary war has produced more uneasy sensations through the body of the nation." 2 Background The presence of Spain was not so provocative. A conflict over navigation of the Mississippi had been resolved in 1795 with a treaty in which Spain recognized the United States' right to use the river and to deposit goods in New Orleans for transfer to oceangoing vessels. In his letter to Livingston, Jefferson wrote, "Spain might have retained [New Orleans] quietly for years.

her pacific dispositions, her feeble state, would induce her to increase our facilities there, so that her possession of the place would be hardly felt by us." He went on to speculate that "it would not perhaps be very long before some circumstance might arise which might make the cession of it to us the price of something of more worth to her." 3 Jefferson's vision of obtaining territory from Spain was altered by the prospect of having the much more powerful France of Napoleon Bonaparte as a next-door neighbor. France had surrendered its North American possessions at the end of the French and Indian War. New Orleans and Louisiana west of the Mississippi were transferred to Spain in 1762, and French territories east of the Mississippi, including Canada, were ceded to Britain the next year. But Napoleon, who took power in 1799, aimed to restore France's presence on the continent. The Louisiana situation reached a crisis point in October 1802 when Spain's King Charles IV signed a decree transferring the territory to France and the Spanish agent in New Orleans, acting on orders from the Spanish court, revoked Americans' access to the port's warehouses. These moves prompted outrage in the United States.

While Jefferson and Secretary of State James Madison worked to resolve the issue through diplomatic channels, some factions in the West and the opposition Federalist Party called for war and advocated secession by the western territories in order to seize control of the lower Mississippi and New Orleans. Negotiations Aware of the need for action more visible than diplomatic maneuvering and concerned with the threat of disunion, Jefferson in January 1803 recommended that James Monroe join Livingston in Paris as minister extraordinary. (Later that same month, Jefferson asked Congress to fund an expedition that would cross the Louisiana territory, regardless of who controlled it, and proceed on to the Pacific. This would become the Lewis and Clark Expedition .) Monroe was a close personal friend and political ally of Jefferson's, but he also owned land in Kentucky and had spoken openly for the rights of the western territories. Jefferson urged Monroe to accept the posting, saying he possessed "the unlimited confidence of the administration & of the Western people." Jefferson added: "all eyes, all hopes, are now fixed on you, ....

for on the event of this mission depends the future destinies of this republic." 4 Shortly thereafter, Jefferson wrote to Kentucky's governor, James Garrard, to inform him of Monroe's appointment and to assure him that Monroe was empowered to enter into "such arrangements as may effectually secure our rights and interest in the Mississipi, and in the country Eastward of that." 5 As Jefferson noted in that letter, Monroe's charge was to obtain land east of the Mississippi. Monroe's instructions, drawn up by Madison and approved by Jefferson, allocated up to $10 million for the purchase of New Orleans and all or part of the Floridas. If this bid failed, Monroe was instructed to try to purchase just New Orleans, or, at the very least, secure U.S. access to the Mississippi and the port. But when Monroe reached Paris on April 12, 1803, he learned from Livingston that a very different offer was on the table. Napoleon's plans to re-establish France in the New World were unraveling.

The French army sent to suppress a rebellion by slaves and free blacks in the sugar-rich colony of Saint Domingue (present-day Haiti) had been decimated by yellow fever, and a new war with Britain seemed inevitable. France's minister of finance, François de Barbé-Marbois, who had always doubted Louisiana's worth, counseled Napoleon that Louisiana would be less valuable without Saint Domingue and, in the event of war, the territory would likely be taken by the British from Canada. France could not afford to send forces to occupy the entire Mississippi Valley, so why not abandon the idea of empire in America and sell the territory to the United States? Napoleon agreed. On April 11, Foreign Minister Charles Maurice de Talleyrand told Livingston that France was willing to sell all of Louisiana. Livingston informed Monroe upon his arrival the next day. Seizing on what Jefferson later called "a fugitive occurrence," Monroe and Livingston immediately entered into negotiations and on April 30 reached an agreement that exceeded their authority — the purchase of the Louisiana territory, including New Orleans, for $15 million. The acquisition of approximately 827,000 square miles would double the size of the United States.

Though rumors of the purchase preceded notification from Monroe and Livingston, their message reached Washington in time for an official announcement on July 4, 1803. The purchase treaty had to be ratified by the end of October, which gave Jefferson and his Cabinet time to deliberate the issues of boundaries and constitutionality. Exact boundaries would have to be negotiated with Spain and England and so would not be set for several years, and Jefferson's Cabinet members argued that the constitutional amendment he proposed was not necessary. As time for ratification of the purchase treaty grew short, Jefferson accepted his Cabinet's counsel and rationalized: "it is the case of a guardian, investing the money of his ward in purchasing an important adjacent territory; & saying to him when of age, I did this for your good." 6 The Senate ratified the treaty on October 20 by a vote of 24 to 7. Spain, upset by the sale but without the military power to block it, formally returned Louisiana to France on November 30. France officially transferred the territory to the Americans on December 20, and the United States took formal possession on December 30.

Jefferson's prediction of a "tornado" that would burst upon the countries on both sides of the Atlantic had been averted, but his belief that the affair of Louisiana would impact upon "their highest destinies" proved prophetic indeed.

Question: The state of Nebraska was sold to the USA in 1803 by which country?
Answer: France