So, the Cuban Missile Crisis was when Soviet ships were sending nuclear missiles to its ally Cuba. The United States, while flying U-2s over the area, found out that this was happening and President Kennedy ordered a blockade to stop the incoming ships from delivering their weapons. Now, this was such a big deal because Cuba is 90 miles off the coast of Florida and the long-range missiles could reach almost every major city in the U.S. This was the closest the world ever came to having a nuclear war and as a result of that President Kennedy and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev established a hot line that if a crisis ever did arise again the two could talk it out. <span />
One main reason why John C Breckenridge supported the purchase of the Louisiana territory was because he thought it would held end the issue of slavery, by leaving it up to "popular sovereignty" in the new territory.
