Louisiana Purchase

The United States acquired Louisiana from France over 190 years ago. On April 30, 1803, one of the greatest real estate deals in history took place - one that would double the size of the country and put the United States in a position to become a world power.

Over 900,000 square miles - nearly 600 million acres - were purchased for 15 million dollars (an average of only four cents an acre!). The vast Louisiana Territory was purchased for 60 Million Francs or about $15,000,000.00 of which $11,250,000.00 The balance to be covered by the U.S. in the assumption of French debts to U. S. citizens was to be paid directly. This territory included 800,000 square miles of land.

This wonderful region was acquired by peaceful means and without the shedding of a single drop of blood in striking contrast to the methods of the large empires of the past, which conquered their territories, b

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They include the following states : Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Wyoming, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Colorado and Montana.

Thirteen states or parts of states have been carved from The Louisiana Purchase Territory.

As Spain began to lessen in world power, France became interested in Louisiana and eventually forced Spain to return the territory to France. However, Jefferson temporarily set aside his idealism to tell his supporters in Congress that "what is practicable must often control what is pure theory. y fighting wars or raging in great battles. When news of the trade reached Thomas Jefferson in the States, he instructed the Minister France, Robert Livingston, to negotiate for the purchase of New Orleans and the territory east of it the western part of

Florida. France surrendered the territory known as Louisiana to Spain 1762 and it was under Spanish rule for nearly forty years. Impatient at the lack of news, Jefferson sent James Monroe to Paris to offer $10 million for New Orleans and West Florida. In one foul swoop the purchase of Louisiana ended the threat of war with France and opened up the land west of the Mississippi to settlement. Jefferson knew that acquiring the very heart of the American continent would prove to be the key to the future of the United States.

Jefferson later admitted that he had stretched his power "till it cracked" in order to buy Louisiana, the largest single land purchase in American history.

For President Thomas Jefferson it was a diplomatic and political triumph.

Though the transaction was quickly sealed, there were those who objected to the purchase on the grounds that the Constitution did not provide for purchasing territory.

Approximate Word count = 595
Approximate Pages = 2 (250 words per page double spaced)

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