Louisiana Purchase
The United States acquired Louisiana from France 200 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 (an average of only 4 cents an acre!). This magnificent domain 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 by force of arms.
The sale of Louisiana to the United States by Napoleon Bonaparte was the result of a complicated chain of events involving the rivalries of France, Spain, and Great Britain. France ceded the territory known as Louisiana to Spain in 1762 and it was under Spanish rule for nearly 40 years.
As Spain began to decline as a world power, France became interested in Louisiana and eventually forced Spain to return the territory to France. When news of the trade reached Thomas Jefferson in the United States, he instructed the minister to France, Robert Livingston, to negotiate for the purchase of New Orleans and the territory east of the "island" of the western part of Florida.
Two years later, after realizing that he could no longer defend the Louisiana territory, Napoleon Bonaparte convinced officials to sell the entire territory. After some negotiations, the land known as Louisiana was sold for $15 million.

Thirteen states or parts of states of the Union
have been carved from the
Louisiana Purchase Territory:
-Arkansas -Colorado -Iowa -Kansas -Louisiana -Minnesota -Missouri -Montana -Nebraska -North Dakota -South Dakota -Oklahoma and -Wyoming




Louisiana Index