Louisiana Purchase

The Louisiana Purchase was a massive land acquisition in 1803. The United States bought a vast territory from the French First Republic. This land included most of the Mississippi River's drainage basin west of the river. This deal was significant because it nearly doubled the size of the United States. It allowed the nation to extend its sovereignty across the Mississippi River.

The purchase operated through a complex transfer of legal rights. The United States paid fifteen million dollars for the territory. This price averaged about eighteen dollars per square mile. While France nominally owned the land, most of it was inhabited by Native Americans. The United States effectively bought the preemptive right to obtain Indian lands. This could be done through treaty or by conquest. This right excluded other European colonial powers from the region.

Many different nations controlled this land over several centuries. France held the territory starting in 1682. In 1762, France ceded the land to Spain through the Treaty of Fontainebleau. Following the Seven Years' War, Spain controlled the area west of the Mississippi. The British held the territory to the east of the river. In 1800, Napoleon Bonaparte, the First Consul of France, regained ownership. He did this through the Third Treaty of San Ildefonso. He wanted to re-establish a French colonial empire in North America.

Several factors led Napoleon to sell the territory. First, France failed to suppress a revolt in Saint-Domingue. This was a Caribbean colony then known as Haiti. The rebellion was led by Toussaint Louverture. Second, France faced the prospect of renewed warfare with the United Kingdom. Napoleon needed peace with Britain to manage his empire. Without the revenues from sugar colonies in the Caribbean, Louisiana had little value. Napoleon decided to sell the territory to avoid potential invasion by Britain or the U.S.

President Thomas Jefferson had long-term goals for this expansion. He was especially eager to control the port of New Orleans. This port was crucial for shipping agricultural goods from the west. In 1801, Jefferson sent Robert R. Livingston to Paris. His goal was to purchase New Orleans. Later, in 1803, Jefferson sent James Monroe to assist the negotiations. They met with the French Treasury Minister, François Barbé-Marbois. The Americans were prepared to pay ten million dollars for New Orleans alone. They were surprised when Barbé-Marbois offered the entire territory for fifteen million dollars.

The territory included land from fifteen present U.S. states. It also included two Canadian provinces. The purchase included the entirety of Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Nebraska. It covered large portions of North Dakota and South Dakota. It included areas of Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado east of the Continental Divide. It also included parts of Minnesota, New Mexico, and Texas. Today, this land represents more than 26% of the contiguous United States.

At the time of the purchase, the non-native population was about 60,000 people. Half of these inhabitants were enslaved Africans. The acquisition changed the political landscape of North America. It moved the United States toward becoming a major power. The borders were later adjusted by other agreements. The 1819 Adams–Onís Treaty set the western borders with Spain. The Treaty of 1818 adjusted the northern borders with the British. This purchase remains one of the most important events in American history.