This Day in the Law
Share
April 30

Louisiana Purchase Made by United States From France (1803)


On April 30, 1803, the U.S. purchased the Louisiana Territory from France at a cost of $15 million dollars for 828,000 square miles – or less than three cents an acre. The Louisiana Purchase more than doubled the size of the U.S. and greatly expanded the U.S.’s role as major developing country.

The Louisiana Purchase makes up around ¼ of the territory of the U.S. today. In particular, the Louisiana Purchase comprised of all or parts of the following U.S. states: Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and parts of Colorado, Minnesota, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming.

James Monroe and Robert Livingston traveled to Paris to originally negotiate the purchase the port of New Orleans, and they did not anticipate or intend to purchase such a large territory. However, Napoleon Bonaparte, the leader of France at that time, felt that France had no more need for the land comprised of the Louisiana Territory and made the offer to the U.S.

President Thomas Jefferson heard of Napoleon’s offer and initially did not want to make the purchase. Jefferson felt that the U.S. Constitution gave him no authority to acquire territory. But Jefferson also wanted to preserve America’s access to trade from the City of New Orleans, a major trading port, and was afraid that Napoleon might withdraw his offer. So, Jefferson agreed to the deal and Monroe and Livingston officially agreed to purchase the Louisiana Territory on April 30, 1803. Two days later, Monroe and Livingston signed the treaty in Paris to purchase the Louisiana Territory.

Shortly after the Louisiana Purchase a territorial dispute arose between the U.S. and Spain regarding it. Later, in 1819, the U.S. and Spain finally reached an agreement regarding their territorial disputes over the Louisiana Purchase with the Adams-Onís Treaty where the U.S. purchased present day Florida and certain surrounding regions from Spain.

Napoleon was right when he said that America’s purchase of the Louisiana Territory would eventually solidify the new country’s role as a major developing nation.