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!). This magnificent domain was aquired 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 1762 and it was under Spanish rule for nearly forty years.
As Spain began to decline as a worldpower, 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 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 it could no longer defend the Louisiana Territory, Napoleon Bonaparte convinced officials to sell the entire territory. After some debate, the land known as Louisiana was sold for 15 million dollars.
Thirteen states or parts of states have been carved from The Louisiana Purchase Territory. They are as follows: Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, lowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Wyoming, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Colorado and Montana.