Originally, negotiators Robert Livingston and James Monroe were authorized to pay France up to $10 million solely for the port of New Orleans and the Floridas. However, when they were offered the entire territory of Louisiana – an area larger than Great Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and Portugal combined – the American negotiators swiftly agreed to a price of $15 million.
This picture shows Jefferson raising his hands between figures of King George III and Napoleon. Jefferson is depicted as being held up for money by Napoleon and George III. Jefferson's critics believed that Jefferson spent too much money on purchasing the Louisiana Territory. SOURCE
When the United States declared its independence in 1776 it was only one fourth its present size. By negotiation, purchase, annexation, and war it extended its boundaries from the Atlantic to the Pacific by 1853. Source: Britannica
When the French offered up the Louisiana Territory, Thomas Jefferson knew this real estate deal was too good to pass up. How did the President justify the purchase that doubled the size of the United States?
The "13 Colonies," eager to go west of Appalachia despite the British crown’s forbiddance, decide the question in the American Revolution. As settlers and slavery push into native land, President Jefferson strikes one of the cheapest real estate deals in history — but at what cost to the native peoples of North America?
What was the historical context surrounding the Louisiana Purchase? What were the details of the Louisiana Purchase and what role did Thomas Jefferson, James Monroe, Robert Livingston and Napoleon Bonaparte play in the expansion of the United States territory?
When the United States purchased Louisiana from France in 1803, it bought with it about 60,000 settlers, many of whom were French and Spanish Creoles. But what did those Creoles think of the Louisiana Purchase and how did the feel about suddenly becoming Americans?
