The Louisiana Purchase (French: Vente de la Louisiane "Sale of Louisiana") was the acquisition by the United States of America ^ b. English is the de facto language of American government and the sole language spoken at home by 80% of Americans age five and older. Spanish is the second most commonly spoken language of 828,800 square miles (2,147,000 km2) of France's claim to the territory of Louisiana Louisiana or French Louisiana was the name of an administrative district of New France. Under French control from 1682-1763 and 1800-03, the area was named in honor of Louis XIV of France, by French explorer René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de la Salle. It originally covered an expansive territory that included most of the drainage basin of the in 1803. The U.S. paid 60 million francs The franc was a currency of France. Along with the Spanish peseta, it was also a de facto currency used in Andorra (which had no national currency with legal tender). Between 1360 and 1641, it was the name of coins worth 1 livre tournois and it remained in common parlance as a term for this amount of money. It was re-introduced (in decimal form) ($ The United States dollar is the official currency of the United States. The U.S. dollar is normally abbreviated as the dollar sign, $, or as USD or US$ to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies and from others that use the $ symbol. It is divided into 100 cents11,250,000) plus cancellation of debts worth 18 million francs ($3,750,000), for a total cost of 15 million dollars for the Louisiana territory.[1][2][3]

The Louisiana Purchase encompassed all or part of 14 current U.S. states and two Canadian provinces. The land purchased contained all of present-day Arkansas The name "Arkansas" derives from the same root as the name for the state of Kansas. The Kansas tribe of Native Americans are closely associated with the Sioux tribes of the Great Plains. The word "Arkansas" itself is a French pronunciation of a Quapaw (a related "Kaw" tribe) word "akakaze" meaning "land, Missouri Missouri mirrors the demographic, economic and political makeup of the nation with a mix of urban and rural culture. It has long been considered a political bellwether state. With the exceptions of 1956 and 2008, Missouri's results in U.S. presidential elections have accurately predicted the next President of the United States in every election, Iowa Iowa is bordered by the Mississippi River on the east; the Missouri River and the Big Sioux River on the west; the northern boundary is a line along 43 degrees, 30 minutes north latitude.[note 1] The southern border is the Des Moines River and a line along approximately 40 degrees 35 minutes north, as decided by the U.S. Supreme Court in Missouri, Oklahoma A major producer of natural gas, oil and agriculture, Oklahoma relies on an economic base of aviation, energy, telecommunications, and biotechnology. It has one of the fastest growing economies in the nation, ranking among the top states in per capita income growth and gross domestic product growth. Oklahoma City and Tulsa serve as Oklahoma's, Kansas Historically, the area was home to large numbers of nomadic Native Americans who hunted bison. It was first settled by European Americans in the 1830s, but the pace of settlement accelerated in the 1850s, in the midst of political wars over the slavery issue. When officially opened to settlement by the U.S. government in 1854, abolitionist Free-, Nebraska Once considered part of the Great American Desert , Nebraska is now a leading farming and ranching state, parts of Minnesota Nearly sixty percent of Minnesota's residents live in the Minneapolis-Saint Paul metropolitan area known as the "Twin Cities", the center of transportation, business and industry, education and home to an internationally known arts community. The remainder of the state consists of western prairies now given over to intensive agriculture; that were west of the Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. About 2,320 miles long, the river originates at Lake Itasca, Minnesota and flows slowly southwards in sweeping meanders, terminating 95 river miles below New Orleans, Louisiana where it begins to flow to the Gulf of Mexico. Along with its major tributary, the Missouri River, the, most of North Dakota The state capital is Bismarck and the largest city is Fargo. The primary public universities are located in Grand Forks and Fargo. The U.S. Air Force operates Air Force Bases at Minot AFB and Grand Forks AFB, nearly all of South Dakota South Dakota is bordered by the states of North Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, Wyoming, and Montana. The state is bisected by the Missouri River, dividing South Dakota into two geographically and socially distinct halves, known to residents as "East River" and "West River". Eastern South Dakota is home to most of the state', northeastern New Mexico The state's total area is 121,412 square miles . The eastern border of New Mexico lies along 103° W longitude with the state of Oklahoma, and three miles (5 km) west of 103.5° W longitude with Texas. On the southern border, Texas makes up the eastern two-thirds, while the Mexican states of Chihuahua and Sonora make up the western third, with, the portions of Montana Montana has several nicknames, none official, including: "The Treasure State" and "Big Sky Country," and slogans that include "Land of the Shining Mountains," and more recently, "The Last Best Place." The state ranks fourth in area, but 44th in population, and therefore has the third lowest population, Wyoming As specified in the designating legislation for the Territory of Wyoming, Wyoming's borders are lines of latitude, 41°N and 45°N, and longitude, 104°3'W and 111°3'W , making the shape of the state a latitude-longitude quadrangle. Wyoming is one of only three states (along with Colorado and Utah) to have borders along only straight latitudinal, and Colorado Colorado is nicknamed the "Centennial State" because it was admitted to the Union as the 38th state in 1876, the centennial year of the United States Declaration of Independence. Colorado is bordered on the north by Wyoming and Nebraska, on the east by Nebraska and Kansas, on the south by Oklahoma and New Mexico, and on the west by Utah east of the Continental Divide A continental divide is a drainage divide on a continent such that the drainage basin on one side of the divide feeds into one ocean or sea, and the basin on the other side either feeds into a different ocean or sea, or else is endorheic, not connected to the open sea. The endpoints where a continental divide meets the coast are not always, and Louisiana Some Louisiana urban environments have a multicultural, multilingual heritage, being so strongly influenced by an admixture of 18th century French, Spanish and African cultures that they are considered to be somewhat exceptional in the U.S. Before the American influx and statehood at the beginning of the 19th century, the territory of current west of the Mississippi River, including the city of New Orleans New Orleans (pronounced /njuː ˈɔrliənz/ or /ˈnjuː ɔrˈliːnz/, locally [nuː ˈɔrlənz] or [ˈnɔrlənz]; French: La Nouvelle-Orléans [la nuvɛlɔʁleɑ̃] ) is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area, (New Orleans–Metairie–Kenner) has a. (The Oklahoma Panhandle, and southwestern portions of Kansas and Louisiana were still claimed by Spain at the time of the Purchase.) In addition, the Purchase contained small portions of land that would eventually become part of the Canadian provinces of Alberta Alberta is located in western Canada, bounded by the provinces of British Columbia to the west and Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Territories to the north, and the U.S. state of Montana to the south. Alberta is one of three Canadian provinces and territories to border only a single U.S. state . It is also one of only two Canadian and Saskatchewan Other major cities, in order of size, are Prince Albert, Moose Jaw, Yorkton, Swift Current and North Battleford. The province's name comes from the Saskatchewan River, whose name comes from its Cree designation: ᑭᓯᐢᑳᒋᐘᓂ ᓯᐱᐩ , meaning "swift flowing river". The purchase, which doubled the size of the United States, comprises around 23% of current U.S. territory.[2] The population of European immigrants was estimated to be 76,556 as of the 1810 census.[4]

The purchase was a vital moment in the presidency of Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson was the third President of the United States (1801–1809), and the principal author of the Declaration of Independence (1776). Jefferson was one of the most influential Founding Fathers, known for his promotion of the ideals of republicanism in the United States. Jefferson envisioned America as the force behind a great ". At the time, it faced domestic opposition as being possibly unconstitutional Constitutionality is the condition of acting in accordance with an applicable constitution; the status of a law, a procedure, or an act's accordance with the laws or guidelines set forth in the applicable constitution. When one of these directly violates the constitution it is unconstitutional. All the rest are considered constitutional until. Although he felt that the U.S. Constitution did not contain any provisions for acquiring territory, Jefferson decided to purchase Louisiana because he felt uneasy about France and Spain having the power to block American trade access to the port of New Orleans New Orleans (pronounced /njuː ˈɔrliənz/ or /ˈnjuː ɔrˈliːnz/, locally [nuː ˈɔrlənz] or [ˈnɔrlənz]; French: La Nouvelle-Orléans [la nuvɛlɔʁleɑ̃] ) is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area, (New Orleans–Metairie–Kenner) has a.

Napoleon Bonaparte Napoleon Bonaparte , was a military and political leader of France and Emperor of the French as Napoleon I, whose actions shaped European politics in the early 19th century, upon completion of the agreement, stated, "This accession of territory affirms forever the power of the United States, and I have given England a maritime rival who sooner or later will humble her pride."[5]

Contents

Background

A contemporary mapmaker's vision of "Louisiana Louisiana or French Louisiana was the name of an administrative district of New France. Under French control from 1682-1763 and 1800-03, the area was named in honor of Louis XIV of France, by French explorer René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de la Salle. It originally covered an expansive territory that included most of the drainage basin of the", edged on the west by the Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains are a major mountain range in western North America. The North American Rocky Mountains stretch more than 3,000 miles (4,830 km) from the northernmost part of British Columbia, in western Canada, to New Mexico, in the southwestern United States. The range's highest peak is Mount Elbert located in Colorado at 14,440 feet (4,401

The city of New Orleans controlled the Mississippi River through its location; other locations for ports had been tried and had not succeeded. New Orleans was already important for shipping agricultural goods to and from the parts of the United States west of the Appalachian Mountains Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Quebec, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, New Jersey, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama. Pinckney's Treaty Pinckney's Treaty, also known as the Treaty of San Lorenzo or the Treaty of Madrid, was signed in San Lorenzo de El Escorial on October 27, 1795 and established intentions of friendship between the United States and Spain. It also defined the boundaries of the United States with the Spanish colonies and guaranteed the United States navigation, signed with Spain on October 27, 1795, gave American merchants "right of deposit" in New Orleans, meaning they could use the port to store goods for export. Americans used this right to transport products such as flour, tobacco, pork, bacon, lard, feathers, cider, butter, and cheese. The treaty also recognized American rights to navigate the entire Mississippi River, which had become vital to the growing trade of their western territories.[6] In 1798 Spain revoked this treaty, which greatly upset Americans. In 1801, Spanish Governor Don Juan Manuel De Salcedo took over for Governor Marquess of Casa Calvo, and the right to deposit goods from the United States was fully restored. Napoleon Bonaparte Napoleon Bonaparte , was a military and political leader of France and Emperor of the French as Napoleon I, whose actions shaped European politics in the early 19th century returned Louisiana to French control from Spain in 1800, under the Treaty of San Ildefonso The Third Treaty of San Ildefonso was a secretly negotiated treaty between France and Spain in which Spain returned the colonial territory of Louisiana to France. The treaty was concluded on October 1, 1800 between Louis Alexandre Berthier representing France and Don Mariano Luis de Urquijo for Spain. The treaty was negotiated under some duress, (Louisiana had been a Spanish colony since 1762.) However, the treaty was kept secret, and Louisiana remained under Spanish control until a transfer of power to France on November 30, 1803, just three weeks before the cession to the United States.

James Monroe James Monroe was the fifth President of the United States, serving two terms from 1817 to 1825. Monroe was the last Founding Father of the United States, the last one from the Virginia dynasty and the Republican Generation to become the U.S. President. His presidency was marked both by an "Era of Good Feelings" – a period of relatively and Robert R. Livingston Robert R Livingston (27 November 1746 – 26 February 1813) was an American lawyer, politician, diplomat from New York, and a Founding Father of the United States traveled to Paris Paris ([paʁi] in French, pronounced /ˈpærɪs/ in English) is the capital and largest city of France. It is situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region (or Paris Region, French: Région parisienne). The city of Paris, within its administrative limits largely unchanged since 1860, has an estimated to negotiate the purchase in 1803. Their interest was only in the port and its environs; they did not anticipate the much larger transfer of territory that would follow.

Negotiation

The original treaty of the Louisiana Purchase.

Jefferson initiated the purchase by sending Livingston to Paris in 1801, after discovering the transfer of Louisiana from Spain to France under the Third Treaty of San Ildefonso The Third Treaty of San Ildefonso was a secretly negotiated treaty between France and Spain in which Spain returned the colonial territory of Louisiana to France. The treaty was concluded on October 1, 1800 between Louis Alexandre Berthier representing France and Don Mariano Luis de Urquijo for Spain. The treaty was negotiated under some duress,. Livingston was authorized to purchase New Orleans.

In 1802, Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours was a French noblemen, writer, economist, and government official, who was the father of Eleuthère Irénée du Pont, the founder of E.I. duPont de Nemours and Company, patriarch and progenitor of one of America's richest business dynasties of the 19th and 20th centuries began to help negotiate with France at the request of Jefferson. Du Pont was living in the United States at the time and had close ties to Jefferson, as well as to the political powers in France. He engaged in back-channel diplomacy with Napoleon on Jefferson's behalf during a visit to France, and originated the idea of the much larger Louisiana Purchase as a way to defuse potential conflict between the United States and Napoleon over North America.[7]

Jefferson disliked the idea of purchasing Louisiana from France as that could imply that France had a right to be in Louisiana. Jefferson believed that a U.S. President did not have the authority to make such a deal: it was not specified in the Constitution The Constitution of the United States of America is the supreme law of the United States. It is the foundation and source of the legal authority underlying the existence of the United States of America and the federal government of the United States. It provides the framework for the organization of the United States government and for the. He also thought that to do so would erode states' rights States' rights in U.S. politics refers to the political powers that U.S. states possess in relation to the federal government, as guaranteed by the Tenth Amendment of the Bill of Rights by increasing federal executive power. On the other hand, he was aware of the potential threat that France could be in that region, and was prepared to go to war to prevent a strong French presence there. Meanwhile, Napoleon's foreign minister The Minister of Foreign Affairs in the government of France, is the cabinet minister responsible for the foreign relations of France, Charles Maurice de Talleyrand Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, 1st Sovereign Prince of Beneventum (French pronunciation: [ʃaʁl moʁis də talʁɑ̃ peʁiɡɔʁ]; 2 February 1754 – 17 May 1838) was a French diplomat. He worked successfully from the regime of Louis XVI, through the French Revolution and then under Napoleon I, Louis XVIII, Charles X, and Louis-, vehemently opposed selling Louisiana since that would mean an end to France's secret plans for a North American empire.[citation needed]

Throughout this time, Jefferson had up-to-date intelligence on Napoleon's military activities and intentions in North America. Part of his evolving strategy involved giving du Pont some information that was withheld from Livingston. He also gave intentionally conflicting instructions to the two. He next sent Monroe to Paris in 1803. Monroe had been formally expelled from France on his last diplomatic mission, and the choice to send him again conveyed a sense of seriousness.

Napoleon was faced with revolution in Saint-Domingue Saint-Domingue was a French colony on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola from 1659 to 1804, when it became the independent nation of Haiti (present-day Republic of Haiti Haiti (pronounced /ˈheɪti/ ; French Haïti, pronounced: [a.iti]; Haitian Creole: Ayiti, Haitian Creole pronunciation: [ajiti]), officially the Republic of Haiti (République d'Haïti ; Repiblik Ayiti) is a Caribbean country. Along with the Dominican Republic, it occupies the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago. Ayiti (land). An expeditionary force under his brother-in-law Charles Leclerc Charles Victor Emmanuel Leclerc was a French Army general and husband to Pauline Bonaparte, sister to Napoleon Bonaparte had tried to re-conquer the territory and re-establish slavery. But yellow fever Yellow fever is an acute viral hemorrhagic disease. The virus is a 40 to 50 nm enveloped RNA virus with positive sense of the Flaviviridae family and the fierce resistance of the Haitian Revolution The Haitian Revolution was a period of brutal conflict in the French colony of Saint-Domingue, leading to the elimination of slavery and the establishment of Haiti as the first republic ruled by people of African ancestry. Although hundreds of rebellions occurred in the New World during the centuries of slavery, only the revolt on Saint-Domingue, destroyed the French army in what became the only successful slave revolt in history, resulting in the establishment of Haiti, the first independent black state in the New World.[8] Napoleon needed peace with Great Britain The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom from 1 January 1801 until 12 April 1927. It was formed by the merger of the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland, with Ireland being governed directly from Westminster through its Dublin Castle administration to implement the Treaty of San Ildefonso and take possession of Louisiana. Otherwise, Louisiana would be an easy prey for Britain or even for the U.S. But in early 1803, war between France and Britain seemed unavoidable. On March 11, 1803, Napoleon began preparing to invade Britain.

Napoleon had failed to re-enslave Haiti; he therefore abandoned his plans to rebuild France's New World empire. Without revenues from sugar colonies in the Caribbean, Louisiana had little value to him. On April 10, 1803 Napoleon told Treasury Minister François de Barbé-Marbois Born in Metz, where his father was director of the local mint, Barbé-Marbois tutored the children of the Marquis de Castries. In 1779 he was made secretary of the French legation to the United States. When the minister Chevalier de la Luzerne returned to France in 1783, Barbé-Marbois remained in America as chargé d'affaires. That year he that he was considering selling the whole Louisiana Territory to the U.S. On April 11, 1803, just days before Monroe's arrival, Barbé-Marbois offered Livingston all of Louisiana instead of just New Orleans, at a price of $15 million, equivalent to about $217 million in present day terms.[9]

The American representatives were prepared to pay up to $10 million for New Orleans and its environs, but were dumbfounded when the vastly larger territory was offered for $15 million. Jefferson had authorized Livingston only to purchase New Orleans. However, Livingston was certain that the U.S. would accept such a large offer.[10]

The Americans thought that Napoleon might withdraw the offer at any time, preventing the United States from acquiring New Orleans. So they agreed and signed the Louisiana Purchase Treaty on April 30, 1803. On July 4, 1803, the treaty reached Washington Washington, D.C. , formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States, founded on July 16, 1790. The City of Washington was originally a separate municipality within the Territory of Columbia until an act of Congress in 1871 effectively merged the City and the. The Louisiana Territory was vast, stretching from the Gulf of Mexico in the south to Rupert's Land in the north, and from the Mississippi River in the east to the Rocky Mountains in the west. Acquiring the territory would double the size of the United States at a cost of less than 3 cents per acre.

Domestic opposition

At the Purchase's centennial fair, one illustrator imagined the treaty signing as above.

The American purchase of the Louisiana territory was not accomplished without domestic opposition. Jefferson's philosophical consistency was in question because of his strict interpretation of the Constitution. Many people believed he was being hypocritical by doing something he surely would have argued against with Alexander Hamilton. The Federalists strongly opposed the purchase, favoring close relations with Britain over closer ties to Napoleon, believing the purchase to be unconstitutional, and concerned that the U.S. had paid a large sum of money just to declare war on Spain. The United States House of Representatives also opposed the purchase. Majority Leader John Randolph led the opposition. The House called for a vote to deny the request for the purchase, but it failed by two votes 59-57. The Federalists even tried to prove the land belonged to Spain not France, but the papers proved otherwise.[11] The Federalists also feared that the political power of the Atlantic seaboard states would be threatened by the new citizens of the west, bringing about a clash of western farmers with the merchants and bankers of New England. There was concern that an increase in slave holding states created out of the new territory would exacerbate divisions between north and south, as well. A group of Federalists led by Massachusetts Senator Timothy Pickering went so far as to plan a separate northern confederacy, offering Vice President Aaron Burr the presidency of the proposed new country if he persuaded New York to join. Burr's relationship with Alexander Hamilton, who helped bring an end to the nascent northern secession movement, soured during this period. The animosity between the two men ended with Hamilton's death in a duel with Burr in 1804.

Treaty signing

Issue of 1953, Commemorating 150th Anniversary of signing. Commemorating plaque, inaugurated for the bicentenary of the signing on 20 April 2003, on a wall of the Hôtel Tubeuf in Paris, where the signing took place.

On Saturday April 30, 1803, the Louisiana Purchase Treaty was signed by Robert Livingston, James Monroe, and Barbé Marbois in Paris. Jefferson announced the treaty to the American people on July 4. After the signing of the Louisiana Purchase agreement in 1803, Livingston made this famous statement, "We have lived long, but this is the noblest work of our whole lives...From this day the United States take their place among the powers of the first rank."[12] The United States Senate ratified the treaty with a vote of twenty-four to seven on October 20; on the following day, it authorized President Jefferson to take possession of the territory and establish a temporary military government. In legislation enacted on October 31, Congress made temporary provisions for local civil government to continue as it had under French and Spanish rule and authorized the President to use military forces to maintain order. Plans were also set forth for several missions to explore and chart the territory, the most famous being the Lewis and Clark Expedition.

France turned New Orleans over on December 20, 1803 at The Cabildo. On March 10, 1804, a formal ceremony was conducted in St. Louis to transfer ownership of the territory from France to the United States.

Effective on October 1, 1804, the purchased territory was organized into the Territory of Orleans (most of which became the state of Louisiana) and the District of Louisiana, which was temporarily under the control of the governor and judges of the Indiana Territory.

Boundaries

The Purchase was one of several territorial additions to the U.S.

The tributaries of the Mississippi were held as the boundaries by the United States. Estimates that did exist as to the extent and composition of the purchase were initially based on the explorations of Robert LaSalle.

A dispute immediately arose between Spain and the United States regarding the extent of Louisiana. The territory's boundaries had not been defined in the 1762 Treaty of Fontainebleau that ceded it from France to Spain, nor the 1800 Third Treaty of San Ildefonso ceding it back to France, nor the 1803 Louisiana Purchase agreement ceding it to the United States.[13] The United States claimed Louisiana included the entire western portion of the Mississippi River drainage basin to the crest of the Rocky Mountains and land extending southeast to the Rio Grande. Spain insisted that Louisiana comprised no more than the western bank of the Mississippi River and the cities of New Orleans and St. Louis.[14] The relatively narrow Louisiana of New Spain had been a special province under the jurisdiction of the Captaincy General of Cuba while the vast region to the west was in 1803 still considered part of the Commandancy General of the Provincias Internas. Louisiana had never been considered to be one of New Spain's internal provinces.[15]

Louisiana Purchase Map Issue of 1903, commemorating 100th Anniversary

If the territory included all the tributaries of the Mississippi on its western bank, the northern reaches of the Purchase extended into the equally ill-defined British possession—Rupert's Land of British North America, now part of Canada. The Purchase originally extended just beyond the 50th parallel. However, the territory north of the 49th parallel including the Milk River and Poplar River watersheds was ceded to the UK in exchange for parts of the Red River Basin south of 49th parallel in the Anglo-American Convention of 1818.

The eastern boundary of the Louisiana purchase was the Mississippi River, from its source to the 31st parallel, although the source of the Mississippi was then unknown. The eastern boundary below the 31st parallel was unclear; the U.S. claimed the land as far as the Perdido River, and Spain claimed the border of its Florida Colony remained the Mississippi river. In early 1804, Congress passed the Mobile Act which recognized West Florida as being part of the United States. The Treaty with Spain of 1819 resolved the issue. Today, the 31st parallel is the northern boundary of the western half of the Florida Panhandle, and the Perdido is the western boundary of Florida.

The southern boundary of the Louisiana Purchase (versus New Spain) was initially unclear at the time of purchase; the Neutral Ground Treaty of 1806 created the Sabine Free State during the interim and the Adams-Onís Treaty of 1819 began to lay down official dividing lines.

The western boundary was unknown but the Adams-Onis treaty set it as follows: It followed the Sabine River to the 32nd parallel, then ran due north to the Red River, then the Red River to the 100th meridian, which it followed to the Arkansas River, then the Arkansas River to its headwaters, then due north to the 42nd parallel, which it followed to the Pacific Ocean.

Asserting U.S. possession

Plan of Fort Madison, built in 1808 to establish U.S. control over the northern part of the Louisiana Purchase; drawn 1810.

After the Lewis and Clark Expedition, the U.S. government sought to establish control of the region, since trade along the Mississippi and Missouri rivers were still dominated by British and French traders and allied Indians, especially the Sauk. Fort Bellefontaine was converted into a U.S. military post near St. Louis in 1804. In 1808 two military forts with trading factories were built, Fort Osage along the Missouri River and Fort Madison along the upper Mississippi River. During the War of 1812 Great Britain and allied Indians defeated U.S. forces in the Upper Mississippi; both Fort Osage and Fort Madison were abandoned, as were several U.S. forts built during the war including Fort Johnson and Fort Shelby. After U.S. ownership of the region was confirmed in the Treaty of Ghent, the U.S. built or expanded forts along the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers, including the expansion of Fort Bellefontaine, and the construction of Fort Armstrong (1816) and Fort Edwards (1816) in Illinois, Fort Crawford (1816) in Prairie du Chien, Fort Snelling (1819) in Minnesota, and Fort Atkinson (1819) in Nebraska.[16]

Financing

Map of current US states that were completely or mostly located inside the borders of old colonial French Louisiana at the time of Louisiana Purchase Louisiana Territory and the State of Louisiana shown on the Louisiana State Quarter

The American government used $3 million in gold as a down payment, and issued bonds for the balance to pay France for the purchase. Because of the impending war with Britain, French banks would not buy or market the American bonds. The American diplomats Livingston and Monroe therefore recommended the firms of Baring and Company of London and Hope and Company of Amsterdam for the transaction which France agreed upon. Because of their reputation as the two most stable financial houses in Europe and because Napoleon wanted to receive his money as quickly as possible, the French treasury minister Barbé-Marbois made arrangements with the two firms to convert the bonds France would receive into cash. After the American bonds had been delivered, the French government then sold them to Baring and Hope at a discount.

A 2004 nickel celebrating the bicentennial of the Louisiana Purchase

The original sales document of the Louisiana Purchase was exhibited in the entrance hall of Baring's London offices until the bank's collapse in 1995 and is now in the custody of ING Group, which purchased Barings.[17]

The original sales document of the Louisiana Purchase was acquired in 1996 by Walter Scott Jr. in Omaha, NE and now is currently in his private collection.[18]

See also

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References

  1. ^ The American Pageant by David M. Kennedy, Lizabeth Cohen, and Thomas A. Bailey
  2. ^ a b Table 1.1 Acquisition of the Public Domain 1781-1867
  3. ^ "Louisiana Purchase". Lsm.crt.state.la.us. http://lsm.crt.state.la.us/cabildo/cab4.htm. Retrieved 2010-06-11.
  4. ^ Louisiana Resident Population and Apportionment of the U.S. House of Representatives(PDF) U.S. Census Bureau
  5. ^ Godlewski, Guy; Napoléon et Les-États-Amis, P.320, La Nouvelle Revue Des Deux Mondes, July-September, 1977.
  6. ^ Meinig, D.W. The Shaping of America: Volume 2, Yale University Press, 1993. ISBN 0-300-06290-7
  7. ^ Duke, Marc; The du Ponts: Portrait of a Dynasty, P.77-83, Saturday Review Press, 1976
  8. ^ "The Haitian Revolution". Scholar.library.miami.edu. http://scholar.library.miami.edu/slaves/san_domingo_revolution/revolution.html. Retrieved 2010-06-11.
  9. ^ Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–2008. Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Retrieved March 8, 2010.
  10. ^ Malone, Michael P.; Roeder, Richard B., Lang, William L. (1991). Montana-A History of Two Centuries. Seattle: University of Washington Press. p. 30. ISBN 0295971290.
  11. ^ Thomas, Fleming(2003). The Louisiana Purchase. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., P:149
  12. ^ "America's Louisiana Purchase: Noble Bargain, Difficult Journey". Lpb.org. http://www.lpb.org/education/tah/lapurchase/quotes.cfm. Retrieved 2010-06-11.
  13. ^ Schoultz, Lars (1998). Beneath the United States. Harvard University Press. pp. 15–16. ISBN 9780674922761. online at Google Books
  14. ^ Hämäläinen, Pekka (2008). The Comanche Empire. Yale University Press. p. 183. ISBN 978-0-300-12654-9.
  15. ^ Weber, David J. (1994). The Spanish Frontier in North America. Yale University Press. pp. 223, 293. ISBN 9780300059175. online at Google Books
  16. ^ Prucha, Francis P. (1969) The Sword of the Republic: The United States Army on the Frontier 1783–1846. Macmillan, New York
  17. ^ "in print: project ING / Barings Archive client ING". tuch design. http://www.tuchdesign.com/case-studies/in-print.html. Retrieved 2010-06-11.
  18. ^ "Louisiana Purchase Manuscript Goes on Public Display". News.nationalgeographic.com. http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/04/0418_020419_lewisclark.html. Retrieved 2010-06-11.
This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be and removed. (September 2008)

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Territorial expansion of the United States
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French Equatorial Africa Chad · Gabon · Middle Congo · Oubangui-Chari
Comoros Anjouan · Grande Comore · Mohéli
French Somaliland (Djibouti) · Madagascar · Ile de France · Seychelles
Former French colonies in the Americas
New France (Acadia • Louisiana • Canada • Terre Neuve) 1655 – 1763
Inini · Berbice · Saint-Domingue (Haiti) · Tobago · Virgin Islands · France Antarctique · Equinoctial France
French West India Company
Former French colonies in Asia and Oceania
French India Chandernagor · Coromandel Coast · Madras · Malabar · Mahé · Pondichéry · Karaikal · Yanaon
French Indochina Cambodia · Laos · Vietnam (Annam • Cochinchina • Tonkin)
Middle East Lebanon · Sanjak of Alexandretta · Syria (Alawite State • Jabal al-Druze • State of Aleppo • State of Damascus)
Other Asian Ceylon · Kwangchowan
Oceania New Hebrides (Vanuatu)
France-Asia relations · French East India Company
Present
Overseas departments and territories of France
Inhabited areas
Overseas departments1 French Guiana · Guadeloupe · Martinique · Réunion
Overseas collectivities French Polynesia · Mayotte2, 3 · St. Barthélemy · St. Martin · St. Pierre and Miquelon · Wallis and Futuna
Special status New Caledonia
Uninhabited areas
Pacific Ocean Clipperton Island
French Southern and Antarctic Lands
Île Amsterdam · Île Saint-Paul · Crozet Islands · Kerguelen Islands · Adélie Land
Scattered islands in the Indian Ocean Banc du Geyser4 · Bassas da India4 · Europa Island4 · Glorioso Islands3, 4, 5 · Juan de Nova Island4 · Tromelin Island5, 6
1 Also known as overseas regions. 2 Overseas department by 2011 3 Claimed by Comoros. 4 Claimed by Madagascar. 5 Claimed by Seychelles. 6 Claimed by Mauritius.

Categories: States and territories established in 1804 | 1804 disestablishments | Louisiana Purchase | History of St. Louis, Missouri | 1803 in France | 1803 in the United States | 1803 treaties

 

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'Louisiana Purchase' News
John Agnew: Health care reform law is now upon us, in all its glory - The News-Press
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John Agnew: Health care reform law is now upon us, in all its glory

The News-Press

We learned about legislative bribery, such as the Louisiana Purchase , the Cornhusker Kickback and Gator Aid. Once you get close to the end of the ...
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Mon Apr 26 04:29:08 2010
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Louisiana The home of today s Cajuns Louisiana is a land of diversity with a truly unique culture and a state that is struggling with modernization While every Cajun that we know loves

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'Louisiana Purchase' Blogs
Vacationing: How Colorado Springs Began - US Land Guide
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Vacationing: How Colorado Springs Began - US Land Guide

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hu, 08 Jul 2010 05:18:41 GM

At that time, the springs region was part of the famed . Louisiana Purchase. , in which the U.S. more than doubled its land size. Three years later, explorer Zebulon Montgomery Pike trekked through Colorado Springs and discovered the grand ...

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Thu Jul 8 15:51:39 2010
'Louisiana Purchase' Answers
When was the exact date of the Louisiana Purchase?
Q. I want the EXACT date the Louisiana Purchase was purchased on. Thanks for your help! ;D
Asked by x3 - Thu Aug 28 17:45:45 2008 - - 1 Answers - 0 Comments

A. October 17, 1803
Answered by Princess - Thu Aug 28 17:51:34 2008

Yahoo Answers Search: Louisiana Purchase,
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