On April 30, 1803, the United States and France concluded negotiations for the
Louisiana Purchase. This sale doubled the size of America and is now known as the
area between Mississippi and the Rocky Mountains, and from the Gulf of Mexico to
the Canadian border, with the exceptions of Texas, parts of New Mexico and a few
other areas already owned by the U.S.
President Thomas Jefferson sent future president James Monroe to Paris to aid
Robert Livingston, the U.S. minister to France, in the negotiations. Napoleon
Bonaparte offered the entire territory for $15 million. Jefferson agreed and the U.S.
acquired nearly 827,000 square miles of land.
By - FZ
