What was the Louisiana Purchase?
The Louisiana Purchase was the 1803 deal in which the United States bought about 2.1 million square kilometers of land from France for 15 million dollars, roughly doubling the size of the country.
The territory stretched from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains and from the Gulf of Mexico to Canada. It included all or part of 15 future US states. President Thomas Jefferson originally sent diplomats to buy only the port city of New Orleans, which was vital for trade along the Mississippi River.
France's leader, Napoleon Bonaparte, needed money for wars in Europe and had lost interest in an American empire after a slave revolution in Haiti defeated French forces. He offered to sell the whole territory. The price worked out to about 3 cents per acre.
Exploring the West
Jefferson sent Meriwether Lewis and William Clark on an expedition from 1804 to 1806 to explore the new land and find a route to the Pacific. They were helped by a Shoshone woman named Sacagawea. The purchase opened the way for westward expansion, with serious consequences for Native American nations.
Did You Know?
Technically, the United States bought France's claim to the land, much of which was home to Native American nations who were not part of the deal.