The Louisiana Purchase was the acquisition by the
United States of approximately 530 million acres (800,000
sq mi or 2,100,000
km²) of
French territory in 1803, at the cost of about 4¢ per acre (7¢ per
ha); totaling
$15 million or 80 million
French francs. Including interest, America finally paid $23,213,568 for the Louisiana territory. The land purchased contained all of present-day
Arkansas,
Missouri,
Iowa,
Oklahoma,
Kansas,
Nebraska,
Minnesota south of
Mississippi River, much of
North Dakota, nearly all of
South Dakota, northeastern
New Mexico, northern
Texas, the portions of
Montana,
Wyoming, and
Colorado east of the
Continental Divide, and
Louisiana on both sides of the Mississippi River, including the city of
New Orleans. (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 and
Saskatchewan. The land included in the purchase comprises around 23% of the territory of the modern United States. The purchase was an important moment in the presidency of
Thomas Jefferson. At the time, it faced domestic opposition as being possibly
unconstitutional. Although he felt that the 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 traders' access to the port of New Orleans.
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