The Louisiana Purchase was the purchase of 828,001 square miles of France's claim to the territory of Louisiana in 1803 by the United States government. The U.S. paid a total of $15 million (less than 3 cents per acre) for the Louisiana territory (this comes out to $219 million in today’s money).
The Louisiana Purchase included all or part of 15 current US states. In addition, the purchase contained small portions of land that would eventually become part of two Canadian provinces. The purchase, which doubled the size of the United States, makes up around 23% of current U.S. territory. The population of European immigrants was estimated to be 92,345 as of the 1810 census.
The purchase was an important moment in the presidency of Thomas Jefferson. At the time, it faced opposition as possibly being unconstitutional. Although he felt that the US 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. The port of New Orleans was an important trading port especially for America’s farmers. Jefferson also decided to allow slavery in the acquired territory, which would later lead to controversy over the issue of slavery.
After the agreement, the French leader Napolean Bonaparte stated that, "This…territory affirms forever the power of the United States…” (Wikipedia)
