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The '''Louisiana Purchase''' of 1803 was the transfer of the western half of the Mississippi Valley from Spain and France to the United States. It encompassed 900,000 square miles of fertile lands, inhabited by Indian tribes, a few thousand French settlers and a rapidly growing population of American frontiersmen. It represented the single most important territorial acquisition by the United States during its transcontinental development. It was purchased by President [[Thomas Jefferson]], who stretched the Constitution to do so. [[Napoleon]], the ruler of France was eager to sell it for $15,000,000; Spain had no choice in the matter. The Purchase contained most of what is now the west central section of the United States.  

The '''Louisiana Purchase''' of 1803 was the transfer of the western half of the Mississippi Valley from Spain and France to the United States. It encompassed 900,000 square miles of fertile lands, inhabited by Indian tribes, a few thousand French settlers and a rapidly growing population of American frontiersmen. It represented the single most important territorial acquisition by the United States during its transcontinental development. It was purchased by President [[Thomas Jefferson]], who stretched the Constitution to do so. [[Napoleon]], the ruler of France was eager to sell it for $15,000,000; Spain had no choice in the matter. The Purchase contained most of what is now the west central section of the United States.  

==Background==

==Background==

In 1762, the French province of Louisiana included the Ohio and Mississippi valleys and the shore line of the Gulf of Mexico both east and west of the Mississippi. The Spanish got the west bank of the Mississippi; the British, in 1763, the east bank and also the Spanish Floridas; twenty years later the British returned the Floridas to Spain. At the same time the French, with commercial interests around New Orleans, sensed the growing importance of Louisiana and began moves for its recovery.  By the Treaty of San Ildefonso, Oct. 1, 1800, and the Convention of Aranjuez, Mar. 21, 1801, [[Napoleon]] Bonaparte acquired Louisiana for France in return for placing the son-in-law of the Spanish king on the newly erected throne of Etruria. Napoleon, his dreams for a French empire in the Middle East thwarted by the British Navy, turned toward the Americas with plans for a new colonial empire to be centered in the Caribbean.  

In 1762, the French province of Louisiana included the Ohio and Mississippi valleys and the shore line of the Gulf of Mexico both east and west of the Mississippi. France lost it after the [[French and Indian War]] (Seven Years War) in 1763. The peace treaty gave Spain New Orleans and all the lands west of the Mississippi; the British took the lands east of the Mississippi.<ref> In 1763 the British also took control of Florida from Spain; in 1783 the British returned East Florida and West Florida to Spain.</ref> By 1800 [[Napoleon]], with dfreams of a new French Empire in the Caribbean, sensed the strategic importance of Louisiana and decided to take it from Spain.  By the Treaty of San Ildefonso, Oct. 1, 1800, and the Convention of Aranjuez, Mar. 21, 1801, Napoleon acquired Louisiana for France in return for placing the son-in-law of the Spanish king on the newly erected throne of Etruria.  

 

Rumors of this secret retrocession from Spain to France reached the United States, causing apprehension of possible encirclement. Some westerners might switch allegiance to France. ,.  and loss of the western states of the French by secession, should the French control the Mississippi River and New Orleans. President Jefferson said that America was faced with the prospect of "marrying the British fleet and nation" (that is, becoming an ally of britain the large-scale wars underway between Britain and France)as an offset to this new French empire in the heart of the continent.  Livingston and special envoy [[James Monroe]] in Paris plied the French with arguments for a deal with the United States as they strove to buy just the coastal areas of New Orleans and West Florida. In the final decision to sell the whole province of Louisiana to the Americans, Napoleon was influenced by the imminent renewal of war with Britain, when Louisiana might be lost anyway, and the consequent need for money as well as by the failure of his Haitian campaign, where his invasion army had been destroyed by disease. Napoleon's chief goal was to strengthen the United States as a counter-weight to Britain.  

Rumors of this secret retrocession from Spain to France reached the United States, causing apprehension of possible encirclement. President Jefferson said that America was faced with the prospect of "marrying the British fleet and nation" (that is, becoming an ally of Britain the large-scale wars underway between Britain and France) as an offset to this new French empire in the heart of the continent.  Livingston and special envoy [[James Monroe]] in Paris plied the French with arguments for a deal with the United States as they strove to buy just the coastal areas of New Orleans and West Florida. In the final decision to sell the whole province of Louisiana to the Americans, Napoleon was influenced by the imminent renewal of war with Britain, when Louisiana might be lost anyway, and the consequent need for money as well as by the failure of his Haitian campaign, where his invasion army had been destroyed by disease. Napoleon's chief goal was to strengthen the United States as a counter-weight to Britain.  

 

Exceeding their instructions, the American envoys accepted Napoleon's offer.  By a treaty and two conventions, all dated April 30, 1803, the United States paid $11.25 million for Louisiana, set aside $3.75 million to pay the claims of its own citizens against France, and placed France and Spain on an equal commercial basis with the United States in the colony for a period of twelve years.  To finance the sale the U.S. delivered Treasury bonds to France, which it immediately resold to British bankers for gold. On Novenber 30, 1803, Spain formally delivered the colony to the French colonial prefect, who on December 20, 1803, officially transferred the territory to the American commissioners.

Exceeding their instructions, the American envoys accepted Napoleon's offer.  By a treaty and two conventions, all dated April 30, 1803, the United States paid $11.25 million for Louisiana, set aside $3.75 million to pay the claims of its own citizens against France, and placed France and Spain on an equal commercial basis with the United States in the colony for a period of twelve years.  To finance the sale the U.S. delivered Treasury bonds to France, which it immediately resold to British bankers for gold. On Novenber 30, 1803, Spain formally delivered the colony to the French colonial prefect, who on December 20, 1803, officially transferred the territory to the American commissioners.