The United States Senate ratified the Louisiana Purchase on this day in 1803, doubling the size of the country after Napoleon (yes, that Napoleon) sold the territory to the U.S. when France was strapped for cash. Unlike the sale of Alaska, it was no secret that the country’s expansion would be a boon to its economy. President Thomas Jefferson wanted control over the Mississippi River as he was concerned about France’s ability to close it off from American trade.
They sold the land for a cool $15 million, adding land that now includes Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, and parts of Minnesota, New Mexico, Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado.
You can read more about the Senate’s ratification of the treaty at, well, the website of the Senate.
