Louisiana Purchase
The United States purchased approximately 828,000 square miles of territory from Napoleon's France for $15 million in April 1803, doubling the size of the nation overnight. Napoleon, needing funds for his European wars after the collapse of the Saint-Domingue colony, sold the territory despite having just acquired it from Spain. The purchase opened the entire Mississippi watershed to American settlement and set the nation on its westward course.
- Year: 1803 CE
- Category: Political
