Room to Grow!
American President Thomas Jefferson wanted the Mississippi River system and New Orleans to be part of the United States.  He sent statesmen to Paris to buy the land from the French emperor, NapolŽon Bonaparte.  NapolŽon didn't want to sell, but he needed money to finance his wars in Europe.  In 1803, NapolŽon sold the Louisiana Territory to the United States for $15 million.  In other words, the U.S. bought 300 million acres (120 million hectares) of land for 5¢ an acre.

The Louisiana Purchase doubled the size of the United States.  It included the present states of Louisiana, Arkansas, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, and parts of Kansas Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, and Minnesota.  What a deal!