may 2, 1803 - Louisiana Purchase

Description:

In the Louisiana Purchase, Thomas Jefferson bought the Louisiana territory from France for $15 million. The original deal was that the US would buy New Orleans for 10 million but the French proposed 15 million for new Orleans and the Louisiana territory. This added 827,000 square miles of land to the US nearly doubling its size. This purchase was a diplomatic triumph and crucial event of the time because of the amount of land that it opened up for the US to expand into and because it gave the US power over the Mississippi river and trade with New Orleans.