The Louisiana Purchase

In 1803, the U.S. purchased 828,000 square miles of land from France at approximately three cents per acre. The final decision came after President Thomas Jefferson struggled for three years with the choice that many believed to be unconstitutional, during which the land changed hands between the French and the Spanish. In what was perhaps the nation's most formative development since the Revoluationary War, the the eventual deal secured the U.S. fifteen new states, although it started more polemic and public arguments about the American Frontier, and ensured Jefferson a complicated legacy in American history.

In five concise chapters bolstered by treaties, letters, and government documents, Robert D. Bush introduces students to the political history of this momentous land acquisition. With special attention to the diplomatic and constitutional background of the event, The Lousiana Purchase examines the well-known event in the context of the Atlantic world.