Louisiana Purchase Treaty

Exploring the Essential Primary Sources
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7 Louisiana Purchase Treaty
7 Louisiana Purchase Treaty
https://doi.org/10.3735/9781968349172.book-part-07

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Abstract

The Louisiana Purchase was the agreement between the United States and France that allowed the United States to buy an enormous amount of land west of the Mississippi River for the bargain price of $15 million. Not only was the land a vast swath of the continent stretching from the Gulf of Mexico to Canada, but it also included the most vital, lucrative, and strategic trading route in North America: the Mississippi River and the port city of New Orleans. The Louisiana Territory doubled the size of the United States and began the waves of westward expansion that characterized the United States during the nineteenth century.

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