Louisiana Purchase
The United States bought the colony of Louisiana, a vast territory west of the Mississippi, from France for 15 million dollars, nearly doubling the country’s area. The treaty was signed in Paris on 30 April 1803, and on 20 December the territory was formally handed over to the United States in New Orleans.
- Date
- 30 April – 20 December 1803exact date · duration: ≈ 8 months
- Place
- New Orleans (the Cabildo)today: New Orleans, Louisiana, USA · North America
- Participants
- United States of America, French First Republic, Thomas Jefferson
- Threads
- The world in the Age of Revolution
Napoleon had regained Louisiana from Spain in 1800, hoping to revive a French empire in the New World, but the failure of the Saint-Domingue expedition and an impending new war with Britain made him abandon these plans. The American envoys Robert Livingston and James Monroe, whom President Jefferson had instructed to buy only New Orleans, agreed to acquire the whole colony.
In reality France controlled only a small part of these lands, which were inhabited by Native Americans: what the United States was buying was above all the right to colonize them.
Connections
Causes and preconditions
- Haitian Revolutionbetween 21 August and 22 August 1791 – 1 January 1804 · Latin Americathe failure of the Saint-Domingue expedition prompted Napoleon to sell Louisiana
Consequences
- Lewis and Clark Expedition14 May 1804 – 23 September 1806 · North America
Same participants
- First inauguration of George Washington30 April 1789 · North Americavia United States of America
- Battle of Marengo14 June 1800 · Western and Central Europevia French First Republic
- Napoleonic Code (French Civil Code)21 March 1804 · Western and Central Europevia French First Republic
Adjacent events in the thread
- Gia Long unifies Vietnam and founds the Nguyễn dynasty1 June 1802 · Southeast Asia and Oceania
- Battle of Assaye23 September 1803 · South Asia
Meanwhile in the world
Other regions, within a year of this event
Western and Central Europe
- Napoleonic Code (French Civil Code)21 March 1804
- Coronation of Napoleon2 December 1804
Eastern Europe
- First Russian circumnavigation26 July (7 August) 1803 – 7 (19) August 1806
Balkans and Anatolia
- First Serbian Uprising14 February 1804 – 7 October 1813
Africa
- Jihad of Usman dan Fodio21 February 1804 – 1808
South Asia
- Battle of Assaye23 September 1803
East Asia
- Rezanov’s embassy to Japan26 September (8 October) 1804 – April 1805
- White Lotus Rebellionbetween 1794 and 1796 – 1804
Southeast Asia and Oceania
Latin America
- Haitian Declaration of Independence1 January 1804
- Balmis Expedition30 November 1803 – 14 August 1806
- Haitian Revolutionbetween 21 August and 22 August 1791 – 1 January 1804