Senate Ratifies Louisiana Purchase: U.S. Doubles
The Senate ratified the Louisiana Purchase on October 20, 1803, by a vote of 24 to 7. Jefferson had agonized over the constitutionality of the deal: nothing in the Constitution explicitly authorized the federal government to purchase foreign territory. He drafted a constitutional amendment, then abandoned it when advisors warned Napoleon might change his mind. The $15 million price tag, roughly 4 cents per acre, bought 828,000 square miles from France, doubling the nation's size overnight. Napoleon sold because he needed cash for his European wars and had just lost Haiti to a slave revolt that destroyed his plans for a western empire. The purchase included all or part of 15 future states. Jefferson immediately dispatched Lewis and Clark to explore what he had bought.
October 20, 1803
223 years ago
Key Figures & Places
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