Louisiana Purchase: Buy or Not (1803)
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Napoleon offered to sell the entire Louisiana Territory to the US for $15 million. Jefferson faced a dilemma — the Constitution didn't explicitly authorize land purchases, but the deal would double the nation's size.
Buy Louisiana Territory
1803
year
$15 million (about 4 cents/acre)
price
No explicit authority — stretched interpretation
constitutional question
Purchased — doubled US territory
outcome
Decline the Offer
1803
year
N/A
price
Strict constitutional interpretation
constitutional question
Not chosen — deal was too good to refuse
outcome
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