USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -Jefferson had only given Monroe and Livingston instructions to spend up to $10 million to purchase New Orleans and West Florida. But when the French offered them a $15 million deal for all of Louisiana, they consented immediately.

Detailed explanation-2: -They were authorized to pay France up to $10 million for the port of New Orleans and the Floridas. When offered the entire territory of Louisiana–an area larger than Great Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Portugal combined–the American negotiators swiftly agreed to a price of $15 million.

Detailed explanation-3: -In addition to making military preparations for a conflict in the Mississippi Valley, Jefferson sent James Monroe to join Robert Livingston in France to try to purchase New Orleans and West Florida for as much as $10 million. Failing that, they were to attempt to create a military alliance with England.

Detailed explanation-4: -On October 20, 1803, the Senate ratified a treaty with France, promoted by President Thomas Jefferson, that doubled the size of the United States. But was Jefferson empowered to make that $15 million deal under the Constitution? The Louisiana Purchase was a seminal moment for a new nation.

Detailed explanation-5: -The Original Goal: Buying New Orleans To him, New Orleans was key: Whoever owned it would be America’s natural enemy because that nation would control the channel through which produce from more than a third of the United States had to pass.