Behind the Scenes of the Louisiana Purchase

“The Louisiana Purchase” refers to the 1803 cession by France to the United States of its right of pre-emption over the area of North America that it had claimed against other European powers before 1763, a right it had ceded to Spain in that year. For $15 million paid by the United States, France ceded the area it had re-claimed from Spain two years previously (Treaty of San Ildefonso) to the new country, doubling its area. The “greatest land deal in history” was done by the respective political leaders, Napoleon and Jefferson, who, with their respective agents, are prominently featured in all subsequent histories. Left behind the scenes are the financial actors, the men who arranged the financing and carried it to completion through the following years. They met the challenges of renewed war, including between the United States and Britain, and the resulting restrictions on international trade and finance, to emerge as leaders in the continued rise of international finance.