Louisiana Purchase

American  

noun

U.S. History.

1. a treaty signed with France in 1803 by which the U.S. purchased for $15,000,000 the land extending from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains and from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico.

2. the land included in this purchase.

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Louisiana Purchase British  

noun

1. the large region of North America sold by Napoleon I to the US in 1803 for 15 million dollars: consists of the W part of the Mississippi basin. Area: about 2 292 150 sq km (885 000 sq miles)

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Louisiana Purchase Cultural  

1. The purchase by the United States from France of the huge Louisiana Territory in 1803. President Thomas Jefferson ordered the purchase negotiations, fearing that the French, then led by Napoleon, wanted to establish an empire in North America. The French had no such ambitions but were happy to exchange their vast landholdings for cash. The area that they sold, extending from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains, more than doubled the size of the United States.

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Example Sentences

President Thomas Jefferson acquired the 828,000-square-mile Louisiana Purchase in 1803 for $15 million, or about $18 per square mile.

From Barron's • Jan. 8, 2026

Economically weakened by that war, France sold off its holdings in North America to the Jefferson administration, in what became known as the Louisiana Purchase.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 1, 2025

When the U.S. acquired these lands through the Louisiana Purchase, the Oregon Treaty and the Mexican-American War, there were no states in these areas to manage vast tracts of land.

From Salon • Jun. 21, 2025

Ms. Dahan was referring to the Louisiana Purchase of 1803 under which a vast sweep of territory was sold by France to the United States for a little over $27 million.

From New York Times • Dec. 2, 2022

What textbooks call the Louisiana Purchase should really be named the Sugar Purchase.

From "Sugar Changed the World: A Story of Magic, Spice, Slavery, Freedom, and Science" by Marc Aronson