Conflicts & Resolutions · Treaty

Louisiana Purchase

1803 · 19th century

The Louisiana Purchase was the acquisition by the United States of France's territory of Louisiana in 1803 for about 15 million dollars. Spain had returned the colony to France shortly before, and Napoleon sold it after failing to hold Saint-Domingue. The purchase roughly doubled the size of the United States, though its vague boundaries left disputes such as that over West Florida.

Louisiana Purchase
Image: William Morris · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Mentioned in 1 profile

United StatesSummary

Mentioned in 3 state histories

Spanish LouisianaUnited StatesRepublic of West Florida

See also

Cite this entry
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Louisiana Purchase. In The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/louisiana-purchase
MLA
“Louisiana Purchase.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/louisiana-purchase. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Louisiana Purchase.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/louisiana-purchase.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Louisiana Purchase’, The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/louisiana-purchase (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random entry ↻