The Louisiana Purchase
Who benefited more?
What is the louisiana purchase?
The louisiana was one of the largest land purchases in history. The United States bought 828,000 square miles of from the french. The U.S. paid a total of $15,000,000 for all of the land, $11,250,000 in cash and the U.S. cancelled France's debt of $3,750,000. They only paid 3 cents an acre!This turned out to be one of the smartest purchases in U.S. history.
How did this impact the French?
The French gained alot and lost some in this purchase. They gained alot of money and paid off their debt to the U.S. The French had to sell this because if they didnt they wouldnt have had any money to go to war and fight for their remaining land in other parts of the world. This was important to have because the land had alot of natural resources on it. Also, they maintained haiti and didnt lose it because they had the money to go to war and fight for their land. But, on the bad side they did lose alot of land and control in that area.
How did this impact the U.S.?
This purchase really didnt have any down sides to it for the U.S., it was a great purchase for them. They gained a ton of land and took a big step in expanding it's territory "from sea to shining sea," which was a long time goal for them. Also, they controlled the Mississippi river which was a major trade route, and if they didnt make this purchase they wouldve lost ability to go through their for trade because of the Spanyards. Later, they gained Florida from Spain because of a $5 million claim against them. But, really the only down sides was going through a long process of negotiations.
Who gained more from the purchase?
I believe the U.S. gained more from it for a couple of reasons. The first one is, they expanded their country and gained alot of land from the French. Also, they gained back a major trade route in the Misssissippi river which was important. They also didnt lose much in the purchase. Overall, it was a great decision by the United States.