CNN: New Nickels honor Louisiana Purchase
Here's a look at the 1892 U.S. Atlas page showing the 1803 Louisiana Purchase
Looking at the map, it sort of makes me wonder what life would have been like if the U.S. hadn't purchased the territory from France. Without it, would we ever have achieved the Manifest Destiny of stretching from 'sea to shining sea'? What if James Monroe and Robert R. Livingston had negotiated only for New Orleans and West Florida instead of purchasing without authorization the entire tract of land? Keep in mind the United States is only 27 years old at this point.
Where would Clark Kent have grown up instead of Smallville, Kansas? Would Polk have initiated the Mexican-American War, and taken the rest of the territories of the Southwestern United States? Would California still be part of Mexico? Would Alaska still belong to the Russians? Would Napoleon have been able to conquer so much of Europe without the 22 million brought by the Louisiana Purchase?
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