What Territory Did the United States Buy From France in 1803? Civics Question 90

The answer is the Louisiana Territory, and “Louisiana” alone counts.

Question 90 asks what territory the United States bought from France in 1803. The accepted answers are the Louisiana Territory and Louisiana. The deal is usually called the Louisiana Purchase.

What the United States Bought

France controlled a wide stretch of land west of the Mississippi River, along with the port of New Orleans at the river’s mouth. American farmers shipped goods through that port, so control of it mattered to the United States.

Napoleon Bonaparte was fighting wars in Europe and needed money. In 1803 he sold the whole territory, not just the port, for about fifteen million dollars.

The land ran from the Mississippi River west toward the Rocky Mountains. Buying it roughly doubled the size of the United States.

Why the Officer Asks This

This purchase is how the country moved west of the Mississippi. Everything the United States later did in the middle of the continent starts here.

The sale also connects to question 87. Thomas Jefferson was president in 1803, and doubling the size of the United States is one of the accepted answers for what he is famous for.

The Territory Is Not the State

Louisiana today is one state on the Gulf coast. The Louisiana Territory of 1803 was far larger and covered land that later became many states.

Both “Louisiana” and “Louisiana Territory” are accepted answers, so you do not need to draw that line for the officer.

How to Remember It

The name is French because the land was French. The territory was named for King Louis of France, and the name stayed after the United States bought it.

The name carries the seller inside it. France sold the land, and the French king’s name is still on it: Louis, Louisiana.

For the year, pair it with Jefferson. He wrote the Declaration of Independence in 1776 and bought this territory in 1803, as the third president.

Common Ways People Get This Wrong

Alaska is the usual wrong answer. The United States bought Alaska from Russia, and that came much later, in 1867.

Florida is the other one. Spain gave up Florida, not France.

What to Say on Test Day

Say “the Louisiana Territory.” One phrase and the question is answered.

You do not need the price, the port, or Napoleon’s name. Say the territory and stop.