How did Jefferson and friends find out that Spain had ceded Louisiana back to France in 1800? Well, there were rumors, but when Secretary of State James Madison received this letter from Rufus King...

Anyone wondering how POTUS Jefferson felt about France's ownership of the Louisiana Territory really need look no further than this letter to Robert R. Livingston from April 18th, 1802.Hint: he was...

It wasn't a given that Congress would ratify the Louisiana Purchase documents once they arrived on Thomas Jefferson's desk. In fact, there were some people who were super concerned about the whole...

When Robert R. Livingston, James Monroe, and François de Barbé-Marbois put together the whole Louisiana Purchase packet, they stressed that the treaty and conventions needed to be ratified within...

Ever asked someone the same question over and over and not gotten a satisfactory answer? Irritating, isn't it?But that's what Robert R. Livingston was dealing with while on assignment in Paris. Eve...

By the mid-19th century, the United States had expansionist fever, fueled by a concept called Manifest Destiny, which was the idea that it was the destiny of the United States to own and occupy the...

Getting an even sweeter deal than the Louisiana Territory, the United States bought Alaska from Russia in 1867 for a fire sale price of 2 cents per acre. Similar political dynamics motivated this s...