Which U.S. president approved the 1803 Louisiana Purchase from France?

Thomas Jefferson approved the 1803 Louisiana Purchase from France while serving as the third president of the United States. The agreement transferred about 828,000 square miles of territory to the United States.

The United States agreed to pay $15 million, including the assumption of certain claims by American citizens against France. The treaty was signed in Paris on April 30, 1803, and the transfer was completed later that year.

The purchase gave the United States control of the Mississippi River and the port of New Orleans, which were vital to western farmers and national commerce. It also roughly doubled the country’s size, although the boundaries and meaning of the acquired territory required later exploration and negotiation.

Jefferson worried that the Constitution did not clearly authorize acquiring such a vast territory, but he ultimately supported the purchase. The Lewis and Clark Expedition began in 1804 to explore the new lands and seek routes to the Pacific.