Louisiana Purchase TreatyIn 1803 the United States purchased a vast interior region of North America from France for $15 million.

« Louisiana Purchase Treaty In 1803 the United States purchased a vast interior region of North America from France for $15 million.

This acquisition, called the Louisiana Purchase, extended U.S.territory from the Mississippi River westward to the Rocky Mountains.

The first of the following three documents is the treaty of cession, in which France agreed to sell theprovince known as Louisiana to the United States.

The other two documents are separate agreements, one for the U.S.

government’s payment of $11,250,000 to Franceand the other for payment of claims that U.S.

citizens had made against France, amounting to $3,750,000.

The second agreement stipulated that the United States wouldpay these funds directly to the citizens who made the claims.

Nineteenth-century conventions of spelling, grammar, and usage in this document have not been modified. The Louisiana Purchase Treaty Between the United States of America and the French Republic The President of the United States of America and the First Consul of the French Republic in the name of the French People desiring to remove all Source ofmisunderstanding relative to objects of discussion mentioned in the Second and fifth articles of the Convention of the 8th Vendé miaire [Vendé miaire was thedesignation of the month in the French calendar at the time] an 9/30 September 1800 relative to the rights claimed by the United States in virtue of the Treatyconcluded at Madrid the 27 of October 1795, between His Catholic Majesty & the Said United States, & willing to Strengthen the union and friendship which at thetime of the Said Convention was happily reestablished between the two nations have respectively named their Plenipotentiaries to wit The President of the UnitedStates, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate of the Said States; Robert R.

Livingston Minister Plenipotentiary of the United States and James MonroeMinister Plenipotentiary and Envoy extraordinary of the Said States near the Government of the French Republic; And the First Consul in the name of the Frenchpeople, Citizen Francis Barbé Marbois Minister of the public treasury who after having respectively exchanged their full powers have agreed to the followingArticles. Article I Whereas by the Article the third of the Treaty concluded at St Ildefonso the 9th Vendé miaire an 9/1st October 1800 between the First Consul of the French Republicand his Catholic Majesty it was agreed as follows. 'His Catholic Majesty promises and engages on his part to cede to the French Republic six months after the full and entire execution of the conditions andStipulations herein relative to his Royal Highness the Duke of Parma, the Colony or Province of Louisiana with the Same extent that it now has in the hand of Spain,& that it had when France possessed it; and Such as it Should be after the Treaties subsequently entered into between Spain and other States.' And whereas in pursuance of the Treaty and particularly of the third article the French Republic has an incontestible title to the domain and to the possession of thesaid Territory—The First Consul of the French Republic desiring to give to the United States a strong proof of his friendship doth hereby cede to the United States inthe name of the French Republic forever and in full Sovereignty the said territory with all its rights and appurtenances as fully and in the Same manner as they havebeen acquired by the French Republic in virtue of the above mentioned Treaty concluded with his Catholic Majesty. Art: II In the cession made by the preceeding article are included the adjacent Islands belonging to Louisiana all public lots and Squares, vacant lands and all publicbuildings, fortifications, barracks and other edifices which are not private property.—The Archives, papers & documents relative to the domain and Sovereignty ofLouisiana and its dependances will be left in the possession of the Commissaries of the United States, and copies will be afterwards given in due form to theMagistrates and Municipal officers of such of the said papers and documents as may be necessary to them. Art: III The inhabitants of the ceded territory shall be incorporated in the Union of the United States and admitted as soon as possible according to the principles of thefederal Constitution to the enjoyment of all these rights, advantages and immunities of citizens of the United States, and in the mean time they shall be maintainedand protected in the free enjoyment of their liberty, property and the Religion which they profess. Art: IV There Shall be Sent by the Government of France a Commissary to Louisiana to the end that he do every act necessary as well to receive from the Officers of hisCatholic Majesty the Said country and its dependances in the name of the French Republic if it has not been already done as to transmit it in the name of the FrenchRepublic to the Commissary or agent of the United States. Art: V Immediately after the ratification of the present Treaty by the President of the United States and in case that of the first Consul's shall have been previously obtained,the commissary of the French Republic shall remit all military posts of New Orl eans and other parts of the ceded territory to the Commissary or Commissariesnamed by the President to take possession—the troops whether of France or Spain who may be there shall cease to occupy any military post from the time of takingpossession and shall be embarked as soon as possible in the course of three months after the ratification of this treaty. Art: VI The United States promise to execute Such treaties and articles as may have been agreed between Spain and the tribes and nations of Indians until by mutual consentof the United States and the said tribes or nations other Suitable articles Shall have been agreed upon. Art: VII As it is reciprocally advantageous to the commerce of France and the United States to encourage the communication of both nations for a limited time in the countryceded by the present treaty until general arrangements relative to commerce of both nations may be agreed on; it has been agreed between the contracting parties thatthe French Ships coming directly from France or any of her colonies loaded only with the produce and manufactures of France or her Said Colonies; and the Ships ofSpain coming directly from Spain or any of her colonies loaded only with the produce or manufactures of Spain or her Colonies shall be admitted during the Space oftwelve years in the Port of New-Orleans and in all other legal ports-of-entry within the ceded territory in the Same manner as the Ships of the United States comingdirectly from France or Spain or any of their Colonies without being Subject to any other or greater duty on merchandize or other or greater tonnage than that paid bythe citizens of the United States. During that Space of time above mentioned no other nation Shall have a right to the Same privileges in the Ports of the ceded territory—the twelve years Shallcommence three months after the exchange of ratifications if it Shall take place in France or three months after it Shall have been notified at Paris to the French. »