Actually, the Louisiana Purchase price was 80 million francs or $15 million, and when the 20-year notes to British and Dutch bankers were paid off, the total cost was $23,527,872.57 - which computes to a little over 4 cents an acre.  And actually it was Hamilton who had already created the public debt, in part for political/policy reasons, and the Jefferson administration was busily paying it down until the opportunity to buy all of Louisiana suddenly happened - one of many ironies in what Talleyrand called "a noble bargain."  Now back to work on my book about the Louisiana Purchase, slated for publication by Knopf in 2003.

---------- Original Message ----------------------------------
>Thomas Jefferson faced the problem of paying for projects such as the
>Louisiana Purchase ($3million plus administrative expense), the Lewis
>and Clark expedition, and various other less visible national
>obligations which created public debt.







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