The United States and France completed the largest land deal in history on Dec. 20, 1803, in an agreement known as the Louisiana Purchase.

The Louisiana territory contained all or parts of 15 modern-day states and spread over roughly 828,000 square miles west of the Mississippi River from the coast of Louisiana into southern Canada. The United States government purchased the territory from France for $15 million, or less than 3 cents an acre.

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