Everyone loves feeling as if they stuck a great deal! Coming off of Amazon Prime Days, many Americans are probably pretty pleased with their purchases; however, none of our delight can compare with what former Special Envoy James Monroe must have felt as he finalized the deal for the Louisiana Purchase… 3 cents/acre… 828,000 square miles… expanding the breadth of his country … setting the stage to establish a “hands-off” foreign policy doctrine as president 20 years later. Men like Monroe, who influenced our country’s founding by sculpting our future in a series of steps, helped define who America would be some 250 years later. On November 2, 1803, the COLUMBIAN CENTINEL [1] covered the purchase of the Louisiana Territory and the NILES’ WEEKLY REGISTER, Baltimore, Dec. 6, 1823 [2] later covered Monroe’s Annual Message to Congress as President in which he detailed his now famous Monroe Doctrine. I love seeing steps in the sand leading from our county’s founding to our 250th birthday, detailed in newspapers of the day. Well done President Monroe! You found us a GREAT deal!
