I know. I'm just playing along. I like the posts, though his views on Napoleon are incorrect.
During the War of the First Coalition, Napoleon took Parma. Parma's princess at the time was the daughter of King Charles IV of Spain.
King Charles IV of Spain wanted a new kingdom for his daughter to be queen of.
So, General Louis-Alexandre Berthier, Napoleon's Chief of Staff, offered to trade Etruria (freshly conquered) for Louisiana and six boats, four modern boats--the Conquistador, Infante Don Pelayo, Intrepido, and San Antonio--and two older ships, the Atlante and San Genaro. The French wanted Louisiana to help it re-take and hold Haiti and the boats to help with both.
The Treaty of Aranjuez was signed on March 21, 1801, to go into effect in August of 1801.
In January 1802, General Charles Leclerc, Napoleon's brother-in-law sailed for Haiti.
With the French sailing for the New World, Jefferson tasked Robert Livingston with purchasing Louisiana. (Livingston is an interesting character. He was on the Committee of Five to draft the Declaration of Independence but was recalled before signing the Declaration of Independence. His cousin, Philip, signed the Declaration of Independence, and a second cousin William, signed the Constitution. After independence, Livingston was the First Chancellor of New York, normally called Chief Justice. Without a Supreme Court, Livingston administered President George Washington's oath. Livingston generally sided with Jefferson against Hamilton and became the third Minster to the First Republic, a position, which had been vacant since James Monroe was recalled by George Washington on December 9, 1796. Charles Pickney had sought to replace Monroe, but Franco-American relations had hit a low after the Jay Treaty.)
Jefferson was publicly ambivalent about France's invasion of Haiti but was covertly supplying the Haitians in their war of independence.
The Treaty of Amiens was entered between England and France on March 25, 1802, taking effect two days later.
On October 9, 1802, the final King of Parma died, which officially made Charles IV's daughter the new Queen of Etruria.
Six days later, Spain officially began the process of transferring Louisiana to France.
The war in Haiti was going poorly for France with General Leclerc dying of malaria on November 2, 1802.
James Monroe ended his term as Governor of Virginia on December 1, 1802. At the beginning of the new year, Jefferson sent Monroe to France with $10 million to purchase New Orleans and West Florida (which France did not own). Monroe had previously been given orders that, if he could not negotiate for the purchase of New Orleans and West Florida, he was to continue sailing to England to negotiate an Alliance with England against France.
After Britain failed to evacuate Malta as was promised in February 1803, Napoleon began preparing for a renewed war with England. Without Haiti, which looked unlikely, Louisiana would be worse than worthless to Napoleon, costing more to defend than it could possibly hope to generate. Plus, Napoleon needed money to fund what would become the War of the Third Coalition. Moreover, Spain had begun turning over Louisiana to France but had not completed the turnover of any portion.
In order to figure out how much to sell Louisiana for, Napoleon asked how much England would be willing to pay for Louisiana. England indicated that they would be willing to pay $15 million.
On April 10, 1803, Napoleon offered the whole of Louisiana to United States of America for $15 million. This exceeded Livingston's authority. It also exceeded Monroe's authority. However, both men believed that the United States of America would agree to such amount. Both Livingston and Monroe believed that the Louisiana Purchase included West Florida, but France did not have it to sell. This would lead to issues until Spain sold Florida to the United States in 1819.
Jefferson announced the Louisiana Purchase on July 4, 1803, but he did not receive the actual documents until July 14, 1803. The Senate voted to ratify the treaty 24-7 on October 20, 1803. On November 30, 1803, Spain transferred New Orleans to France. France, in turn, turned over New Orleans to the United States on December 20, 1803 at the Cabildo (which now contains several Napoleon artifacts and Battle of New Orleans and pirate artifacts). Spain still held upper Louisiana until March 9, 1804, turning it over to France on that day. France, in turn, turned over Upper Louisiana to the United States of America on March 10, 1804 (the next day).
The United States of America did not have $15 million to purchase Louisiana. Instead, the United States of America took out loans from England and Holland. The money from the banks made it to Napoleon by April 1804. The United States of America ended up paying back the loans from England and Holland in 1823. With interest, the total purchase price was $23,313,567.73.
Lewis & Clark were in St. Louis on December 12, 1803, but had to await the turnover at New Orleans and then St. Louis to set off. It took three weeks to get together the full expedition, but Lewis & Clark ultimately waited for better weather, leaving St. Louis on May 14, 1803.
The Lewis & Clark expedition coupled with Captain Robert Gray's voyages to the Northwest between 1787-1793 enabled the United States of America to claim Oregon.
On the other side of Atlantic, Napoleon took the money from the United States of America and used it to become Emperor of France and King of Italy. Napoleon also used the funds and used them to outfit the French Army in the upcoming Wars of the Third and Fourth Coalitions. The victories in those two wars enabled France to dominate all nations on the European Continent with only England opposed.