With $9 million to buy New Orleans, Monroe comes back with half of the American continent... though arguably a bargain, it put the US into significant debt to, you guessed it, a BRITISH bank.

"But the resourceful Barbé-Marbois had an answer for that too. He had contacts at Britain’s Baring & Co. Bank, which agreed, along with several other banks, to make the actual purchase and pay Napoléon cash. The bank then turned over ownership of the Louisiana Territory to the United States in return for bonds, which were repaid over 15 years at 6 percent interest, making the final purchase price around $27 million."

Even Jefferson questioned whether the purchase was constitutional. But whatevs, GOD WILLS IT! No wonder JQA and some New England Federalists were pissed... spending a bunch of tax money to extend the political power of the southern (slave state) faction, while amassing a large debt to a bank in a country (Britain) which was still fighting with the French, thus pinning the US even tighter both sides while struggling to stay neutral.

And the icing on the cake... Lewis & Clark sent on a "exploratory expedition" that was billed as a "let's check out the cool animals and trees" adventure, when in reality it was more of a military scouting mission to see what potential obstacles might get in the way of America spreading all the way to the Pacific.

Funny how America fights a war with GB from 1812-1815, while still in debt to a British bank for the purchase of New Orleans, with payments scheduled until 1818, and the final major battle takes place AFTER the Treaty of Ghent at New Orleans....