> The Louisiana Purchase was the acquisition by the United States of America in 1803 of 828,000 square miles for a total sum of 15 million dollars (less than 3 cents per acre) for the Louisiana territory ($233 million in 2011 dollars, less than 42 cents per acre).
Louisiana was purchased from France during the Napoleonic Wars. Napolean used the money to fund an army that he amassed on the north coast of France for a planned invasion of England.
But he never launched the invasion, and the money was wasted.
It should be pointed out that the loss of Haiti to a slave revolt led Napoleon to believe that the Western Hemisphere was a bad investment. That was the other major impetus.
From Wikipedia:
> The Louisiana Purchase was the acquisition by the United States of America in 1803 of 828,000 square miles for a total sum of 15 million dollars (less than 3 cents per acre) for the Louisiana territory ($233 million in 2011 dollars, less than 42 cents per acre).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louisiana_Purchase