Minister of Treasury Barbé Marbois Portfolio, which
- c. 1800-03
Napoléon had gained control of the Louisiana Territory from Spain in 1800 as part of an effort to create a new empire centered on the Caribbean sugar trade, as well as a base from which to challenge the British in the Caribbean. The strategy did not succeed, and he decided to sell the 800,000 square miles of land, which extended from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains, to the United States for about $15 million.
Historical Provenance - Barbé Marbois family collection
