President Trump stirred up a hornet’s nest recently as he proposed that the U.S. try to buy Greenland. Many political observers rolled their eyes. Buy another country? Has the Prez thrown out another wacky suggestion and is this really a good idea? Actually, yes. America has been acquiring land from other nations for centuries. And often, Louisiana has been right in the mix.
Most Americans do not know that Greenland is owned by Denmark and the U.S. has operated the Thule Air Base there since 1941. The base is America’s northernmost defense site located less than 900 miles from the Arctic Circle. It is considered critical for America’s defense giving it a ballistic missile early warning system. So if Denmark is willing to sell, it would be in the strategic interest of America to acquire Greenland.
The Bayou State was right in the mix of the greatest land acquisition in the nation’s history back in 1803 when President Thomas Jefferson and Secretary of State James Madison, without the authority of congress, cut one heck of a deal with Napoleon. For a penance of $15 million, the size of America was doubled as the new Louisiana territory stretched from New Orleans to Canada and west to the Rocky Mountains, taking in over 828,000 square miles and all or part of what would later become 15 different states.
