Louisiana Purchase Financed Napoleon's Invasion

In 1803, France spent the entire 50 million francs it received from the Louisiana Purchase on preparations for French military leader Napoleon Bonaparte's planned invasion of Britain. The money helped France gather and train a 200,000-man army at camps along the English Channel and build a fleet of invasion barges. The United States had partly financed the purchase through a loan from Baring Brothers of London, meaning a British bank indirectly funded an invasion of its own country. Napoleon abandoned the plan in 1805 and marched the invasion army east to begin the Ulm campaign.

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