Napoleon was very much in need of money to conduct his war against England, and his disastrous attempt to subdue the natives of San Domingo probably made him decide to offer the whole of Louisiana, which he did for $15,000,000. This great purchase was consummated by Monroe in 1803. This was the greatest act of Jefferson’s administration, but the people bitterly opposed it, claiming that we had no use for the additional territory. Napoleon said that in selling Louisiana to the United States “he had placed a thorn where England would some day feel it.” The acquisition of Louisiana more than doubled the area of the United States, which was 827,844 square miles, increasing it to 1,999,775 square miles. It constitutes about ten of our largest States to-day. FLORIDA. This State, with all its old traditions, has seen many vicissitudes. It belonged to Spain from 1565 until 1763, nearly two hundred years, when Great Britain traded Cuba for it. In 1781, the British were expelled by Spain and that country again assumed possession of Florida. In a very few years the inability which Spain has ever shown to properly govern her Colonial possessions was manifest. A war broke out between the Spaniards and the Seminole Indians of Florida and soon the whole State was in a condition of virtual anarchy. Emboldened by their successes in warfare, the Indians molested the frontier of Georgia. The Government of the United States then took an action which constituted a precedent for its action in invading Cuba in the late war with Spain. It despatched a military force into Florida under command of General Andrew Jackson. He virtually took possession of Florida and speedily restored order. His conduct excited much debate in Congress and in the Cabinet, a strong anti-expansion sentiment developing. The matter was finally settled by purchasing Florida from Spain for $5,000,000. This was done in 1819. Emigration poured into the territory from the States further north and soon the value of Florida as an acquisition to the country became evident and the anti-expansion sentiment died away. In 1845 Florida was admitted into the Union as a State. In 1861 it seceded with other Southern States and returned again to the Union in 1868. It may be pertinent right here to say that when the United States buys or comes into possession of a tract of land it becomes the property of the country and is called a Territory, and under the Constitution it is so treated, without representation in Congress until such time as it is admitted into the Union and becomes one of the United States. TEXAS.