Wild U.S. Land Deals That Reshaped the Nation (Full Transcript)

[00:00:00] Speaker 1: 2 cents an acre. That's how much the US paid the Russian Empire for Alaska. With all this talk about Greenland, I thought it'd be a good idea to rewind and look at some of the wildest land deals the US has made. Let's start with Florida. It was the early 1800s, and the Spanish colonies of East and West Florida were a total mess. Think lawless coastline, illegal trade, and constant border violence. US troops were already marching into the territory without permission. They left Spain no choice, and it ceded control in 1819. Not for cash, but with an agreement that the US would cover $5 million in claims by US citizens against Spain. On to Alaska. In 1867, the US bought the territory from the Russian Empire for $7.2 million. People mocked the purchase as Seward's Folly, calling it a frozen wasteland. It remained sparsely populated for the next 30 years, until the Klondike Gold Rush. Fast forward a few more decades, and Alaska delivered not only gold, but oil, gas, and a huge military advantage during World War II and the Cold War. Then there's the US Virgin Islands. In 1917, with World War I raging, the US paid Denmark $25 million in gold coin, equal to around $700 million today. The key motivation was strategic. US officials wanted a clear route to the Panama Canal. Let's not forget the biggest deal of them all. The $15 million Louisiana Purchase in 1803, which nearly doubled the size of the United States. But that one probably deserves its own video.