# Questions regarding the final settlement of the Louisiana Purchase loan **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 16, 2023, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-regarding-the-final-settlement-of-the-louisiana-purchase-loan/979879 "2023-02-16T10:56:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Octagon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/2acd7d/32.png) [@Octagon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Octagon)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2023, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-regarding-the-final-settlement-of-the-louisiana-purchase-loan/979879/1 "2023-02-16T10:56:49Z")
Did the US pay off the final installment on its Louisiana Purchase loan in 1822 or 1823 ? How much did the US pay in its final installment on the loan? Are there any non-redeemed bonds related to the Louisiana Purchase in existence today? ---
**Author:** ![Tired\_and\_Cranky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@Tired\_and\_Cranky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tired_and_Cranky)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2023, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-regarding-the-final-settlement-of-the-louisiana-purchase-loan/979879/2 "2023-02-16T14:55:39Z")
Below, I link to a website that says the last bonds matured in 1822. The site says that an example of the certificate (pictured in the link below) survives in the National Archives. I couldn’t find any record of an unredeemed bond like that selling in the private market. If there are any that were unredeemed, they are probably exceedingly rare but you probably realize that. If I understand the terms of the bond correctly, the last payment should have been 1/4 of the principal amount (or $3.75 million) plus accrued interest at 6% annual rate for six months, so an additional $112,500. > **[The Louisiana Purchase and the Birth of American High Finance | Howe &...](https://www.howeandrusling.com/the-louisiana-purchase-and-the-birth-of-american-high-finance/)** > > The four most powerful words in the universe of bonds are “full faith and credit.” These words apply to government Treasury bills, notes, and bonds whose timely interest and principal \[…\] ---
**Author:** ![Octagon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/2acd7d/32.png) [@Octagon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Octagon)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2023, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-regarding-the-final-settlement-of-the-louisiana-purchase-loan/979879/3 "2023-02-16T16:12:08Z")
Thanks Tired\_and\_Cranky. A very useful article. Thanks for the analysis. ---
**Author:** ![Tired\_and\_Cranky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@Tired\_and\_Cranky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tired_and_Cranky)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2023, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-regarding-the-final-settlement-of-the-louisiana-purchase-loan/979879/4 "2023-02-16T22:47:38Z")
You’re welcome. ---
**Author:** ![Cwturner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Cwturner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cwturner)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2023, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-regarding-the-final-settlement-of-the-louisiana-purchase-loan/979879/5 "2023-02-17T02:55:53Z")
Somewhat related. I was in New Orleans in December when Macron was visiting. Word was he wanted to see the documents for the Louisiana Purchase. Someone suggested that he was looking for a “loophole” to get it back. Seeing how contract law is very specific, how blatant a mistake would be needed for that possibility to be entertained? ---
**Author:** ![Octagon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/2acd7d/32.png) [@Octagon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Octagon)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2023, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-regarding-the-final-settlement-of-the-louisiana-purchase-loan/979879/6 "2023-02-22T15:56:36Z")
Would the interest payments from the United States have gone directly to Berings and Hope & Co. How exactly were the payments executed and to whom? ---
**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2023, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-regarding-the-final-settlement-of-the-louisiana-purchase-loan/979879/7 "2023-02-22T19:41:49Z")
I think we can be quite assured that Macron wanted to see the document out of historical interest only, and not in a serious attempt to get Louisiana back. There is an exactly zero chance of that happening. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2023, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-regarding-the-final-settlement-of-the-louisiana-purchase-loan/979879/8 "2023-02-22T21:44:24Z")
> [@Cwturner](#): > > Seeing how contract law is very specific, how blatant a mistake would be needed for that possibility to be entertained? For one thing, prescription would have long since passed. ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2023, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-regarding-the-final-settlement-of-the-louisiana-purchase-loan/979879/9 "2023-02-23T21:11:36Z")
> [@Cwturner](#): > > how blatant a mistake would be needed for that possibility to be entertained? Literally nothing. God coming down from heaven and claiming it’s a forgery only leads to “too bad.” France would need a war to get it back. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2023, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-regarding-the-final-settlement-of-the-louisiana-purchase-loan/979879/10 "2023-02-23T21:39:52Z")
> [@Snarky\_Kong](#): > > Literally nothing. And, I have to believe that a mistake that wold have been blatant enough to invalidate the purchase would have been discovered and addressed back then, rather than lingering around for 220 years, waiting for someone observant enough to actually read the contract. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2023, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-regarding-the-final-settlement-of-the-louisiana-purchase-loan/979879/11 "2023-02-23T22:07:08Z")
At the time, not everyone agreed that it was legit. Specifically, a lot of Spaniards disagreed with the transferral to France. Spain had acquired Louisiana some 40 years earlier and Napoleon forced Spain to transfer it back. Great Britain also did not recognize the transferral to France. ---
**Author:** ![fordgt100](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@fordgt100](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fordgt100)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2023, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-regarding-the-final-settlement-of-the-louisiana-purchase-loan/979879/12 "2023-02-25T22:05:21Z")
From what I read, someone named Esther Dahan called Macron an idiot for France selling the land “for a mouthful of bread”. Macron is supposed to have shook her hand and said “I know”, whilst shaking his head. Hey, he got 3 cents an acre, not bad for a lot of swamp. This is from a N.Y. Times article on his visit. The Times Picayune apparently missed the exchange.