Glenn Beck

His brother stormed into his bath chamber.

His younger brother quickly followed, and they railed against the sail.

Both threatened to go public and rally opinion against it.

How could France just give away an empire?

Napoleon exploded out of his luxurious bathtub in rage, soaking his brothers.

His mind was made up.

Negotiations raced forward.

The terms were staggering.

The United States would pay $15 million for the land, which included assuming $4 million that France had previously agreed to pay for the damages to the American shipping during the Quasi-War.

In return, America would receive 828,000 square miles, nearly 530 million acres, at about 3 cents an acre.

In modern terms, that's about 41 cents per acre.

It was the largest single land transfer in world history.

But the only catch was, the treaty required ratification in the U.S.

Senate by October.

Well, back in Washington, Jefferson received official word from Livingston about the deal on July 3rd, 1803.

But his first reaction was not celebration.

It was dread.

Because the Constitution didn't say the president could buy foreign empires.

Doubling the size of a nation without permission from the states was a little problematic.

James Madison, one of the primary architects of the Constitution himself, argued that while the document did not explicitly grant the power, it also didn't forbid it.