Discover how Scots officially bought America.

Scots are known throughout the world for their canny ways of buying. So much so that it has become part of our Scottish Culture. We make fun of ourselves continually calling it meanness but those who have ever studied the annual reports of the UK Charities Commission will know that on a basis of money donated that Scotland gives more to Charity per head of population than any other part of the UK. Just don’t let anyone else find that out.

The most prosperous bank in the UK is the Royal Bank of Scotland no longer directly associated with the UK Royal Family. However it is public knowledge that the British Queen does bank with one of its constituent banks. For that matter so does the King of Soccer David Beckham and his wife!

You will also find that most of the large financial groups if not based in Scotland will have important offices in Scotland particularly Edinburgh. Lets face it anyone who wants to attract financially capable staff needs to have an office in Scotland.

Could this be the reason why two people of Scottish American descent were chosen by President Jefferson to handle perhaps one of the most important financial land transactions that America ever entered into? If it wasn’t the most expensive purchase of land in any single transaction it certainly had to be the largest in terms of acreage.

Robert Livingston could trace his family history back to Lord Livingston one of the guardians of Mary Queen of Scots born 1542 so his connection with Scotland and Scottish culture was well established. However Livingston was also a strong influence in early American politics even to being one of the five people who had drafted the American Declaration of Independence with Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin.

Perhaps that is why the US Declaration of Independence bears so much resemblance to Robert Bruce draft Declaration of Arbroath claiming independence from our unwelcome rulers England now very much part of the Scottish culture. Although Livingston was not one of the original people to publicly sign that Declaration of Independence due to other business commitments back in New York he was the person who administrated the oath of allegiance to the new president so he was definitely a Scottish American with a strong Scottish culture with a foot in both camps.

Livingston was sent By President Jefferson with another Scottish American James Munro to France to negotiate the purchase of over 828,000 square miles of land. This included what are now the states of Louisiana, Iowa, Arkansas, Nebraska and most of Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado, the Dakotas, Wyoming, Minnesota and Montana.

At a price equivalent to only 3 cents an acre or $15 million in total these two Scottish American using their Scottish culture background were able to double the size of America with one stroke of the pen.

No doubt about it these two Scottish Americans were able to use their Scottish culture background with its canny financial skills and their knowledge of the real value of land in acquiring land. We give more details of the close Scottish cultural connection between Scotland and America on our main website ScottishJerk.com have a look for yourself. If you thought these Scots buying so much land from the French was a bargain check out our Scottish land deal with this unique gift idea but very limited offer.