The Louisiana Purchase stamps were issued during the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair, (The Louisiana Purchase Exposition). There were five stamps in the set. The map stamp pictured above and four other stamps honoring Robert Livingston, Thomas Jefferson, James Monroe and William McKinley.

The 3rd Louisiana Purchase Stamp, was issued in New Orleans, Louisiana April 30, 2003

Most Scholars believe that the French failure to defeat the insurrection in Saint-Domingue, (Haiti) led by Toussaint L'Ouverture, Jean-Jacques Dessalines and Henry Christophe and the imminence of war with Great Britain, prompted Napoleon to offer the entire Louisiana Territory for sale to the United States.

The Louisiana Purchase, which included the entire western half of the Mississippi River basin was purchased from France by the United States at less than three cents per acre for 828,000 square miles. It was the greatest land bargain in U.S. history. The purchase doubled the size of the United States, greatly strengthened the country materially and strategically and provided a powerful impetus to westward expansion. The treaty ceding the land to the United States was signed in France by James Monroe and Robert Livingston on May 2, 1803.

Haitian Revolution

In the late 1790s Toussaint L'Ouverture, a former slave gained control over several areas in Saint-Domingue and earned the initial support of the French.  Toussaint gave nominal allegiance to France while pursuing his own political and military plans, which included negotiating with the British. In May 1801 Toussaint had himself named Governor-General for life. Napoleon Bonaparte, wishing to maintain control of the island, attempted to restore the old regime (and white rule) by sending his brother-in-law, General Charles Leclerc, with an experienced force that included several exiled mulatto officers. Toussaint struggled for several months against Leclerc's forces before agreeing to an armistice in May 1802, however the French broke the agreement and imprisoned him in France. He died on April 7, 1803.

Jean-Jacques Dessalines and Henry Christophe led a black army against the French in 1802, following evidence that Napoleon intended to restore slavery in Saint-Domingue as he had done in other French possessions. They defeated the French commander and a large part of his army, and in November 1803 the Viscount de Rochambeau surrendered the remnant of the expedition.

On January 1, 1804, Saint Domingue was declared independent under the native Arawak name of Haiti. The United States did not recognize the independence of Haiti until after the secession of the southern states in 1862.