Read about how Scottish Americans 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. And we are keeping that a secret so don’t tell anyone else.
The most prosperous bank in the UK is the Royal Bank of Scotland no longer directly associated with the UK Royal Family. I can tell you however that the British Queen does have an account with Coutts Bank which is a subsidiary of RBS. The same goes for Beckham King of the soccer field former captain of the English football team.
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 not the most important real estate deal in USA history it was almost certainly the largest.
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. He was also one of the five people who drafted the US Declaration of Independence with Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams and Roger Sherman.
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 land comprised of the states we now know as Iowa, Nebraska, Louisiana and Arkansas as well as most of Kansas, the two Dakotas, Oklahoma, Wyoming, Colorado, Montana and Minnesota.
Considering the total price paid was only $15 million these two Scottish Americans maximising their inherited Scottish culture background doubled the size of America at a cost of less than 3 cents an acre.
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.
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