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 Royal Bank of Scotland is the most prosperous banks in the UK although it is no longer owned by the Scottish royal family. I can tell you however that the British Queen does have an account with Coutts Bank which is a subsidiary of RBS. 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. They want to capitalize on the money handling and investment skills of the Scottish people.
Was this the reason why the American President Jefferson sent two Scottish Americans to take responsibility for the what was probably the most important real estate deal that America ever got involved in. 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.
Some people have pointed to the very strong resemblance of the American Independence Declaration to the Scottish cultural equivalent the Declaration of Arbroath drawn up in 1320 claiming independence from the English conquerors. Livingston was also the person who administrated the oath of office to the new President no-one could doubt his importance in the establishment of the USA and a strong Scottish American whilst maintaining his Scottish Culture.
Together with fellow Scottish American James Munro he was sent by Jefferson to purchase 828,000 square miles of land from France. 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 have established a special website specially for Scottish Americans and others interested in their Scottish cultural connection on ScottishJerk.com 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.
Tags: America, american, Arkansas, Benjamin Franklin, charity, Colorado, culture, David Beckham, david beckham and his wife, declaration of arbroath, english conquerors, France, Iowa, James Munro, Jefferson, John Adams, Kansas, land, Lord Livingston, Louisiana, Mary Queen, mary queen of scots, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Oklahoma, President Jefferson, Queen, Robert Livingston, Roger Sherman, Scotland, Scottish, Thomas Jefferson, UK, US, USA, Wyoming
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