Worldwide wherever you go you will hear that it is part of the Scottish Culture that makes Scottish people are some of the most canny buyers. 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. 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. They want to capitalize on the money handling and investment skills of the Scottish people.
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. 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.
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.
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.
These Scottish Americans partly because of their Scottish culture knew the value of land and were willing to invest in it.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.