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Donald Trump's idea of buying Greenland sounded unprecedented. But in reality, it would follow a long American tradition. The United States expanded much of its territory not through war, but through purchases: Louisiana from France, Florida from Spain, Alaska from Russia, the Virgin Islands from Denmark, and vast lands from Mexico. These were not symbolic deals. They reshaped the map of North America and turned the U.S. into a continental power.What seemed like "cheap" transactions at the time now equal hundreds of millions of dollars. Sometimes even more. In historical perspective, buying territory has been one of the most decisive tools of American expansion. Greenland would not have been an exception. It would have been a continuation of a strategy that has existed for more than two centuries.