Download Territorial Acquisitions of the United States

Territorial Acquisitions of the United States
The Original 13 Colonies
America as we know it began in 1607, when John Smith and the Jamestown settlers built
the first permanent English settlement on a marshy peninsula on the James River in
southeastern Virginia. Over the next 168 years, the English crown dominated settlement in
America, dispatching the Dutch from the region in 1664, and the French from the entire
continent in 1763 as a result of the French and Indian War. During the 1600s and early
1700s the English established 13 bustling colonies along the east coast of America. By 1775,
nearly 2.5 million people had settled there. These were the same colonies that became tired
of English taxes and declared their independence in 1776.
Post French & Indian War Territory
In the 1750's, both France and England made claims to the land now known as the Ohio
River Valley. In 1754, hostilities over the ownership of this land resulted in the Seven Years
War, also called the French and Indian War. Despite the name, the war lasted nine years and the British eventually defeated the French and their Indian allies.
The French were subsequently forced to give up all of their land claims in North America, which included much of the land west of the 13 colonies east of the
Mississippi River. Although the British crown attempted to restrict settlement on these lands as part of the Proclamation of 1763 (because of the vast Indian
presence in those lands,) Virginia, Massachusetts, and other colonies claimed parts of
these lands, known collectively as the Northwest Territory. Other colonies such as
North Carolina and Georgia claimed lands south of the Northwest Territory. The
Proclamation of 1763 was never enforced by the British crown and settlements in
present-day Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois were erected causing hostilities between the
settlers and local Indians to intensify.
Following the Revolutionary War, Great Britain ceded the lands to the United States
(although they maintained a presence in the region until the War of 1812.) Power
disputes between the former colonies escalated concerning the lands to the west,
and some states refused to ratify the Articles of Confederation (the 1st American
Constitution) if the land claims of Virginia, Massachusetts, and other states were
recognized. The United States henceforth required those states to cede their lands
before they could obtain ratification and the entirety of the land became public land
owned by the U.S. Government. In 1792, Kentucky was admitted to the United States,
followed by Tennessee four years later. In 1803, the state of Ohio was carved from
the Northwest Territory, followed by the Indiana Territory, which would eventually
be sub-divided into (or into parts of) the Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin Territories.
Louisiana Purchase
The Louisiana Purchase has been described as the "greatest real estate
deal in history". In 1803, The United States government purchased the
Louisiana Territory from Napoleon I of France for 60 million Francs, or,
about $15,000,000. $11,250,000 was paid directly to France and the
remainder was covered by French debt to U.S. citizens. The Louisiana
Purchase was consummated in order to secure free navigation of the
Mississippi River. President Jefferson sent two negotiators - James
Madison and Robert Livingston to France to convince Napoleon I to sell
the city of New Orleans. Time was of the essence because many viewed
Napoleon's acquisition of the Louisiana Territory as a means to invade
the United States. Napoleon offered not only New Orleans, but the entire
Louisiana Territory for sale. Because a constitutional amendment would
take too long, and because Napoleon wanted the deal finalized quickly,
Jefferson held the issue to a vote. Americans overwhelmingly voted in
favor of purchasing the Louisiana Territory. Its 800,000 square mile area
quickly doubled the size of the United States. Soon after the acquisition,
Jefferson sent Meriwether Lewis and William Clark on an expedition
through the new lands in which hundreds of new animals were
discovered as well as Native American tribes and a route to the Pacific Ocean.
Florida
The 1821 Adams-Onis Treaty settled a bitter land dispute between Spain
and the United States concerning the boundaries of the land acquired by
the United States from France as a result of the Louisiana Purchase and
other lands. In the agreement, the United States acquired Spanish Florida
(which included Spain's claims to Louisiana) in exchange for payments by
the United States of residents' claims against the Spanish government up to
a total of $5,000,000. In addition, the United States agreed to give up its
claims to parts of Texas and the desert southwest and Spain gave up its
claims to the Oregon Territory north of the 42nd Territory.
Texas Annexation
When Spain ceded Florida to the United
States after the Adams-Onis Treaty of 1819,
the United States agreed to relinquish its
claim to Texas. Unfortunately for Spain, their
vast empire was about to crumble throughout
the New World. It started with Texas.
Spain's influence in Texas was minimal at
best. After Mexico declared its independence
from Spain in 1821, Texas was a forgotten
land. The new nation of Mexico certainly
lacked the authority or finances to manage
the vast area. However, some opportunistic
Americans saw potential for profit in Texas.
Stephen A. Austin, the son of a Missouri man
who had negotiated a large-land grant with
the Mexican government in the hopes of
building a local economy, set about colonizing
Texas. By 1830, Austin had attracted 25,000
settlers and 2,000 slaves to Texas. Their plan
was to grow cotton.
As the New Mexican government saw Austin's
colony, it attempted to exert more control
over the region, claiming that the terms of the
original land-grant had been violated (settlers
refused to convert to Roman-Catholicism - the national religion of Mexico). Furthermore, the Mexican government refused to allow any more slaves to
immigrate to Mexico and placed taxes on goods imported from America. As expected, the colonists became disgruntled. The situation worsened when the
Mexican government jailed Stephen A. Austin for urging Texas to self-govern.
In 1836, General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna and 6,000 troops marched to Texas to subdue the Texans. On March 23, Santa Anna besieged the mission known
as The Alamo in San Antonio. Santa Anna's demand for surrender was answered with a defiant cannon blast authorized by Col. William Barret Travis. The
siege lasted for two weeks. On March 6, Santa Anna and his army stormed the mission and killed every Texan who resisted. Just four days earlier, On March 2,
the Texans declared independence, legalized slavery, and formed a provisional government. They named Sam Houston commander of their army. Because the
stand at The Alamo lasted two weeks, Sam Houston had time to prepare his army and plans of attack. On April 21, Houston's army of 800 Texans routed the
Mexican army of 1,600 at San Jacinto, Texas. In the battle, General Santa Anna was captured, and Texas became independent. Nine years later, after much
debate and deliberation, Texas became the 28th state. As a result, Mexico broke all diplomatic ties with the United States. The Mexican War would soon follow.
Oregon Country
The Oregon Territory, including modern-day Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and
parts of Montana and Wyoming, was a territory claimed by both the United
States and Great Britain prior to 1848. It was initially designated as an area of
"joint occupation" after the 1818 Anglo-American Convention. Joint control of the
area caused numerous territorial conflicts, threatened each nation's commercial
interests, and nearly caused a war. The 1846 Treaty of Oregon, between the two
nations, put a permanent end to the settlement question. Negotiated by future
president James Buchanan, the treaty set the boundary between American lands
and British lands at the 49th parallel, extending west to the Pacific Ocean. As
an exception to the treaty, Great Britain retained Victoria Island.
Mexican Cession (U.S. – Mexican War)
As a result of the U.S. annexation of Texas in 1845, hostilities between the two
nations exploded. Although officials in Mexico wanted peaceful negotiations,
vigorous demands from Mexican centralists pressured them to refuse. On April
25, 1846, Mexican soldiers attacked U.S. troops along the southern border of Texas. On May 13, President James K. Polk declared war on Mexico. Meanwhile, the
Mexicans had attempted two other attacks on American soldiers near the Rio Grande. Both ended in failure. The failures were devastating to the Mexicans,
who had a larger and better trained army than the Americans. In a series of battles at Palo Alto and Resaca de Palma (near current-day Brownsville, Texas),
the army of General, and future president, Zachary Taylor defeated Mexican
forces and began to move south. In August of 1846, Taylor began formulating
plans to attack the Mexican stronghold of Monterrey. Meanwhile, nearly
20,000 American volunteers had gathered near the Rio Grande. Almost all of
them were volunteers. Sub-tropical diseases such as dysentery and malaria
ravaged the makeshift American military forces. If Mexico would have
attacked during this time (July or August), the Mexican War may have very
well been won by the Mexicans. Unfortunately for the Mexicans, the country
was in civil disarray and the collapse of their central government, combined
with numerous militant rebellions in central Mexico, prevented them from
organizing any serious offensives. The rebels even offered to help Zachary
Taylor defeat the Mexican army. Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, the same man
who surrendered to the Texans, took over as president and commander of the
Mexican army.
On September 21, 1846, General Zachary Taylor and 2,000 soldiers easily
took Monterrey. Soon after, Saltillo and Parras, Mexico were also taken. In
February of 1847, General Winfield Scott, who had taken Veracruz, Mexico,
began an advance toward the Mexican capital of Mexico City. American
forces led by future heroes Robert E. Lee, George McClellan and others,
routed Mexican resistance under General Santa Anna at Cerro Gordo on their way to the Mexican capital. The Mexicans suffered 3,000 casualties. On May 14-15,
American forces easily took Puebla. After routing Mexican forces at Churubusco, Winfield Scott and soldiers defeated Santa Anna's army from the Mexican
Military College on the fortified hill of Chapultepec in Mexico City. The Mexicans suffered terrible casualties and were forced to surrender. American forces
would next occupy New Mexico and California amidst sporadic resistance. On March 10, 1848, the Americans and Mexicans signed the Treaty of Guadalupe
Hidalgo which resulted in the addition of 1.2 million square miles of territory for the United States (virtually all of the American southwest and Texas). It also
set the Rio Grande as the border between Mexico and the United States. America agreed to pay Mexico 15 million dollars.
Gadsden Purchase
The Gadsden Purchase, ratified by President Franklin
Pierce on June 24, 1853, added nearly 30,000 square
miles to American territory in the desert southwest. The
United States government paid ten million dollars to
Mexico for the land that was originally bought in hopes
of extending a southern route to a proposed
transcontinental railroad. The purchase was originally
envisioned to include a much larger chunk of Mexico,
but was widely opposed by the Mexican people and by
abolitionist politicians - who saw the purchase as an
attempt to acquire more slave territory.
The Gadsden Purchase, which encompassed southern
portions of modern-day Arizona and New Mexico, was
organized into the New Mexico Territory upon its
purchase. During the Civil War, the Union and
Confederacy divided the territory into the Confederate
Territory of Arizona and the Territory of Arizona
(Union land which included the part of the Gadsden
Purchase which is now New Mexico).