1763 Treaty of Paris
- settled the French-Indian War, expanding British holdings in North America
1783 Treaty of Paris
- ended American Revolution
1791 Vermont Republic
- Vermont was an independent republic 1777-1791
1802 Louisiana Purchase
- from Mississippi River to the north & west, those borders undefined
1815 Treaty of Ghent
1818 Treaty of 1818
- created 49th parallel agreement
1819 Adams-Onis Treaty
- acquisition of Florida from Spain
1842 Webster–Ashburton Treaty
1845 Texas annexation
- Republic of Texas entered Union
1846 Oregon Treaty
- Britain recognized US ownership of "Oregon Lands"
1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
- settled Mexican-American War, "Mexican cession" of modern Southwest US, UT, NV & CA
1853 Gadsden Purchase
- US acquired additional lands south of NM and AZ from Mexico
1867 Alaska Purchase
1898 Treaty of Paris
- settled Spanish-American War (Puerto Rico & Philippines)
1898 Annexation of Hawaii
- the Newlands Resolution annexed the Republic of Hawaii
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BIG IDEAS
What does it MEAN?
- Understanding American history and experience through territorial expansion
- motives, outcomes
- conflicts, impact
- land claims, economic opportunities
Push & pull factors
- land ownership & use
- economic opportunity
- business expansion, especially railroads
- gold & silver rushes
- trade, especially in Pacific Ocean expansion
Colonial expansion
- English settlers pushing westward from coastal settlements
- created conflict with Native Americans
- created conflict between Native Americans tribes and confederations
- created conflict with French and its fur trade with Native Americans
- led directly to French-Indian War
- Proclamation of 1763 forbade American colonists from settling west of the Appalachians
- = British attempt to control colonials westward push
- Spanish/French settlement in current US areas was limited
- their colonial impulse was for trade (French) and religious conversion of Native Americans (Spanish)
- English colonials sought settlement and populations grew rapidly
Exploration, fur trade, land
- Daniel Boone (1734-1820) and trailblazers, frontiersmen
- frontier culture and folk heroes
Northwest Ordinance of 1787
- the new nation recognized need to organize territorial expansion
- drove further claims westward
Manifest Destiny
- Republic of Texas declared after
- westward extension of railroads drove western settlement
- resulted in political disagreement/ sectionalism over expansion of free and slave territories and states
- Mexican-American War of 1846
- California Gold Rush of 1849
Civil War impact
- Transcontinental railroad
- Homestead Act of 1862
- Homesteaders and pioneers
- "land grants" of up to 160 acres
Impact of technologies
- steam power
- first used on boats in late 17th century
- railroads (starting 1820s)
- telegraph (1830s) & telephone (1870s)
- electricity
- automobiles & airplanes (starting early 20th century)
- American commercial and technological dominance (transistor, space race, etc.)
Overseas expansion & acquisitions
- transoceanic trade
- especially with introduction of steam boats
- = created need for coaling stations for refueling across Pacific Ocean
- Panama Canal as outgrowth of Spanish-American War
- industrialization
Expansion via acquisition from European powers
- Eastern Louisiana Territory, Ohio Valley & Northwest Territory from Britain
- Louisiana Territory and Florida acquisitions
- Mexican-American War
- Spanish-American War
Expansion via acquisition or war with Native Americans
Twentieth Century US overseas interventions
- foreign loans and direct investment (1910s Gunboat diplomacy & later 20th century US business dominance)
- petroleum & mining investments
- WWII
- US bases around world following the War
- American commercial & cultural dominance
- IBM, GM, Ford
- Hollywood & music industry (popular culture)
- internet, Microsoft, Google
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=== British colonial expansion ===
- 1667 Treaty of Breda
- Netherlands ceded "New Netherland" which the British renamed "New York"
- Within New Netherland, the Dutch (Netherlands) had claimed coastal areas of modern RI, CT, NY, NJ and DE
- 1715 Peace of Utrecht
- settled European conflict
- Britain seized control of the Asiento de Negros Spanish grants of right to engage in the African slave trade
- France ceded Newfoundland (eastern coast of Canada) to the British
- 1763 Treaty of Paris
- settled the French-Indian War
- Britain took all French territories in modern Canada
- France also ceded the eastern portion of the Louisiana Territory, which included lands from the Appalachian Mountains to the Mississippi River
- Spain ceded "Eastern Florida" (the "Panhandle" region)
- 1777 Vermont Republic
- 1783 Treaty of Paris
- Britain ceded the original 13 colonies and corresponding territories west to the Mississippi River
- the cessation included the Northwestern Territory, including the Ohio Valley, and the upper-midwest below the Great Lakes
- 1791 Vermont Republic
- Vermont had declared itself an independent state in 1777
- was admitted to the Union in 1791
- the admission settled claims by New York on Vermont lands
- 1818 Treaty of 1818
- Britain ceded land northwest of the Northwest Territory (western modern MN and north & east ND)
- US ceded lands north of the 49th parallel above modern MT
- established the 49th parallel as the border of US and Canada from MN to the Rocky Mountains (leaving Oregon Country in joint-control)
- called for "joint occupation" by British and Americans of Oregon Country (northwest corner of present US, including OR, WA, ID)
- 1819 Adams-Onis Treaty
- Spain ceded Florida to the US
- 1842 Webster–Ashburton Treaty
- settled border disputes along modern US-Canadian border, including in the modern states of ME, MN, MT, ID & WA (reaffirming the 49th parallel)
- 1846 Oregon Treaty
- Britain ceded claims to "Oregon Country," setting the 49th parallel across to the Pacific Ocean as the northern border
- Oregon Country included modern OR, WA, ID and parts of WY and MT
- 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
- settled Mexican-American War
- "Mexican cession" of southwestern territory, called "Alta California
- included modern NM, AZ, UT, NV and CA and parts of modern CO and TX
- 1853 Gadsden Purchase
- negotiated after the Mexican-American war to purchase Mexican territory in the south of modern AZ and southwest area of NM
- includes modern AZ cities of Yuma & Tucson
- cost was $10 million and motive for Mexico to sell it was likely to get the money before the Americans fully populated and/or seized it
- US was motivated by railroad route through the region
- 1867 Alaska Purchase from Russia for $7.2 million
- Russian motives:
- Russia had originally exploited the region for its fur trade and never populated it
- by 1850s sea otters were hunted to near extinction
- the Russians understood Alaska would be difficult to defend against US or British attack
- they preferred to sell it to the US as a buffer against the British
- US opponents called it "Seward's Folly" after Secretary of State Seward who negotiated the purchase
- US proponents thought it would help promote trade with Asia
- Alaska's extensive mineral deposits were not yet discovered (starting with Klondike Gold Rush in 1896)
- Alaska became a state in 1948
- 1898 Treaty of Paris
- settled Spanish-American War
- Spain recognized an independent Cuba and ceded Puerto Rico, Philippines and Guam to the US
- US compensated Spain for the cessations $20 million
- US set up Cuba as an independent country
- US kept Puerto Rico, Philippines and Guam (as part of the Marianas Islands) as territories
- Puerto Ricans were granted US citizenship in 1917
- Philippines:
- Philippine-American War, or "Tagalog Insurgency" ensued from 1986-1902
- Philippine nationalists sought full independence
- pockets of resistance continued until 1913
- Philippines remained an American territory until 1946
- 1898 Annexation of Hawaii
- throughout the 1800s, Americans settled in Hawaii for sugar planting and trade
- the Republic of Hawaii was created by white Americans in 1984 after overthrowing the indigenous Hawaiian Kingdom
- the Newlands Resolution annexed the Republic of Hawaii
- the Territory of Hawaii was established in 1900
- Hawaii became the 50th state in 1959
Acquisition or takeover of Native American lands[edit | edit source]
- Northwestern Territory
- Georgia
- Oklahoma
- Dakotas
Pacific Island and other acquisitions[edit | edit source]
- 1856 Guano Islands Act
- Congress declared that US citizens could take possession of any unclaimed "guano" islands and would receive US government protection
- were islands that held "guano" deposits (used as fertilizer and saltpeter, an ingredient in gunpowder)
- about 100 claims were made in Atlantic, Caribbean and Pacific waters
- 1867 Midway Atoll
- originally claimed under the Guano Islands Act, Midway islands were officially annexed by the US in 1867
- Midway served as important US Naval base
- 1903 Panama Canal Zone
- US seized the "Canal Zone" from Columbia in 1903 by supporting Panamanian independence from Columbia with support of US warships
- the Canal Zone was receded to Panama in 1999
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