Virginia and US History SOL map study: US expansion 1789-1959

From A+ Club Lesson Planner & Study Guide

Preparation for the state of Virginian SOL ("Standards of Learning") History test: US expansion 1789-1959

Content: timeline maps showing growth in territories and addition of new states

Purpose: to associate time, place and events

Territorial development of the United States[edit | edit source]

U.S. Territorial Acquisitions (over time)


US Statehood over time (animated map)

US states by date of statehood

See commons.wikimedia.org: Atlas of the United States - Wikimedia Commons for extensive collection of maps over time showing state and territory boundaries over time

Early Republic, 1789-1820[edit | edit source]

1790s
US after becoming an independent nation
  • acquired the lands between
    • the Appalachian Mountains
    • Mississippi River
Organization of new territories between
  • claims of existing states (former 13 colonies)
  • federal territories created by Congress
    • especially the Northwest Territory

Territorial growth & Mexican-American War, 1820-1860[edit | edit source]

Louisiana Purchase, 1803[edit | edit source]

1803: showing the Louisiana Purchase, territories West of the Mississippi and north of Mexican lands
  • bought from France
    • (which took it a few years before from Spain)
  • doubles the size the country
  • expands US lands:
    • west of the Mississippi
    • north of Spanish territories
      • (Mexico gains independence from Spain in 1821)
  • the Louisiana Purchase leads to further western expansion by Americans
    • including into Spanish territories (modern Texas)

Mexican Texas, 1827-1836 & Republic of Texas, 1836-1846[edit | edit source]

1828: showing re-organization of the Louisiana territory and Mexican lands
1836: Texas Republic (independence from Mexico)
1837: Texas expands territory into Mexico
  • US settlers pushed into Spanish / Mexican lands and gained independence from Mexico
  • notes on Texas (not important for the Virginia SOL)
    • American and Spanish settlers in Texas gained independence from Spain in 1821
      • creating, "Mexican Texas," a part of Mexico from 1821-1836
    • in 1836, Texas declared independence from Mexico
      • and became an independent country, the Republic of Texas from 1836-1846
    • Texas was "annexed" (taken by) the US in 1845 and became a US state in 1846
    • these events were significant to the Mexican-American War, 1846-1848
1845: Admission of Florida, also showing the Republic of Texas (formed 1836). Note the disputed or "shared" territory of Oregon Country
1845: Admission of Florida
1845: Admission of Florida
Admission of Texas as state
1845: Annexation and admission of Texas
1845: Annexation and admission of Texas
Texas admitted as state with in 1845, despite border disputes; its territory would be reduced by 1849 as the western territories were formally organized

Mexican-American War, 1848[edit | edit source]

1848: US after Mexican-American War
1849: Reorganization of territories seized from Mexico (Texas, now a state, is reduced in size)

Admission of north/ western states[edit | edit source]

1846: Iowa and Wisconsin territory after settlement of Oregon border dispute with Britain
1846: Oregon Treaty with the United Kingdom
1846: Oregon Treaty with the United Kingdom
1846: Admission of Iowa
1846: Admission of Iowa
1848: Admission of Wisconsin
1848: Admission of Wisconsin
1850: Annexation of parts of Mexico (Mexican Cession), admission of California, formation of Utah Territory and New Mexico Territory
1850: Annexation of parts of Mexico (Mexican Cession), admission of California, formation of Utah Territory and New Mexico Territory
1853: The Gadsden Purchase
1853: The Gadsden Purchase (extending southern border of New Mexico Territory)
1858: Admission of Minnesota
1858: Admission of Minnesota
1859: Admission of Oregon
1859: Admission of Oregon
1861: Accession of Kansas
1861: Accession of Kansas
1846: Iowa

1848: Wisconsin 1850: California 1858: Minnesota 1859: Oregon 1861: Kansas (admitted prior to full secession of Southern states at start of the Civil War)

Slavery maps, to 1865[edit | edit source]

Late colonial slave population per colony, 1770[edit | edit source]

Slavery in American colonies as of 1770
Slavery in the 13 American colonies just prior to the American Revolution
  • slavery was legal in the British Empire (colonial empire)
  • tobacco planting was a major reason for increase in slavery in Virginia, Maryland, and North Carolina
  • cotton planting was the primary crop for slavery in South Carolina
    • cotton farming is "labor intensive" (takes a lot of direct human labor)
    • so, while cotton was grown and slaves were used to harvest it, it was still inefficient
    • South Carolina also focused on rice and indigo (a plant for its deep color blue)

The Cotton gin and "King Cotton"[edit | edit source]

Distribution of free and slave states, 1850
See this animated map timeline for expansion of slavery from colonial to Civil War period
  • the 1793 invention of the "cotton gin" increased the efficiency of cotton harvesting and production (extracting seeds from the cotton fibers)
  • also, new textile "weaving machines" in northern factories increased demand for raw cotton
  • in the early 1800s, cotton production exploded, along with growth in the slave population
  • throughout the early to mid-1800s slavery spread across the South west of the Mississippi River

1820 Missouri Compromise[edit | edit source]

1819: Free and Slave States jus before the Compromise of 1820 which admitted Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state
Missouri Compromise 36'30" line
Called the "Missouri Compromise," in 1820, Congress passed laws to admit Maine and Missouri as states
  • the compromise was that
    • Maine would be a "free" (non-slavery) state
    • Missouri would be a slave state
    • and no other slave states would be admitted above the 36'30"parallel (a latitude line, per the map)

Civil War, 1861-1865[edit | edit source]

Secession of southern states, 1861[edit | edit source]

Map of U.S. showing two kinds of Union states, two phases of secession and territories
Status of the states, 1861: * Dark Red = Slave states that seceded before April 15, 1861; * Red = Slave states that seceded after April 15, 1861; * Yellow = Union states that permitted slavery (border states); * Blue = Union states that had banned slavery; * Gray = Territories
Following the election of Abraham Lincoln as President, southern states "seceded" (left) the Union (the "union" of states under the Constitution)
  • as candidate, Lincoln said that he would not end slavery, but he would oppose any further expansion of it
  • following Lincoln's election, South Carolina became the first state to secede, followed by other states (marked in dark red on the map; the states marked in red seceded after Lincoln's inauguration)
  • the "border" states of Maryland, Delaware, Kentucky, and Missouri did not seceded
    • but primarily because they were occupied by the Union (northern) Army, especially Maryland

Continental expansion & overseas territories, 1863-1900[edit | edit source]

"Closing of the Frontier" - admission of western states[edit | edit source]

1861: Secession of the Confederate States of America
1861: Secession of the Confederate States of America
Map of the United States At the breakout of the Civil War show seceding Southern states
1863: Admission of West Virginia, a secession of the CSA State of Virginia
1863: Admission of West Virginia, a secession of the CSA State of Virginia
During the Civil War, the North-controlled United States
By 1896, New Mexico and Arizona were the last territories (not yet states) in the continental U.S. (the connected land mass of America)
1864: Admission of Nevada
1864: Admission of Nevada
1867: Admission of Nebraska
1867: Admission of Nebraska
1876: Admission of Colorado
1876: Admission of Colorado
1889: Admission of Montana Territory
1889: Admission of Montana Territory (showing North and South Dakota as states, admitted earlier that yea)
1896: Admission of Utah
1896: Admission of Utah
Westward expansion followed post-Civil War industrialization, railroad building, and population growth
  • with railroads connecting the entire country from coast to coast, the country was fully interconnected for travel (people) and trade (goods)

Spanish-American War, 1898[edit | edit source]

American territories and possessions, including the continental United States (the "lower 48" states), Alaska, Hawaii, Philppines, Puerto Rico, Cuba and the Panama Canal, approx. 1900
in 1898, the US attacked the Spanish colonies of the Philippines (Asia, Cuba and Puerto Rico (both in the Caribbean Sea)
  • the goal of this war was to "liberate" those places from Spanish rule
  • however, the United States kept Puerto Rico as a territory
  • Cuba and Philippines later gained full independence from US occupation and rule

20th century new states, 1900-1959[edit | edit source]

1907: Admission of Oklahoma
1907: Admission of Oklahoma
1912: Admission of New Mexico
1912: Admission of New Mexico (leaving Arizona as last continental territory)
1912: Admission of Arizona
1912: Admission of Arizona
1959: Admission of Alaska
1959: Admission of Alaska
1959: Admission of Hawaii
1959: Admission of Hawaii


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