The new century saw the United States transformed by exponential growth through land acquisitions in the West. This expansion resulted in harm to Native Americans and continued the debate on the “peculiar institution” of slavery. |
Indicator 4-5.3: Explain the purpose, location, and impact of key United States acquisitions in
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Resources:
Land Acquisitions - Prezi Discovery Education video clip: “How the USA Grew: From 13 Colonies to 50 States” (Segments 6-10). Achieve3000 article: - “The Story of the States” |
It is essential for students to know:
Students should know the purpose, location, and impact of key United States acquisitions in the first half of the nineteenth. Thomas Jefferson made inquiries about buying land around New Orleans to assist farmers along the Mississippi River who needed to transport their products downriver to the French port of New Orleans and store them before export [called right of deposit]. It was too costly to transport the goods across the Appalachian Mountains so Jefferson’s foreign ministers were authorized to offer France $10 million dollars for the port city that controlled the Mississippi. However, before they could make the offer, France surprised Jefferson’s foreign ministers by offering to sell the entire area of Louisiana [Louisiana Purchase-1803] which encompassed the territory west of the Mississippi River to present-day Idaho and north to Canada for $15 million dollars (less than 3 cents per acre!) nearly doubling the size of the US at the time. Students should be able to identify the Louisiana Territory on a map. They should be able to name and identify the location of the Mississippi River and Rocky Mountains. The Florida Purchase [Adams-Onis Treaty] was the result of friction between Spain and the United States over boundary lines of the Louisiana Territory. Relations with Native Americans also impacted the United States’ desire for this land (4-5.4). Spain sold Florida to the United States (1819) in exchange for $5 million dollars and a clear southern boundary between the Louisiana Territory and New Spain at the 42nd parallel. Students should be able to name and identify Florida on a map. The United States claimed the Oregon Territory based on the explorations of Lewis and Clark (4-5.1). Britain also claimed the area, while Spain and Russia had already relinquished their earlier claims. Initially, Americans in search of economic opportunity in the fur trade moved into the area. The farmers that followed the fur traders wanted to be part of the United States. After much negotiation, the Oregon Treaty was a compromise with Great Britain so as not to go to war (“54-40 or fight”) with two different countries simultaneously (“annexation of Texas” which led to the Mexican War). Although some Americans wanted to claim land to the 54 40’ parallel, most American settlements were south of the claim line and thus the compromise northern boundary of the United States was set at the 49th parallel in 1846, an extension westward of the 1818 treaty border boundary already between Canada and the United States. Students should be able to name and identify the Oregon territory on a map. The annexation of Texas came nine years after the Texan War for Independence from Mexico. Prior to Texan independence, American southerners had accepted Mexico’s invitations to move into the Texas territory. These cotton planters agreed to become Mexican citizens, convert to Catholicism, and to follow Mexican law (with an exemption to allow slavery) in order to have access to more fertile land for cotton. When a new dictatorial Mexican government came into power in Mexico and enforced its control over Texas, including re-outlawing slavery, Texans rebelled and fought a war to win their independence. Texans then wanted to become part of the United States. At first, the United States Congress would not annex Texas because it would upset the balance of slave and free states. As a result, Texas was an independent country for nine years. When James K. Polk won the presidency in 1844, running on the platform of Manifest Destiny in both Texas and Oregon (see quoted campaign slogans in preceding paragraph), the United States Congress finally annexed Texas. Students should be able to identify Texas on a map. The Mexican Cession was the territory that the United States acquired as a result of winning the Mexican War. The Mexican War was the result of Manifest Destiny, the desire for Pacific ports, and the annexation of Texas. The United States wanted a port on the Pacific coast in the Mexican territory of California. President Polk tried to buy this land, but the Mexicans would not sell. After Texas was annexed, the United States sent American troops into an area on the border of Texas that the Mexican government also claimed as their own. Shots were fired and the Mexican War began (1846-8). The United States invaded Mexico and defeated the Mexican army at the disputed border, and won the war by taking the capital city. Americans also “assisted” the Mexican citizens in California in declaring their independence from Mexico, as well [the Bear Flag Republic.] The treaty that ended the Mexican War ceded Mexican territory in what is now New Mexico, Arizona, California, Utah, and Nevada to the United States in return for $15 million dollars The Mexican Cession (1848) gave the United States access to Pacific ports and the soon-to-be-discovered gold fields of California. Students should be able to identify Texas and the Mexican Cession on a map. |