Westward Expansion Map

Label your Westward Expansion Map in the correct place using the information provided. Make sure to include any significant dates. Make note of any important events that are essential to American progress.

Thirteen Colonies-The thirteen original colonies, established from 1607-1773. The American colonies gained their independence after the American Revolution, and the signing of the Treaty of Paris in 1783.

Proclamation Act of 1763- This act tried to halt colonial expansion into Native American lands west of the Appalachian Mountains.

Louisiana Territory- In 1800 Spain had given Louisiana back to France. To finance his plans for European conquest the french leader, Napoleon Bonaparte, now offered to sell all of the Louisiana Territory, as well as New Orleans, to the United States. Congress overwhelmingly approved the Louisiana Purchase of April 30, 1803. The United States paid $11.25 million and also agreed to take on French debts of about $3.75 million owed to American citizens. The United States had more than doubled its size and gained control of the entire Mississippi River.

Adams-Onis Treaty of 1819- When Spain was unable to control the border, Secretary of War John C. Calhoun sent troops under the command of Andrew Jackson into Florida. President Adams then put pressure on Spain in ongoing border questions. Occupied with problems throughout its Latin American empire, Spain gave in and ceded all of Florida to the United States.

Annexation of Texas- One of the regions settled was the the Mexican region of Texas, which was the Mexican region of Texas, which at the time was part of the state of Coahuila. Although Mexico at first encouraged Americans to settle there, tensions developed. Mexicans distrusted the Americans who refused to accept the conditions of Mexico's offer. When Mexico in 1830 closed its borders to further immigration, the settlers. under the leadership of Stephen Austin and Sam Houston, tried to negotiate changes to that policy. Repeated attempts failed, and they decided to separate from Texas and organize their own government. Devastating losses at the Alamo and Goliad galvanized the Americans, who were able to defeat Mexican forces at the Battle of San Jacinto on April 12, 1836. Five months later, in September, citizens of Texas voted in favor of annexation by the United States. In February 1845, Congress passed a joint resolution to annex Texas.

Treaty of Oregon- In 1818, the United States and the United Kingdom (controlling British Canada) established a joint claim over the Oregon Territory- the region west of the Rocky Mountains. Joint control worked for over a decade and a half but ultimately, the parties decided that joint occupancy wasn't working well so they set about to divide Oregon. Through negotiations after President Polk's inauguration, the boundary between the U.S. and British Canada was established at 49 degrees with the Treaty of Oregon in 1846.

Treaty of Guadalupe of Hidalgo- Texas's entry into the Union outraged the Mexican government, which promptly broke diplomatic relations with the United States. Matters worsened when the two countries disputed Texas's southwestern border. President Polk's designs on California added to the conflict. After American skirmishes with Mexican troops, Congress voted in favor of the war. Mexico's capital was captured in September 1847. Defeated, Mexico's leaders signed the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo on February 2, 1848. Mexico gave the United States more than 500,000 square miles of territory-what are now the states of California, Nevada, and Utah, as well as most of Arizona and New Mexico and parts of Colorado and Wyoming. Mexico also accepted the Rio Grande as the southern border of Texas. In return, the United States paid Mexico $15 million and took over $3.25 million in debts the Mexican government owed to American citizens. Also, the U.S. agreed that Mexican residents of the ceded areas would become American citizens.

The Gadsden Purchase- One of the most curious real estate deals in which Uncle Sam has ever taken part. James Gadsden wanted to create a transcontinental railroad running through the Southern United States. Gadsden was appointed U.S. Minister to Mexico by President Franklin Pierce with instructions of his own design to buy from Mexico enough territory for a railroad to the Gulf of California. In 1852 Gadsden agreed to pay Santa Anna $10,000,000 for a strip of territory south of the Gila River and lying in what is now southwestern New Mexico and southern Arizona. Many Americans were not especially proud of the Guadalupe-Hidalgo Treaty and considered the price of the Gadsden Purchase as "conscience money." The Gadsden Purchase has an area of 45,535 square miles and is almost as large as Pennsylvania. The deal was so unpopular in Mexico that Santa Anna was unseated as dictator and banished.