When Washington was a young man, the French claimed all the land west of the Alleghany Mountains. If the French had succeeded in holding all this western country, the United States would always have been only a little strip of thirteen States along the Atlantic coast, reaching from Maine to Georgia. But by conquering Canada, the English got possession of all the territory east of the Mississippi River. This was given up to England by the French in the treaty made twelve years before the Revolutionary War. Daniel Boone and other settlers soon afterward crossed the mountains and began to take possession of the great West.
During the first year of the Revolution, no care was taken to drive the British from the forts in the West. But in 1778, George Rogers Clark led a little band of Kentucky settlers through the wilderness to the Mississippi River, where he captured the British fort at Kaskaskia, in what is now Illinois. He then marched eastward and captured Vincennes in the present State of Indiana. These and other victories of Clark gave the United States, at the close of the war, a claim to all the country lying east of the Mississippi.
In 1803, twenty-one years after the close of the Revolutionary War, President Jefferson bought from France all that large region beyond the Mississippi River known then as Louisiana. It has since been cut up into many States and Territories. The size of the country was more than doubled when Louisiana was added to it.
The province of Louisiana did not reach to the westward of the Rocky Mountains. But in 1791, before Louisiana was bought, Robert Gray, the first sea captain that ever carried the American flag around the world, discovered the river Oregon, which he called the Columbia after the name of his ship. After Jefferson had bought Louisiana for the United States, he sent the explorers Lewis and Clark with a party to examine the western part of the new territory and to push on to the Pacific. These men were two years and four months making the trip from St. Louis to the Pacific Ocean and back. They reached the ocean in 1805 and spent the winter at the mouth of the Columbia River. The "Oregon country," as it was called, was then an unclaimed wilderness, and the discovery of the river by Captain Gray, with the exploration of the country by Lewis and Clark, gave the United States a claim to it.
The peninsula of Florida was occupied by the Spaniards more than forty years before the first colony of English people landed at Jamestown. From the time the colonies were settled, there were many quarrels between the people of this country and the Spanish inhabitants of Florida. But in 1821, Florida was bought from Spain and became a part of the United States.
Mexico, which was at first a Spanish colony, rebelled against Spain and secured its independence. One of the States of the Mexican Republic was Texas. Americans who had settled in Texas got into a dispute with the government of Mexico. This took the form of a revolution, and Texas became an independent republic, under a president of its own. In 1845, this republic of Texas was annexed to the United States by its own consent and has been from that time the largest State in the Union.
The Mexicans, though driven out of Texas, were quite unwilling to lose so large a territory. The annexation of Texas to the United States led to a war with Mexico, which lasted two years. During this war, the United States troops took from Mexico California, on the Pacific coast, and a large region known as New Mexico, in the interior. At the close of the war, in 1847, this territory was retained by the United States, which paid to Mexico fifteen million dollars for it. Another small tract was bought from Mexico in 1851, which we may consider as part of the addition from Mexico in consequence of the war and consider the two together.
The only lands under the government of the United States which lies separate from the rest are Alaska and Hawaii. Alaska was bought from Russia in 1867. Hawaii became a territory of the United States in 1898 and voted to join the United States in 1959. The United States is thus made up of eight parts. There is, first, the country as it was at the close of the Revolutionary War, and then eight additions made at different times.
At one time, the United States only consisted of the thirteen states stretching up and down the Atlantic Coast from Maine to Georgia. In 1778, George Rogers Clark and his men captured a British Fort at Kaskaskia. Combined with additional victories by Clark over the British, the United States now claimed all land to the east of the Mississippi. In 1803, President Jefferson bought from France the land then known as Louisiana, a large region beyond the Mississippi reaching to the Rocky Mountains. Between 1791 and 1805, adventurers Captain Robert Gray and Louis and Clark explored land west of the Rocky Mountains, giving the United States claim to what is now Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and parts of Montana and Wyoming. In 1821, the United States bought Florida from France. Texas, part of Mexico, rebelled and formed an independent republic before being annexed to the United States in 1845. Between 1847 and 1851, the United States paid Mexico for the territory consisting of present day California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, and part of Colorado. Next, the United States bought Alaska from Russia in 1867. Finally, Hawaii became a state in 1959.
Vocabulary
Province: A colony or region belonging to a distant country. Treaty: A contract or agreement between two nations. Republic: A country governed by representatives of the people. State: A political division of a federation retaining a notable degree of autonomy, as in the United States or Germany.
Enrichment
Activity 1: Narrate the Story
Narrate the events aloud in your own words.
Activity 2: Study the Story Picture
Study the story picture and describe how it relates to the story.
Activity 3: Complete Copywork, Narration, Dictation, and Art
Click the crayon above. Complete pages 65-66 of 'American History Copywork, Narration, Dictation, and Art for Third Grade.'
Activity 4: Complete the Acquisitions Puzzle
Click the crayon above. Complete pages 67-68 of 'American History Copywork, Narration, Dictation, and Art for Third Grade.'
Cut out and assemble the map as you read the chapter. Create your own permanent map by pasting the pieces on construction paper.
Review
Question 1
Which of the following states was one of the original thirteen states - Alaska, Hawaii, California, or Virginia?
1 / 5
Answer 1
Virginia was one of the original thirteen states.
1 / 5
Question 2
Which state was purchased from Russia - Maine, Indiana, Florida, or Alaska?
2 / 5
Answer 2
Alaska was purchased from Russia.
2 / 5
Question 3
Which state was purchased from France - Alaska, Hawaii, California, or Florida?
3 / 5
Answer 3
Florida was purchased from France.
3 / 5
Question 4
Which two countries were involved in the Louisiana purchase?
4 / 5
Answer 4
The two countries involved in the Louisiana Purchase were the United States (buyer) and France (seller).
4 / 5
Question 5
Which was the last state added to the United States as of the year 2000?
5 / 5
Answer 5
Hawaii was the last state added to the United States as of the year 2000.
Which of the following states was one of the original thirteen states - Alaska, Hawaii, California, or Virginia?
Virginia was one of the original thirteen states.
Which state was purchased from Russia - Maine, Indiana, Florida, or Alaska?
Alaska was purchased from Russia.
Which state was purchased from France - Alaska, Hawaii, California, or Florida?
Florida was purchased from France.
Which two countries were involved in the Louisiana purchase?
The two countries involved in the Louisiana Purchase were the United States (buyer) and France (seller).
Which was the last state added to the United States as of the year 2000?
Hawaii was the last state added to the United States as of the year 2000.
References
'United States Territorial Acquisition Map by United States Census Bureau. ({CC0 1.0})' Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Territorial-acquisition-uscensus-bureau.jpg. n.p.
A First Book in American History
First Book in American History
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