Question

Unit Activity: Social Studies Concepts

Territorial Expansion
Consider the growth of the country during the 1800s. Use the map and your knowledge of the time period to answer the
following questions
Part A
Is there a general trend in the direction of the territories acquired?
Part B
How do territorial boundaries correspond with modern state borders?
Question 2
Choose one of the territories mentioned on the map above. In one to two paragraphs, Folsom in detail how the territory was acquired, which country the United States dealt with to acquire the land, and why the United States would have wanted to own that area. Conduct research to support your explanation.

Answer 1

1:

A: The general trend of territorial acquisition is westward.

B: Since territorial acquisition did not happen gradually, rather in large chunks, state boundaries often occur at the borders of each acquisition. One example of this the Mississippi river, which has a lot of state boundaries on it, and was the west-most border of an acquisition.

2:

The Louisiana purchase occurred in 1803, and was a result of Napoleon's loss of Haiti. Without Haiti, the French had no use for the vast colonial lands in the Americas. It was sold to America. America was interested in it because they got a great deal on it, and the spirit of manifest destiny was beginning to form.