land aquisitions

Question 1

Louisiana Purchase (1803)

Answer 1

• purchased from France in 1803
• present day Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, some of MN, ND, SD, Nebraska, Oklahoma, most of Kansas, some of Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, and Louisiana.
• Jefferson had a moral predicament with this because the Constitution didn’t say a President could buy land.

Question 2

Florida (1819)

Answer 2

• American settlers in W. FL rebelled against Spanish rule and declared their independence
• Previously a Spanish territory, gained through the Adams-Onís Treaty.

Question 3

Texas (1836)

Answer 3

• Moved to Mexican controlled territory, didn’t adhere to laws outlawing slavery and requiring conversion into Roman Catholicism.
• rebelled and declared independence
• Polk conducted the Mexican-American War and annexed Texas
• Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo (1848) ended war and ceded CA, NM, and Utah, Mexican Cession, for $15 million.

Question 4

Gadsden Purchase (1848)

Answer 4

• wanted to construct a transcontinental railroad which went through this area, didn’t actually go through it.
• $10 million to Mexico

Question 5

Alaska (1867)

Answer 5

• Russia sold to Secretary of State William H. Seward for $7.2 million.
• US was getting anxious about Russian presence so close
• initially called Seward’s Folly or Icebox because they thought it had no value

Question 6

Puerto Rico, Guam, Philippines (1989)

Answer 6

• Acquired through the Treaty of Paris 1989
• conscious decision for American imperialism

Question 7

Hawaii (1989)

Answer 7

• overthrew Queen Lili`uokalani because her administration was likely to impose a tariff on American planters in the region
• overthrowing other nations (illegally) to advance US economic gaols.