Land changes 7.3 After using your map to get a broad understanding of the way borders change, here are the things that matter most.

The United States After the Revolution, the states started off as the original 13 colonies and a few territories. Most of America was not in control of the United States. The war ended in 1783, and the United States became the 13 colonies. New Hampshire, Massachusetts Bay, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia.

Lands Ceded by Spain in 1819 In 1819, the United States wanted to expand their borders, and Florida was the next step to controlling the Eastern Seaboard. The Transcontinental Treaty ceded Florida to the United States. It is also known as the Adams-Onís Treaty

Louisiana Purchase In 1803, Thomas Jefferson, a firm believer in Manifest Destiny, saw a perfect opportunity to bring immense growth to his agrarian republic. For 3 cents per acre in 1804, the 828,000 sq. mile claim of land was purchased for $3,750,000.

Gadsden Purchase This was the last major land purchase in the contiguous United States. In 1854, James Gadsden, ambassador to Mexico, purchased the land from Mexico. It was part of present-day Arizona and New Mexico.

Lands Ceded by Mexico, 1848 The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which ended the Mexican-American War, ceded the land to the United States. It took up most of Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, and California.

Purchase from Russia, 1867 Though Canada was owned by France and Great Britain, Alaska was property of Russia. However, there was an abundance of natural resources that they did not know about. The United States bought the largest state for almost 2 cents an acre.

Texas Annexed, 1845 Hundreds of Americans had migrated to the independent Republic of Texas. Mexico was threatening the republic with war, but the US took the small area as its 28th state to protect their citizens from war.

Annexed from Hawaiian Royalty A small group of islands far from the west coast was quickly annexed when their sugar output was realized.

Oregon Territory est. 1846 After all of the other land purchases, there was little for the US to buy, but there was one final place to purchase. Lewis and Clark’s expedition caused a huge boundary dispute between the America and the United Kingdom.

The British Empire The best way to see the growth of this empire is to watch this animated gif. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/33/British_Empire_evolution3.gif Jamestown was the first settlement outside the small islands that made up the United Kingdom aka Great Britain. Prior to Jamestown, Ireland, Scotland, and England made up Great Britain.

America, Africa, and Asia The British Empire took land in these three continent with economic benefit in mind. They used timber and fur from America to make clothing. They wanted slaves and used their labor by sailing from Africa to America with thousands of people who were kidnapped or bought. In India, Great Britain wanted spices and fabrics like silk.

1776 After over a hundred years of controlling the 13 colonies, they rebelled. Over taxation and different acts like the Stamp Act, Intolerable Act, and the Alien and Sedition Acts, which is just a short list of the taxes they imposed, caused the colonies to break off. Five years later, they ended the war with a treaty.

Further Growth In the 1800’s Britain took a large portion of India and Australia. India was home to the worlds spice trade and Australia opened up large amounts of land for the overflowing jails to be filled with criminals. They controlled the islands of Indonesia, Hong Kong, and Java, as well.

Decline of an Empire For the longest time, Britain had the strongest navy, but during WWII America and Japan’s navies were unrivaled. Some of the colonies that England held in the Pacific took it upon themselves to fight for their independence. After WWII, Britain was drained of all resources, money, and manpower. Since many colonies saw the chance to break off from a weakened state, India, Rhodesia(Zimbabwe), and Honduras among others left. Only 12 holdings remain, referred to the British Overseas Territories by the European Union.