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Louisiana Purchase
Cause: President Thomas Jefferson commissioned the Corps of Discovery Expedition led by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, to explore the territory acquired in the Louisiana Purchase.
Effect: The purchase of Louisiana doubled the size of the United States.
Importance: The purchase added 827,000 square miles to the U.S. It gave the U.S control of the Mississippi and port city of New Orleans
Opposition: Some opposed the purchase just due to Jefferson making it. Others thought it was a bad purchas -
Period: to
WESTWARD EXPANSION TIMESPAN
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East and West Florida
Cause: Spanish minister Do Luis de Onis and U.S. Secretary of State John Quincy Adams sign the Florida Purchase Treaty in which Spain agrees to cede the remainder of its old province of Florida to the United States
Effect: All Spanish claims to Florida abandoned.
Importance: Treaty restored right to deposit, or the right to ship goods from port of New Orleans to the U.S.
Opposition: Spanish were suspicious to the U.S, thinking they were supporting independence struggles of Spanish-American Col -
Texas Annexation
Cause: Incorporation of Texas into the U.S as the 28th state.
Effect: Angered the Mexican Government. Mexico didn't recognize the Treaty of Velasco which set the southern border of Texas as the Rio Grande.
Importance: Quickly led to war with Mexico in 1846. The victorious United States came away with control of the American Southwest and California
Opposition: President Martin Van Buren viewed the annexation as a political liability that would empower the anti-slavery northern Whig opposition. -
Oregon Territory
Cause: Oregon Treaty was signed between the US and Britain to settle the boundary dispute. The British gained the land north of the 49th parallel, including the Vancouver Island and the United States received the territory south of the parallel.
Effect:( Almost same as above)
Importance: The Treaty settled the land dispute between Britain and the U.S.
Opposition: None claimed -
Mexican Cession
Cause: The treaty recognized Texas as a U.S. state, and ceded a large chunk of land — about half the area that belonged to the Mexican republic
Effect: U.S got to set terms of the Treaty. U.S gained more land
Importance: Treaty established a border at Texas at the Rio Grande River. U.S gained Utah, California, and Nevada from Mexico
Opposition: Opposition in both Mexican and American Governments. In the United States, the northern abolitionists opposed the annexation of Mexican territory. -
Gadsden Purchase
Cause: Was an agreement between the United States and Mexico, finalized in 1854, in which the United States agreed to pay Mexico $10 million for a 29,670 square mile portion of land that later became part of Arizona and New Mexico
Effect: U.S. Senate ratified a revised treaty on April 25, 1854. Later a new border dispute caused tension over the United States’ payment.
Importance: Added land to the size of the ever-growing U.S
Opposition: Unpopular in Mexico and lead to banishment of Santa Anna -
WESTWARD EXPANSION TIMELINE SOURCES/WORKS CITED
