-
In 1803, James Monroe was sent to France in order to try to buy New Orleans. However, he ended up buying all of Louisiana for $15 million. France changed their mind because they thought they were soon were going to lose that land due to a slave revolt in one of their territories.
-
Congress ended Atlantic slave trade, making it illegal oforAmericans to ship and buy slaves.
-
Fearful of possible war, Spain agreed to giveFlorida in exchange of $5 million in settlers' claims and for the United States' respect of their claim to Texas. Many Americans were upset with this decision, because they would rather own Texas than Florida.
-
In 1824, a fur tapper named Jedediah Smith found the South Pass, a trail through the Rocky Moiuntains, that made it easier for Americans to travel to Oregon, Ordinary citizens couldn't take the harsh routes Lewis and Clark took, so many fur trappers cleared trails to the west,
-
The number of abolitionists sytarted to grow in the 1830s. This motivated many women to speak and write against slavery.
-
General Antonio López de Santa Anna marched troops in Texas and brutally defeated the Americans in a battle known as the Alamo. Outraged, the Texans soon outsmarted Santa Anna and won their independence from Mexico. In 1845, James K. Polk won the presidential election and annexed Texas.
-
The Senate debated over whether Oregon was worth a war, or if they would settle for half. On June 18, 1846, the Senate signed the Oregon Treaty, stating Britain and America would split Oregon roughly in half at the 49 parallel of latitude.
-
The Treaty of Guadlaupe Hidalgo ended the Mexican-American War, and gave the U.S. land that is now part of Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming.
-
When news spread that gold was in Claifornia, many men left their families and headed west in hopes of becoming wealthy.
-
In 1854, the United States bought a 29,670 square mile portion of land from Mexico for $10 million.
