What Caused The Territorial Expansion Of The United States?

In history, the territorial expansion of the United States is full of wars, bought and sold regions. When France lost the French and Indian War in 1763, it gave most of its possessions in North America to Britain. This extended British domain beyond the original thirteen colonies. Since Spain was an ally, it had to give east and west to Britain ; in exchange it was compensated by France with territory west of the Mississippi. Although The United States declared its independence in 1776 and formed its territory from the original thirteen colonies, it had to go to war with Britain to establish its sovereignty.

The treaty of Paris put and end to the revolutionary war in 1783; America expanded to the Mississippi river and Spain recovered Florida,
The 49th parallel was established after the war of 1812 when Britain ceded the Red River Basin. In 1821 Spanish renounced to the pacific North West. That same year Mexico became another power after proclaiming its independence.

Slavery prevented Texas from being included as part of the territory for several years but the Republic of Texas was declared in 1836 and President Polk allowed its seizure since mexican invasion was a risk. Expansion to the southern part caused war with Mexico over the Texas border. Mexican lost lead to the claim of the north part of Rio Grande, New Mexico and California. In 1867 president William Seward purchased Alaska, from Russia. In 1898, the Spanish war proved that Hawaii could be strategically important for the US navy; therefore, it was annexed from Spain to the US as well as Puerto Rico.

Westward expansion came along within 6 decades of the Constitution. The seizure of Hawaii in 1898 and Puerto Rico in 1899 brought the total area to approximately 3,628,000 square miles, (the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico is an associated
The Act 600 provided a hybrid status between a colony and a state. Many view this as an undefined status. The Act 600 and the commonwealth introduced a non-political situation in the 1950’s. As stated in the Constitution of Puerto Rico: “We, the people of Puerto Rico… do ordain and establish this Constitution for the Commonwealth which, in exercise of our natural rights , we now create within our Union with the United States of America” (Constitution of Puerto Rico)

Democratization of the island was an important step. The Puerto Ricans can also elect their own political leaders at all levels of local government. The establishment of the commonwealth turned the economy from agricultural to industrial. Tax rates were offered to companies that were established on the island. By 1993, more than 60% of workers were involved in manufacturing and the standard of living increased for many Puerto