Expansion and growth of the United States____ How boundaries are established and changed.... Boundaries of the United States___ Provisional treaty with Great Britain, 1782... Treaty with Great Britain, 1783... Convention with Great Britain, 1818. Arbitration by King of the Netherlands.. Webster-Ashburton treaty with Great Britain, 1842.. Treaty with Great Britain, 1846--- Treaty with Great Britain, 1908- Treaty with Great Britain, 1910---- Survey and marking of the northern boundary. Distances along the boundaries of the United States.. General statistics relating to the United States. Organization of the U.S. Government... The U.S. flag-. Early sessions of Congress- Areas of the States and overseas territory--- Geographic centers of the continental United States and of the several States___ Extreme and mean altitudes of U.S. territory and the continents__ FRONTISPIECE. Photograph of Mount McKinley, Alaska. PLATE 1. Map of the conterminous United States showing routes of 3. Conterminous United States, showing accessions of territory from 1803 to 1853__. 5. Acquisitions of territory since 1853. 6. Photograph of Arctic Ocean terminus of Alaska-Canada 7. Map showing relative size of Alaska and the conter- 10. The Gore, at the northeast corner of Vermont 13. Photograph of a section of a tree that had been used as a Facing 34 34. Mount Rainier, highest point in the State of 35. Highest and lowest points in the conterminous 36. Dead Sea, lowest point on earth____ 37. Mount Everest, highest point on earth.. TABLES 1. Outlying areas of the United States.. 2. Date and order of admission of the 50 States into the 5. Geographic centers of the several States___ 271 272 273 Page BOUNDARIES OF THE UNITED STATES AND THE By FRANKLIN K. VAN ZANDT EXPANSION AND GROWTH OF THE UNITED STATES The original territory of the United States, as defined by the treaties of November 30, 1782, and September 3, 1783, with Great Britain, was bounded on the north by Canada, on the south by the Spanish Colonies of East and West Florida, on the east by the Atlantic Ocean, and on the west by the Mississippi River. It included the Thirteen Original Colonies and the areas claimed by them. One of the difficult problems of the new nation was the existence of extensive unoccupied territory between the Thirteen Original Colonies and the Mississippi River. Seven of the Colonies claimed large parts of this territory and some of the claims were conflicting. Recognizing the possibilities for dispute in this situation, the Continental Congress on October 30, 1779, passed a resolution recommending to Virginia and the other interested States that they refrain from granting the unappropriated lands in the western territory during the continuance of the Revolutionary War. The seven States claiming these areas responded favorably to this action and during the period from 1781 to 1802 ceded the lands to the Federal Government. These lands, which became the nucleus of the public domain, included the area that is now Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, part of Minnesota, Alabama, and Mississippi. The United States continued to hold title to the unappropriated lands and to administer the laws relating to them. The remainder of the original territory, embracing what is now included in the States of Kentucky, West Virginia, Tennessee, Maine, and Vermont, was claimed by various States as being within their original limits. Kentucky was part of Virginia and Tennessee a part of North Carolina. Maine was a part of Massachusetts until it entered the Union in 1820. Vermont was the subject of conflicting claims of the States bordering upon it. The parent States all relinquished their claims and consented to the admission of the new States. West Virginia was separated from Virginia in 1863 and be 1 |