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Mar 10, 1492
cuba history
The history of Cuba began with the arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1492 and the subsequent invasion of the island by the Spaniards. Aboriginal groups—the Guanahatabey, Ciboney, and Taíno—inhabited the island but were soon eliminated or died as a result of diseases or the shock of conquest. -
Jun 1, 1508
Puerto Rico
In 1508, Juan Ponce de León founded the first European settlement, Caparra, near a bay on the island's northern coast; Caparra was renamed Puerto Rico (or “rich port”) in 1521. Over time, people began referring to the entire island by that name, while the port city itself became San Juan. -
texas history
Spanish missionaries were the first European settlers in Texas, founding San Antonio in 1718. Hostile natives and isolation from other Spanish colonies kept Texas sparsely populated until following the Revolutionary War and the War of Mexican Independence when the newly established Mexican government began to allow settlers from the U.S. to claim land there. -
Oregon trail
The Oregon Trail was a roughly 2,000-mile route from Independence, Missouri, to Oregon City, Oregon, that was used by hundreds of thousands of American pioneers in the mid-1800s to emigrate west. The trail was arduous and snaked through Missouri and present-day Kansas, Nebraska, Wyoming, Idaho and finally into Oregon. Without the Oregon Trail and the passing of the Oregon Donation Land Act in 1850, which encouraged settlement in the Oregon Territortiy. -
Louisiana purchase
The Louisiana Purchase (1803) was a land deal between the United States and France, in which the U.S. acquired approximately 827,000 square miles of land west of the Mississippi River for $15 million. [T]his little event, of France possessing herself of Louisiana, ... is the embryo of a tornado which will burst on the countries on both shores of the Atlantic and involve in it’s effects their highest destinies.1 President Thomas Jefferson wrote this prediction in an April 1802. -
flordia history
Florida joined the Union as the 27th state in 1845 and is nicknamed the Sunshine State for its balmy climate and natural beauty. Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon, who led the first European expedition to Florida in 1513, named the state in honor of Spain’s Easter celebration known as “Pascua Florida,” or Feast of Flowers. European settlers, mainly from Spain, arrived in the 17th and 18th centuries. The Spanish, French and English battled over Florida until it became a U.S. territory in 1819. -
hawaii
During the 1830s, Britain and France forced Hawaii to accept treaties giving them economic privileges. In 1842, Secretary of State Daniel Webster sent a letter to Hawaiian agents in Washington affirming U.S. interests in Hawaii and opposing annexation by any other nation. -
hawaii
During the 1830s, Britain and France forced Hawaii to accept treaties giving them economic privileges. In 1842, Secretary of State Daniel Webster sent a letter to Hawaiian agents in Washington affirming U.S. interests in Hawaii and opposing annexation by any other nation. -
California history
The first Spanish missionaries arrived in California in the 1700s, but California didn’t become part of the United States until 1847, as part of the treaty ending the Mexican-American War. Shortly thereafter, the discovery of gold at Sutter’s Mill in 1848 inspired a wave of settlers to head to the West Coast in search of fortune. In 1850 California became the 31st state. -
Alaska
he largest state admitted to the Union, Alaska became the 49th state in 1959 and is located in the northwest region of North America. Acquired by the United States in 1867, the territory was dubbed “Seward’s Folly” after the U.S. secretary of state who arranged to purchase the land from Russia. Critics of the purchase believed that the land had nothing to offer, but the discovery of gold in the 1890s created a stampede of prospectors and settlers. -
hawaii
America's annexation of Hawaii in 1898 extended U.S. territory into the Pacific and highlighted resulted from economic integration and the rise of the United States as a Pacific power. For most of the 1800s, leaders in Washington were concerned that Hawaii might become part of a European nation's empire -
new mexico
Colonized by Spain, the land that is now New Mexico became a U.S. territory following treaties signed with Mexico in 1848 and 1853. The territory did not become a U.S. state until 1912. During World War II, New Mexico was the site of the top-secret Manhattan Project, in which top U.S. scientists raced to create the first atomic bomb. It was exploded at the Trinity test site, near Alamagordo, on July 16, 1945. -
mexican war
he expansion of American political, economic, cultural, media and military influence beyond the boundaries of the United States. But the U.S. Congress soon afterward issued resolutions that declared Cuba’s right to independence, demanded the withdrawal of Spain’s armed forces from the island, and authorized the use of force by President. he ensuing war was pathetically one-sided, since Spain had readied neither its army nor its navy for a distant war with the formidable power of the us
