-
Louisiana Purchase
The US lost trade through New Orleans when France took over in 1802. This hurt the US economy, so Jefferson sent diplomats to France to buy New Orleans and part of Florida for $10 million. France offered the whole territory for $15 million. They accepted, and the US doubled in size and avoided armed conflict with France. This supported the precedent for implied powers. Some Federalists and Jefferson thought it was unconstitutional, but Jefferson said that the power to make treaties was enough. -
East and West Florida
Americans rebelling in the West Florida and Andrew Jackson's seizure of the fort at Pensacola were used to claim Florida for the US. Spain rejected this claim. This strained US-Spanish relations. Don Luis De Onis, a Spanish minister, began negotiations over the territory, which ended with Spain giving Florida to the US, and the US paying $5 million in damages, as well as recognizing Texas as a Spanish colony. Armed conflict with Spain was avoided. -
Texas Annexation
Following Texas' successful war for independence from Mexico, the US began trying to annex it. Mexico did not hold up its threat to declare war, but relations became tense due to border disputes with Texas. In 1845 the state asked to join the Union, and joined as a slave state. This was met with significant opposition in the senate, and the bill barely passed. The effect of another slave state entering the union heightened the issue, which culminated in the Civil War -
Oregon Territory
After sharing control of this area with Britain, increased support fro manifest destiny and an influx of American settlers on the Oregon Trail caused President Polk to aggressively pursue a deal with Britain to claim the Oregon Territory for the US. The US gained all land south of the 49th parallel. The deal passed in the senate 41-14. -
Mexican Cession
War broke out following border disputes over Texas between the US and Mexico in 1846. After over a year of fighting, the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo recognized Texas as a US state and ceded about half Mexico's land, which would become California, Nevada, and Utah, as well as portions of Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, and Wyoming to the US for $15 million. The US failed to fully recognize the rights of Mexicans in the US as citizens, and the acquisition fueled the free vs. slave state debate. -
Gadsden Purchase
The Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo described the Mexico-American border vaguely, so disputes continued following the war. Western development depended on ceded territories. One plan of the rival plans for a railroad to the west coast involved routing lines through a small disputed territory to the south of the Gila river. President Pierce sent Gadsden to negotiate a deal with Mexico, who agreed to sell the land for $10 million. The construction was interrupted by the civil war. Unpopular in Mexico.
