Show CENTURY of GROWTH H ak O 0 11 P J J N NN M FV k N ex VAN ftp ilea san francisco seen from the air prepared by nat onal geographic society wab h ng agton t on D C service vai N one with the wildest tir image tagi E EVI nation finds it d while ile strolling down san francisco Francis cos a market street or chicago 3 michigan boulevard to visualize the former city as a sleepy mexican vil lage and the latter as a tiny frontier i town around a stockade encircled fort a century ago then he the mississippi was way ray out NV west est it was as late as 1 02 92 that separate statehood made the momen first step west of the alleghenies as kentucky s lines ran out in their own right the area had been a part of virginia the first state to reach the once remote river with the beginning of the nineteenth century however the union se piously took up the real estate bus bust ness in a large way ray ohio s outlines had barely taken map form in 1803 when a huge terr territory to ry was pegged out tor for future states the L louisiana 0 u ls 1 a n a burch purchase a s e w which h le h m more 0 re than d doubled 0 u b 1 e d t the he area a 0 of f th the e 0 original ri gin a 1 union this taking over of square miles by the stroke of a pen was ably the greatest real estate tranae tion in all history for this potential empire the united states paid france in all principal interest and debts assumed 23 73 it works out at a little less than 4 cents an acre acrel I 1 the purchase was a happy accident a bit of high handed patriotism that lawyers have said strained the con ution robert R livingston wag was sent in 1801 by the united states as minister to france to attempt to buy the Is land of new orleans on both sides of the mississippi and so to gain con arol of the mouth of the river he ile was authorized to offer 2 and if necessary to go as high as 10 tor for the patch of land negotiations dragged on for two years when suddenly war was de lared on prance france by great britain more to embarrass great britain than to accommodate the united states na decided to sell the entire lou illana territory the historic decision was reached while the first consul was in his bath napoleon decides to sell james monroe had joined livingston as a special commissioner and to them wag was made the proposal to sell the french negotiators asked 15 an amount once and a half as great as the highest authorized figure the two americans were aghast cables and steamships did not exist to get word nord to america and an answer back would require many weeks na was in a hurry so the two en voys figuratively threw the r instruct eions opt the window and signed the agreement nobody knew enough about the new domain west rest of the api ppl to draw an antell g ble map of it they I 1 1 new only that there were prairies and deserts that beyond were mountains of some sort and that ere far ther on mabe malbe hundreds maybe thou sands of leagues away anay lay the half halt mythical south sea lewis and clarl and soon after them capt cadt zebulon pike struck into the new country to see what it was like and as a result of their explore allons americans began to learn a few things about the r vast ft IN est NN hen powell led his party of adi aden en jurers by boat down the colorado riv er in 1869 they were ere the first to navi gate the stream through its ion long can although the early Spa spanish nill ex had seen the grand canyon from above bears ears before the florida purchase in 1819 in volnea a vely small area that acquisition really made the united states smaller than it was before the treaty wit 1 spain definitely marked the eastern and northern spanish boundary all the way a from the south east point of texas to the northwest point of california parts of present oklahoma kansas hansas and colorado draining to the arkan sas areas which had been thought to be in the louisiana territory were lost to the united states by the treaty and had to be bought back from texas later more territory came to the united states in the decade 1840 1 1800 than during any other ten 3 jears ears in its his tory texas was added in 1845 the he title to oregon territory was dished by treaty with great britain the following year and the cession fro from mexico in 1848 at the close of the mexican war brought in the call fornia country and all the region east 1 to texas la in all the forties add added ed to the un ted states ma map p more than 1200 square miles of territory an area larger than 20 Florl das taking in texas the texas addition was unique texas had existed for nearly ten yeara years as an independent republic with dip somatic representatives in washington and at european courts and with for eign ministers in its own capital A separate nation entered the union the only case of the sort in united states history more than square miles of territory were added by the texas accession there was rejoicing when the oregon matter was settled even though the fifty four forty or fight slogan n was as not lived up to here was a shin ing milepost mile post in the history of the united states in 70 years from the declaration of independence the new nation had pushed across nearly miles of virgin territory had bad brough almost half of it into statehood almost had marked the other half to development balboa s hazy sea had bee becj incontrovertible pacific and mighty ocean the united si st now taken the first step to its vital interest after the california countr ing the present arizona ne ne nevada ada utah and part of became united states ten ter 1848 the developments that i changes came to the I 1 tar ar V 1 lizzy speed one of tb greatest gold rushes started i 1850 so many people had that california was made a this was another stone statehood had hur dred of miles of territory made its first appearance on t tl of the pacific by 18 railway trains wei wet ba back C k and forth from massack georgia and even west of ghen es ye california still N ther out of travel reach with of government than even the demot of the tl arteen original states had bee in the days of thomas jefferson nearly all of it bought in almost every important addition to its territory which the united states has made save oregon terri terr tory a money payment has played a part the Lou louisiana letana purchase cost 23 7 florida cost 0 47 including interest texas and its cred igors were paid to relinquish claim to lands outside the present state boundaries mexico was given for its cession of territory in 1848 in 1854 the final addition was made to continental united states as it now exists when the gadsden purchase was made of 29 60 square miles south of the gila river in arizona for this tract 10 was paid to mexico these five accessions to the united states proper cost A circle with a radius of only 1 1000 OW feet drawn drann around the business center of washington D C land as hessed for almost exactly the amount paid foi this far spreading empire territory outside the borders of con tin united states bought since 1854 was more costly russia was paid for alaska in 1867 the Ha hawaiian national debt of was assumed when the islands were annexed in 1898 1808 spain was given tor for islands annexed after the spanish american war the ten mile strip of the canal zone in panama has cost the united states so far 15 paid to panama and 25 paid to colombia in ad the united states paid TOO 00 to the new panama canal corn pany of france and panama contin ues aes to receive annually the latest territorial purchase by the united states was the birgin is lands for the square miles of these caribbean islands denmark received in 1916 that works out approximately an acre times the acre price paid for the louisiana purchase the total payments for outlying ter J made since 1854 amount to 1 06 00 these payments have all been in cash barter and land trades have never played a part in the growth of united states territory as they did with the dutch who purchased man hattan island for 24 worth of trink ets and the english who later got all dutch claims to manhattan and the rest of new york slate state in trade for what Is now dutch guiana |