Territorial acquisitions of the United States

This is a simplified list of United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

territorial acquisitions, beginning with American independence

American Revolutionary War

The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...

. Note that this list primarily concerns land acquired from other nation-state

Nation-state

The nation state is a state that self-identifies as deriving its political legitimacy from serving as a sovereign entity for a nation as a sovereign territorial unit. The state is a political and geopolitical entity; the nation is a cultural and/or ethnic entity...

s; the numerous territorial acquisitions from American Indians

Native Americans in the United States

Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...

are not listed here.

1783-1848

The 1783 Treaty of Paris
Treaty of Paris (1783)
The Treaty of Paris, signed on September 3, 1783, ended the American Revolutionary War between Great Britain on the one hand and the United States of America and its allies on the other. The other combatant nations, France, Spain and the Dutch Republic had separate agreements; for details of...

with Great Britain defined the original borders of the United States. Due to ambiguities in the treaty, the ownership of Machias Seal Island
Machias Seal Island
Machias Seal Island is an island located in the Gulf of Maine, approximately southeast from Cutler, Maine, and approximately southwest of Southwest Head, New Brunswick on Grand Manan Island. Machias Seal Island is located at and measures approximately in area. It is a neighbour to North Rock....

and North Rock
North Rock
North Rock is an offshore rock with geographical coordinates of , located to the east of the North American continent near the boundary between the Gulf of Maine and the Bay of Fundy....

remains disputed between the U.S. and Canada; other original territorial ambiguities (including the Northeastern Boundary Dispute and the disputed Indian Stream territory
Republic of Indian Stream
The Republic of Indian Stream was a small, unrecognized, constitutional republic in North America, along the section of the US–Canada border that divides the Canadian province of Quebec from the US state of New Hampshire. It existed from July 9, 1832 to 1835...

) were resolved by the Webster-Ashburton Treaty
Webster-Ashburton Treaty
The Webster–Ashburton Treaty, signed August 9, 1842, was a treaty resolving several border issues between the United States and the British North American colonies...

in 1842.

Louisiana

The Louisiana Purchase
Louisiana Purchase
The Louisiana Purchase was the acquisition by the United States of America of of France's claim to the territory of Louisiana in 1803. The U.S...

, completed in 1803, was negotiated by Robert Livingston

Robert Livingston (1746-1813)

Robert R Livingston was an American lawyer, politician, diplomat from New York, and a Founding Father of the United States. He was known as "The Chancellor," after the office he held for 25 years....

during the presidency of Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson was the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence and the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom , the third President of the United States and founder of the University of Virginia...

; the territory was acquired from France for $15,000,000 (equivalent to $ in present day terms). A small portion of this land was ceded to the United Kingdom in 1818 in exchange for the Red River Basin. More of this land was ceded to Spain in 1819 with the Florida Purchase, but was later reacquired through Texas annexation and Mexican Cession.

West Florida

West Florida
West Florida
West Florida was a region on the north shore of the Gulf of Mexico, which underwent several boundary and sovereignty changes during its history. West Florida was first established in 1763 by the British government; as its name suggests it largely consisted of the western portion of the region...

was declared by President James Madison

James Madison

James Madison, Jr. was an American statesman and political theorist. He was the fourth President of the United States and is hailed as the “Father of the Constitution” for being the primary author of the United States Constitution and at first an opponent of, and then a key author of the United...

to be a U.S. possession in 1810.

Red River

Red River Basin
Red River Valley
The Red River Valley is a region in central North America that is drained by the Red River of the North. It is significant in the geography of North Dakota, Minnesota, and Manitoba for its relatively fertile lands and the population centers of Fargo, Moorhead, Grand Forks, and Winnipeg...

, acquired in 1818 by treaty from the United Kingdom, namely the Anglo-American Convention of 1818.

East Florida

The Adams-Onís Treaty

Adams-Onís Treaty

The Adams–Onís Treaty of 1819, also known as the Transcontinental Treaty or the Purchase of Florida, was a treaty between the United States and Spain in 1819 that gave Florida to the U.S. and set out a boundary between the U.S. and New Spain . It settled a standing border dispute between the two...

of 1819 with Spain resulted in Spain's cession of East Florida
East Florida
East Florida was a colony of Great Britain from 1763–1783 and of Spain from 1783–1822. East Florida was established by the British colonial government in 1763; as its name implies it consisted of the eastern part of the region of Florida, with West Florida comprising the western parts. Its capital...

and the Sabine Free State
Sabine Free State
The Neutral Ground was a disputed area between Spanish Texas and the United States' newly acquired Louisiana Purchase...

and Spain's surrender of any claims to the Oregon Country

Oregon Country

The Oregon Country was a predominantly American term referring to a disputed ownership region of the Pacific Northwest of North America. The region was occupied by British and French Canadian fur traders from before 1810, and American settlers from the mid-1830s, with its coastal areas north from...

. Article III of the treaty, when properly surveyed, resulted in the acquisition of a small part of central Colorado

Colorado

Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...

Along Canadian border

Webster-Ashburton Treaty
Webster-Ashburton Treaty
The Webster–Ashburton Treaty, signed August 9, 1842, was a treaty resolving several border issues between the United States and the British North American colonies...

of 1842 which finalized the border between United States and Canada (a British colony at the time).

Texas

Texas Annexation
Texas Annexation
In 1845, United States of America annexed the Republic of Texas and admitted it to the Union as the 28th state. The U.S. thus inherited Texas's border dispute with Mexico; this quickly led to the Mexican-American War, during which the U.S. captured additional territory , extending the nation's...

of 1845: The independent Republic of Texas

Republic of Texas

The Republic of Texas was an independent nation in North America, bordering the United States and Mexico, that existed from 1836 to 1846.Formed as a break-away republic from Mexico by the Texas Revolution, the state claimed borders that encompassed an area that included all of the present U.S...

long sought to join the U.S., despite Mexican claims and the warning by Mexican leader Antonio López de Santa Anna

Antonio López de Santa Anna

Antonio de Padua María Severino López de Santa Anna y Pérez de Lebrón , often known as Santa Anna or López de Santa Anna, known as "the Napoleon of the West," was a Mexican political leader, general, and president who greatly influenced early Mexican and Spanish politics and government...

warned that this would be "equivalent to a declaration of war against the Mexican Republic." Congress approved the annexation of Texas on February 28, 1845. On December 29, 1845, Texas became the 28th state. Texas had claimed New Mexico east of the Rio Grande

Rio Grande

The Rio Grande is a river that flows from southwestern Colorado in the United States to the Gulf of Mexico. Along the way it forms part of the Mexico – United States border. Its length varies as its course changes...

but had only made one unsuccessful attempt

Texas Santa Fe Expedition

The Texas Santa Fe Expedition was a commercial and military expedition to secure the Republic of Texas's claims to parts of Northern New Mexico for Texas in 1841. The expedition was unofficially initiated by the then President of Texas, Mirabeau B. Lamar, in an attempt to gain control over the...

to occupy it; New Mexico was only captured by the U.S. Army in August 1846 and then administered separately from Texas. Resistance ended with the Siege of Pueblo de Taos

Siege of Pueblo de Taos

The Siege of Pueblo de Taos was the final battle during the main phase of the Taos Revolt, an insurrection against the United States during the Mexican-American War. It was also the final major engagement between American forces and insurgent forces in New Mexico during the war...

on February 5, 1847. Mexico acknowledged the loss of Texas and New Mexico in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo is the peace treaty, largely dictated by the United States to the interim government of a militarily occupied Mexico City, that ended the Mexican-American War on February 2, 1848...

, signed February 2, 1848.

Oregon

Oregon Country
Oregon Country
The Oregon Country was a predominantly American term referring to a disputed ownership region of the Pacific Northwest of North America. The region was occupied by British and French Canadian fur traders from before 1810, and American settlers from the mid-1830s, with its coastal areas north from...

, the area of North America west of the Rockies to the Pacific, was jointly controlled by the U.S. and the United Kingdom following the Anglo-American Convention of 1818 until June 15, 1846 when the Oregon Treaty

Oregon Treaty

The Oregon Treaty is a treaty between the United Kingdom and the United States that was signed on June 15, 1846, in Washington, D.C. The treaty brought an end to the Oregon boundary dispute by settling competing American and British claims to the Oregon Country, which had been jointly occupied by...

divided the territory at the 49th parallel

49th parallel north

The 49th parallel north is a circle of latitude that is 49 degrees north of the Earth's equatorial plane. It crosses Europe, Asia, the Pacific Ocean, North America, and the Atlantic Ocean....

(see Oregon boundary dispute

Oregon boundary dispute

The Oregon boundary dispute, or the Oregon Question, arose as a result of competing British and American claims to the Pacific Northwest of North America in the first half of the 19th century. Both the United Kingdom and the United States had territorial and commercial aspirations in the region...

). The San Juan Islands

San Juan Islands

The San Juan Islands are an archipelago in the northwest corner of the contiguous United States between the US mainland and Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. The San Juan Islands are part of the U.S...

were claimed and jointly occupied by the U.S. and the U.K. from 1846-1872 due to ambiguities in the treaty (see Northwestern Boundary Dispute). Arbitration led to the sole U.S. possession of the San Juan Islands since 1872.

Mexican Cession

Mexican Cession
Mexican Cession
The Mexican Cession of 1848 is a historical name in the United States for the region of the present day southwestern United States that Mexico ceded to the U.S...

lands were captured in the Mexican-American War in 1846-48, and ceded by Mexico in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

, where Mexico agreed to the present Mexico – United States border except for the later Gadsden Purchase

Gadsden Purchase

The Gadsden Purchase is a region of present-day southern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico that was purchased by the United States in a treaty signed by James Gadsden, the American ambassador to Mexico at the time, on December 30, 1853. It was then ratified, with changes, by the U.S...

. The United States paid $15 million (equivalent to $ in present day terms) and agreed to pay claims made by American citizens against Mexico which amounted to more than $3 million (equivalent to $ today).

Gadsden Purchase

Gadsden Purchase
Gadsden Purchase
The Gadsden Purchase is a region of present-day southern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico that was purchased by the United States in a treaty signed by James Gadsden, the American ambassador to Mexico at the time, on December 30, 1853. It was then ratified, with changes, by the U.S...

of 1853, United States purchased a strip of land along the U.S.-Mexico border for $10 million (equivalent to $ in present day terms), now in New Mexico and Arizona. This territory was intended for a southern transcontinental railroad

Transcontinental railroad

A transcontinental railroad is a contiguous network of railroad trackage that crosses a continental land mass with terminals at different oceans or continental borders. Such networks can be via the tracks of either a single railroad, or over those owned or controlled by multiple railway companies...

Since 1848

Guano islands

The Guano Islands Act
Guano Islands Act
The Guano Islands Act is federal legislation passed by the U.S. Congress, on August 18, 1856. It enables citizens of the U.S. to take possession of islands containing guano deposits. The islands can be located anywhere, so long as they are not occupied and not within the jurisdiction of other...

, passed on August 18, 1856, provided for U.S. claims to unoccupied islands containing guano

Guano

Guano is the excrement of seabirds, cave dwelling bats, and seals. Guano manure is an effective fertilizer due to its high levels of phosphorus and nitrogen and also its lack of odor. It was an important source of nitrates for gunpowder...

deposits. More than 50 islands were eventually claimed.

Of those remaining unquestionably under U.S. control due to this act alone are Baker Island

Baker Island

Baker Island is an uninhabited atoll located just north of the equator in the central Pacific Ocean about southwest of Honolulu. The island lies almost halfway between Hawaii and Australia, and is a possession of the United States. Its nearest neighbor is Howland Island, to the north.Located at...

, Jarvis Island

Jarvis Island

Jarvis Island is an uninhabited 4.5 square kilometer coral island located in the South Pacific Ocean at , about halfway between Hawaii and the Cook Islands...

, Howland Island

Howland Island

Howland Island is an uninhabited coral island located just north of the equator in the central Pacific Ocean, about southwest of Honolulu. The island lies almost halfway between Hawaii and Australia and is an unincorporated, unorganized territory of the United States. Geographically, it is part...

, Kingman Reef

Kingman Reef

Kingman Reef is a largely submerged, uninhabited triangular shaped reef, east-west and north-south, located in the North Pacific Ocean, roughly half way between the Hawaiian Islands and American Samoa at...

, and Johnston Atoll

Johnston Atoll

Johnston Atoll is a atoll in the North Pacific Ocean about west of Hawaii. There are four islands located on the coral reef platform, two natural islands, Johnston Island and Sand Island, which have been expanded by coral dredging, as well as North Island and East Island , an additional two...

. Baker Island

Baker Island

, Howland Island

Howland Island

, and Navassa Island

Navassa Island

Navassa Island is a small, uninhabited island in the Caribbean Sea, claimed as an unorganized unincorporated territory of the United States, which administers it through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Haiti, which claims to have had sovereignty over Navassa since 1801, also claims the island...

were annexed in under its provisions in 1857. Today ownership of Navassa is disputed between the U.S. and Haiti. Johnston Atoll

Johnston Atoll

was claimed by the U.S. and Hawaii in 1858; the U.S. claim became undisputed in 1898 after the annexation of Hawaii. Midway Atoll

Midway Atoll

Midway Atoll is a atoll in the North Pacific Ocean, near the northwestern end of the Hawaiian archipelago, about one-third of the way between Honolulu, Hawaii, and Tokyo, Japan. Unique among the Hawaiian islands, Midway observes UTC-11 , eleven hours behind Coordinated Universal Time and one hour...

was discovered and claimed in 1859 and formally annexed 1867. Kingman Reef

Kingman Reef

was claimed in 1856 and annexed in 1922. Jarvis Island

Jarvis Island

Jarvis Island is an uninhabited 4.5 square kilometer coral island located in the South Pacific Ocean at , about halfway between Hawaii and the Cook Islands...

was claimed in March 1857 and annexed in 1858, abandoned in 1879, and reclaimed in 1935.

An even more complicated case probably unresolved until now seems to be the Serranilla Bank

Serranilla Bank

Serranilla Bank is a partially submerged reef, with small uninhabited islets, in the western Caribbean Sea. It is situated about northeast of Punta Gorda, Nicaragua, and roughly southwest of Jamaica. The closest neighbouring land feature is Bajo Nuevo Bank, located 110 km to the east.Serranilla...

and the Bajo Nuevo Bank

Bajo Nuevo Bank

Bajo Nuevo Bank, also known as the Petrel Islands , is a small, uninhabited reef with some small islets, covered with grass, located in the western Caribbean Sea at , with a lighthouse on Low Cay at . The closest neighbouring land feature is Serranilla Bank, located to the west.The reef was first...

. In 1971, the U.S. and Honduras

Honduras

Honduras is a republic in Central America. It was previously known as Spanish Honduras to differentiate it from British Honduras, which became the modern-day state of Belize...

signed a treaty recognizing Honduran sovereignty over the Swan Islands

Swan Islands, Honduras

The Swan Islands, or Islas Santanilla, are a chain of three islands located in the northwestern Caribbean Sea, approximately ninety miles off the coastline of Honduras, with a land area of .-Detailed location and features:...

Alaska

Alaska Purchase
Alaska purchase
The Alaska Purchase was the acquisition of the Alaska territory by the United States from Russia in 1867 by a treaty ratified by the Senate. The purchase, made at the initiative of United States Secretary of State William H. Seward, gained of new United States territory...

from the Russian Empire

Russian Empire

The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...

for $7,200,000 (2 cents per acre) on March 30, 1867 (equivalent to $ in present day terms), as a vital refueling station for ships trading with Asia. The land went through several administrative changes before becoming an organized territory on May 11, 1912 and the 49th state of the U.S. on January 3, 1959. The name "Alaska" was already introduced in the Russian colonial time, when it was only used for the peninsula and is derived from the Aleut

Aleut language

Aleut is a language of the Eskimo–Aleut language family. It is the heritage language of the Aleut people living in the Aleutian Islands, Pribilof Islands, and Commander Islands. As of 2007 there were about 150 speakers of Aleut .- Dialects :Aleut is alone with the Eskimo languages in the...

alaxsxaq, meaning "the mainland," or more literally, "the object towards which the action of the sea is directed." It is also known as Alyeska

Alyeska

Alyeska is an archaic spelling of the Aleut word Alaska meaning "mainland", "great country", or "great land". The American state of Alaska derives its name from this word. Alyeska is related to the word Unalaska from the samoe root...

, the "great land", an Aleut word derived from the same root.

Hawaii

The Kingdom of Hawaii

Kingdom of Hawaii

The Kingdom of Hawaii was established during the years 1795 to 1810 with the subjugation of the smaller independent chiefdoms of Oahu, Maui, Molokai, Lānai, Kauai and Niihau by the chiefdom of Hawaii into one unified government...

was long an independent monarchy

Monarchy

A monarchy is a form of government in which the office of head of state is usually held until death or abdication and is often hereditary and includes a royal house. In some cases, the monarch is elected...

in the mid-Pacific Ocean

Pacific Ocean

The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...

. During the 19th century, the first American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

missionaries

Missionary

A missionary is a member of a religious group sent into an area to do evangelism or ministries of service, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care and economic development. The word "mission" originates from 1598 when the Jesuits sent members abroad, derived from the Latin...

and then business interests began to play major roles in the islands. Most notable were the powerful fruit

Fruit

In broad terms, a fruit is a structure of a plant that contains its seeds.The term has different meanings dependent on context. In non-technical usage, such as food preparation, fruit normally means the fleshy seed-associated structures of certain plants that are sweet and edible in the raw state,...

and sugarcane

Sugarcane

Sugarcane refers to any of six to 37 species of tall perennial grasses of the genus Saccharum . Native to the warm temperate to tropical regions of South Asia, they have stout, jointed, fibrous stalks that are rich in sugar, and measure two to six metres tall...

corporations such as the Big Five

Big Five (Hawaii)

The Big Five was the name given to a group of what started as sugarcane processing corporations that wielded considerable political power in the Territory of Hawaii during the early 20th century and leaned heavily towards the Hawaii Republican Party. The Big Five were Castle & Cooke, Alexander &...

, which included Castle & Cooke

Castle & Cooke

Castle & Cooke, Inc. is a Los Angeles-based company that was once part of the Big Five companies in territorial Hawaii. The company at one time did most of its business in agriculture...

, Alexander & Baldwin

Alexander & Baldwin

Following World War II, the company entered a new business: land development and real estate. The company formed a new subsidiary, the Kahului Development Co., to develop housing in the Kahului area. In the following years, the company became more involved in the development of its land and the...

, C. Brewer & Co.

C. Brewer & Co.

C. Brewer & Co., Ltd. was a Honolulu-based company that was once part of the Big Five companies in territorial Hawaii. The company did most of its business in agriculture....

, Amfac

Amfac (Hawaii)

Amfac, Inc. formerly known as American Factors and originally H. Hackfeld and Company was a land development company in Hawaii. Founded in 1849 as a retail and sugar business, it was considered one of the so-called Big Five companies in the Territory of Hawaii...

and Theo H. Davies & Co.

Theo H. Davies & Co.

Theo H. Davies & Co. is a company that was one of the Big Five trading and agricultural companies in the Territory of Hawaii.-History:Starkey, Janion, & Co. was a trading company founded in Liverpool in April 1845 by Englishmen James and John Starkey and Robert Cheshire Janion. Janion arrived in...

.

In January 1893, a group of American and European businessmen organized and carried out a coup d'état backed by the United States military which was successful in deposing Hawaiian Queen Lili'uokalani and overthrowing the monarchical system of government. The stated goal of the conspirators was annexation to the United States, both for geostrategic and economic reasons. Although U.S. President Grover Cleveland

Grover Cleveland

Stephen Grover Cleveland was the 22nd and 24th president of the United States. Cleveland is the only president to serve two non-consecutive terms and therefore is the only individual to be counted twice in the numbering of the presidents...

strongly disapproved the coup – which had been planned by operatives linked to Cleveland's predecessor President Benjamin Harrison

Benjamin Harrison

Benjamin Harrison was the 23rd President of the United States . Harrison, a grandson of President William Henry Harrison, was born in North Bend, Ohio, and moved to Indianapolis, Indiana at age 21, eventually becoming a prominent politician there...

– Euro-American business elites maintained political control as the Republic of Hawaii

Republic of Hawaii

The Republic of Hawaii was the formal name of the government that controlled Hawaii from 1894 to 1898 when it was run as a republic. The republic period occurred between the administration of the Provisional Government of Hawaii which ended on July 4, 1894 and the adoption of the Newlands...

until 1898, when Hawaii President Sanford Dole was offered and agreed to annexation

Annexation

Annexation is the de jure incorporation of some territory into another geo-political entity . Usually, it is implied that the territory and population being annexed is the smaller, more peripheral, and weaker of the two merging entities, barring physical size...

by the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. The Hawaiian Islands officially became a territory of the U.S.

United States territory

United States territory is any extent of region under the jurisdiction of the federal government of the United States, including all waters including all U.S. Naval carriers. The United States has traditionally proclaimed the sovereign rights for exploring, exploiting, conserving, and managing its...

in 1900. Following 94% voter approval of the Admission of Hawaii Act, on August 21, 1959 the Territory of Hawaii

Territory of Hawaii

The Territory of Hawaii or Hawaii Territory was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 7, 1898, until August 21, 1959, when its territory, with the exception of Johnston Atoll, was admitted to the Union as the fiftieth U.S. state, the State of Hawaii.The U.S...

became the state of Hawaii

Hawaii

Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...

and the 50th state

U.S. state

A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...

of the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

.

With Hawaii came the Palmyra Atoll

Palmyra Atoll

Palmyra Atoll is an essentially unoccupied equatorial Northern Pacific atoll administered as an unorganized incorporated territory by the United States federal government...

which had been annexed by the U.S. in 1859 but later abandoned, then later claimed by Hawaii.

Spanish colonies

Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...

, Guam
Guam
Guam is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States located in the western Pacific Ocean. It is one of five U.S. territories with an established civilian government. Guam is listed as one of 16 Non-Self-Governing Territories by the Special Committee on Decolonization of the United...

, and the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...

(for which the United States compensated Spain $20 million equivalent to $ in present day terms), ceded by Spain after the Spanish-American War

Spanish-American War

The Spanish–American War was a conflict in 1898 between Spain and the United States, effectively the result of American intervention in the ongoing Cuban War of Independence...

in the 1898 Treaty of Paris

Treaty of Paris (1898)

The Treaty of Paris of 1898 was signed on December 10, 1898, at the end of the Spanish-American War, and came into effect on April 11, 1899, when the ratifications were exchanged....

. Spain relinquished all claim of sovereignty over Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...

, but did not cede it to the United States, so it became a protectorate

Protectorate

In history, the term protectorate has two different meanings. In its earliest inception, which has been adopted by modern international law, it is an autonomous territory that is protected diplomatically or militarily against third parties by a stronger state or entity...

. All four of these areas were under United States Military Government (USMG) for extended periods. Cuba became an independent nation in 1902, and the Philippines became an independent nation in 1946.

This era also saw the first scattered protests against American imperialism. Noted Americans such as Mark Twain

Mark Twain

Samuel Langhorne Clemens , better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist...

spoke out forcefully against these ventures. Opponents of the war, including Twain and Andrew Carnegie

Andrew Carnegie

Andrew Carnegie was a Scottish-American industrialist, businessman, and entrepreneur who led the enormous expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century...

, organized themselves into the American Anti-Imperialist League

American Anti-Imperialist League

The American Anti-Imperialist League was an organization established in the United States on June 15, 1898 to battle the American annexation of the Philippines as an insular area...

.

During this same period the American people continued to strongly chastise the European powers for their imperialism. The Second Boer War

Second Boer War

The Second Boer War was fought from 11 October 1899 until 31 May 1902 between the British Empire and the Afrikaans-speaking Dutch settlers of two independent Boer republics, the South African Republic and the Orange Free State...

was especially unpopular in the United States and soured Anglo-American relations. The anti-imperialist press would often draw parallels between America in the Philippines and the British in the Second Boer War

Second Boer War

Cuba

Under the 1898 Treaty of Paris

Treaty of Paris (1898)

The Treaty of Paris of 1898 was signed on December 10, 1898, at the end of the Spanish-American War, and came into effect on April 11, 1899, when the ratifications were exchanged....

, Spain relinquished all claim of sovereignty over and title to Cuba, with the island to be occupied by the United States. The United States agreed to assume and discharge the obligations for the protection of life and property so long as such occupation should last. Cuba gained formal independence on 20 May 1902, with the independence leader Tomás Estrada Palma becoming the country's first president. Under the new Cuban constitution, however, the U.S. retained the right to intervene in Cuban affairs and to supervise its finances and foreign relations through the Platt Amendment; this, however, was later overturned as part of Franklin Roosevelt's Good Neighbor Policy

Good Neighbor policy

The Good Neighbor policy was the foreign policy of the administration of United States President Franklin Roosevelt toward the countries of Latin America. Its main principle was that of non-intervention and non-interference in the domestic affairs of Latin America...

. Under the Platt Amendment

Platt Amendment

The Platt Amendment of 1901 was a rider appended to the Army Appropriations Act presented to the U.S. Senate by Connecticut Republican Senator Orville H. Platt replacing the earlier Teller Amendment. Approved on May 22, 1903, it stipulated the conditions for the withdrawal of United States troops...

, Cuba also agreed to lease to the U.S. the naval base

Guantanamo Bay Naval Base

Guantanamo Bay Naval Base is located on of land and water at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba which the United States leased for use as a coaling station following the Cuban-American Treaty of 1903. The base is located on the shore of Guantánamo Bay at the southeastern end of Cuba. It is the oldest overseas...

at Guantánamo Bay.
The naval base occupies land which the United States leased from Cuba in 1903 "... for the time required for the purposes of coaling and naval stations." The two governments later agreed that, "So long as the United States of America shall not abandon the said naval station of Guantanamo or the two Governments shall not agree to a modification of its present limits, the station shall continue to have the territorial area that it now has, with the limits that it has on the date of the signature of the present Treaty."

Puerto Rico

On July 25, 1898, during the Spanish–American War

Spanish-American War

The Spanish–American War was a conflict in 1898 between Spain and the United States, effectively the result of American intervention in the ongoing Cuban War of Independence...

, Puerto Rico was invaded by the United States with a landing at Guánica

Guánica, Puerto Rico

Guánica is a municipality in southwestern Puerto Rico located on southern coast, bordering the Caribbean Sea, south of Sabana Grande, east of Lajas, and west of Yauco. It is part of the Yauco Metropolitan Statistical Area....

. As an outcome of the war, Jones-Shafroth Act

Jones-Shafroth Act

The Jones–Shafroth Act was a 1917 Act of the United States Congress by which Puerto Ricans were collectively made U.S. citizens, the people of Puerto Rico were empowered to have a popularly-elected Senate, established a bill of rights, and authorized the election of a Resident Commissioner to a...

granted all the inhabitants of Puerto Rico U.S. citizenship in 1917. The U.S. granted Puerto Ricans the right to democratically elect their own governor

Governor of Puerto Rico

The Governor of Puerto Rico is the Head of Government of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. Since 1948, the Governor has been elected by the people of Puerto Rico...

in 1948. In 1950, the Truman Administration allowed for a democratic referendum

Referendum

A referendum is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal. This may result in the adoption of a new constitution, a constitutional amendment, a law, the recall of an elected official or simply a specific government policy. It is a form of...

in Puerto Rico to determine whether Puerto Ricans desired to draft their own local constitution without affecting the unincorporated territory status with the U.S. A local constitution

Constitution of Puerto Rico

The Constitution of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico is the controlling government document of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. It is composed of nine articles detailing the structure of the government as well as the function of several of its institutions. The document also contains an extensive...

was approved by a Constitutional Convention on February 6, 1952, ratified by the U.S. Congress, approved by President Truman on July 3 of that year, and proclaimed by Gov. Muñoz Marín on July 25, 1952, the anniversary of the 1898 arrival of U.S. troops. Puerto Rico adopted the name of Estado Libre Asociado (literally translated as "Free Associated State"), officially translated into English as Commonwealth

Commonwealth (United States insular area)

In the terminology of the United States insular areas, a Commonwealth is a type of organized but unincorporated dependent territory.The definition of "Commonwealth" according to current U.S. State Department policy reads: "The term 'Commonwealth' does not describe or provide for any specific...

, for its body politic

Body politic

A polity is a state or one of its subordinate civil authorities, such as a province, prefecture, county, municipality, city, or district. It is generally understood to mean a geographic area with a corresponding government. Thomas Hobbes considered bodies politic in this sense in Leviathan...

Guam

In Guam

Guam

Guam is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States located in the western Pacific Ocean. It is one of five U.S. territories with an established civilian government. Guam is listed as one of 16 Non-Self-Governing Territories by the Special Committee on Decolonization of the United...

, settlement by foreign ethnic groups was small at first. After World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

showed the strategic value of the island, construction of a huge military base began along with a large influx of people from other parts of the world. Guam today has a very mixed population of 164,000. The indigenous Chamorros

Chamorros

The Chamorro people, or Chamoru people, are the indigenous peoples of the Mariana Islands, which include the American territory of Guam and the United States Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands in Micronesia. Today, significant Chamoru populations also exist in several U.S. states...

make up 37% of the population. The rest of the population consists mostly of whites and Filipinos, with smaller groups of Chinese, Japanese

Japanese people

The are an ethnic group originating in the Japanese archipelago and are the predominant ethnic group of Japan. Worldwide, approximately 130 million people are of Japanese descent; of these, approximately 127 million are residents of Japan. People of Japanese ancestry who live in other countries...

, Koreans, Micronesia

Micronesia

Micronesia is a subregion of Oceania, comprising thousands of small islands in the western Pacific Ocean. It is distinct from Melanesia to the south, and Polynesia to the east. The Philippines lie to the west, and Indonesia to the southwest....

ns, Vietnamese

Vietnamese people

The Vietnamese people are an ethnic group originating from present-day northern Vietnam and southern China. They are the majority ethnic group of Vietnam, comprising 86% of the population as of the 1999 census, and are officially known as Kinh to distinguish them from other ethnic groups in Vietnam...

and India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

ns. Guam today is almost totally Americanized. The situation is somewhat similar to that in Hawaii, but attempts to change Guam's status as an 'unincorporated' U.S. territory have yet to meet with success.

Philippines

The Philippine Revolution

Philippine Revolution

The Philippine Revolution , called the "Tagalog War" by the Spanish, was an armed military conflict between the people of the Philippines and the Spanish colonial authorities which resulted in the secession of the Philippine Islands from the Spanish Empire.The Philippine Revolution began in August...

against Spain

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

began in April 1896, culminating two years later with a proclamation of independence and the establishment of the First Philippine Republic

First Philippine Republic

The Philippine Republic , more commonly known as the First Philippine Republic or the Malolos Republic was a short-lived insurgent revolutionary government in the Philippines...

. However, the 1898 Treaty of Paris

Treaty of Paris (1898)

The Treaty of Paris of 1898 was signed on December 10, 1898, at the end of the Spanish-American War, and came into effect on April 11, 1899, when the ratifications were exchanged....

which ended the Spanish-American war transferred control of the Philippines from Spain to the United States. This agreement was not recognized by the nascent Philippine Government which, on June 2, 1899, proclaimed a Declaration of War

Declaration of war

A declaration of war is a formal act by which one nation goes to war against another. The declaration is a performative speech act by an authorized party of a national government in order to create a state of war between two or more states.The legality of who is competent to declare war varies...

against the United States. The Philippine-American War

Philippine-American War

The Philippine–American War, also known as the Philippine War of Independence or the Philippine Insurrection , was an armed conflict between a group of Filipino revolutionaries and the United States which arose from the struggle of the First Philippine Republic to gain independence following...

ensued, officially ending in 1902, though hostilities continued until about 1913. The war is often cited as another instance of United States imperialism. While many Filipinos

Filipino people

The Filipino people or Filipinos are an Austronesian ethnic group native to the islands of the Philippines. There are about 92 million Filipinos in the Philippines, and about 11 million living outside the Philippines ....

were initially delighted to be rid of the Spanish rule of the Philippines, an insurgent Malolos Republic government formed under Emilio Aguinaldo

Emilio Aguinaldo

Emilio Aguinaldo y Famy was a Filipino general, politician, and independence leader. He played an instrumental role during the Philippines' revolution against Spain, and the subsequent Philippine-American War or War of Philippine Independence that resisted American occupation...

declared war on the United States and waged an unsuccessful struggle for independence. Aguinaldo was captured and pledged his allegiance to the American government in 1901, and the U.S. unilaterally declared an end to the conflict in 1902. Scattered fighting continued, however, until 1913.

The Philippine Organic Act

Philippine Organic Act (1902)

The Philippine Organic Act, popularly known as the Philippine Bill of 1902 and sometimes known as the Cooper Act after its author Henry A. Cooper, was the first organic law for the Philippines enacted by the United States Congress during the American Colonial Period in the Philippines...

of 1902 provided for the establishment of a bicameral legislature composed of an upper house consisting of the Philippine Commission

Taft Commission

The Taft Commission, also known as Second Philippine Commission was established by United States President William McKinley on March 16, 1900. The Commission was the legislature of the Philippines, then known as the Philippine Islands under the sovereign control of the United States during the...

(an appointive body having both U.S. and Filipino members) and a popularly elected lower house, the Philippine Assembly

Philippine Assembly

The Philippine Assembly was the lower house of the legislative body of the Philippines during the early part of American colonial period. It was created by the Philippine Organic Act, passed in 1902, which also established the Philippine Commission as the upper house of the Philippine Legislature,...

. The Philippines became a U.S. colony in the fashion of Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

's New Imperialism

New Imperialism

New Imperialism refers to the colonial expansion adopted by Europe's powers and, later, Japan and the United States, during the 19th and early 20th centuries; expansion took place from the French conquest of Algeria until World War I: approximately 1830 to 1914...

, with benevolent colonial practices. English joined Spanish as an official language, and English language education was made compulsory. The Philippine Autonomy Act (Jones Law)

Jones Law (Philippines)

The Jones Law or the Act of Congress of August 29, 1916, also known as the Philippine Autonomy Act of 1916, replaced the Philippine Organic Act of 1902 that earlier served as a constitution for the Philippine Islands. The Philippines was ceded by Spain to the United States in 1898 and a civil...

of 1916 officially declared the United States commitment to grant independence to the Philippines, "...as soon as a stable government can be established therein." Partial autonomy (commonwealth status

Commonwealth (United States insular area)

) was granted in 1935, preparatory to a planned full independence from the United States in 1946.

Preparation for a fully sovereign state was interrupted by the Japanese occupation of the islands during World War II. The United States suffered a total of 62,514 casualties, including 13,973 deaths in its attempt to liberate the Philippines from Imperial Japanese rule during the hard-fought Philippines campaign from 1944-1945. Full independence came with the recognition of Philippine sovereignty by the U.S.

Treaty of Manila (1946)

The Treaty of Manila is a treaty of general relations signed on July 4, 1946 in Manila, capital of the Philippines. Parties to the treaty were the governments of the United States and the Republic of the Philippines...

in 1946. The Philippines remained under U.S. or Japanese rule until after World War II. The Filipinos welcomed the American reconquest from Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

in 1944, and the U.S. recognized their political independence in 1946

Treaty of Manila (1946)

Wake Island

Wake Island
Wake Island
Wake Island is a coral atoll having a coastline of in the North Pacific Ocean, located about two-thirds of the way from Honolulu west to Guam east. It is an unorganized, unincorporated territory of the United States, administered by the Office of Insular Affairs, U.S. Department of the Interior...

, annexed in 1899 (the claim is currently disputed by the Marshall Islands

Marshall Islands

The Republic of the Marshall Islands , , is a Micronesian nation of atolls and islands in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, just west of the International Date Line and just north of the Equator. As of July 2011 the population was 67,182...

American Samoa

Germany, the United States, and Britain colonized the Samoan Islands. The nations came into conflict in the Second Samoan Civil War

Second Samoan Civil War

The Second Samoan Civil War was a conflict that reached a head in 1898 when Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States were locked in dispute over who should have control over the Samoan island chain, located in the South Pacific Ocean...

and the nations resolved their issues, establishing American Samoa

American Samoa

American Samoa is an unincorporated territory of the United States located in the South Pacific Ocean, southeast of the sovereign state of Samoa...

as per the Treaty of Berlin, 1899

Treaty of Berlin, 1899

The Tripartite Convention of 1899 resulted in the act that formally partitioned the Samoan archipelago into a German colony and a United States territory and was the culmination of years of civil war among Samoan factions and of rivalry between the United States, Germany and the United Kingdom at...

. The U.S. took control of its allotted region on June 7, 1900, with the Deed of Cession. Tutuila Island and Aunuu Island were ceded by their chiefs in 1900, then added to American Samoa. Manua
Manua
Manua, or the Manua Islands Group , in the Samoan Islands, consists of three main islands: Tau, Ofu and Olosega...

was annexed in 1904, then added to American Samoa. Swains Island
Swains Island
Swains Island is an atoll in the Tokelau chain. Culturally a part of Tokelau, it is an unincorporated unorganized territory of the United States administered by American Samoa. Swains Island has also been known at various times as Olosenga Island, Olohega Island, Quiros Island, Gente Hermosa...

was annexed in 1925 (occupied since 1856), then added to American Samoa. (The claim is currently disputed by Tokelau

Tokelau

Tokelau is a territory of New Zealand in the South Pacific Ocean that consists of three tropical coral atolls with a combined land area of 10 km2 and a population of approximately 1,400...

, a colonial territory of New Zealand.) American Samoa

American Samoa

American Samoa is an unincorporated territory of the United States located in the South Pacific Ocean, southeast of the sovereign state of Samoa...

was under the control of the U.S. Navy from 1900 to 1951. American Samoa was made a formal territory in 1929. From 1951 until 1977, Territorial Governors were appointed by the Secretary of the Interior

United States Secretary of the Interior

The United States Secretary of the Interior is the head of the United States Department of the Interior.The US Department of the Interior should not be confused with the concept of Ministries of the Interior as used in other countries...

. Immigration of Americans was never as strong as it was, for instance, in Hawaii; indigenous Samoans make up 89% of the population. The islands have been reluctant to separate from the U.S. in any manner.

Panama Canal Zone

The Panama Canal Zone

Panama Canal Zone

The Panama Canal Zone was a unorganized U.S. territory located within the Republic of Panama, consisting of the Panama Canal and an area generally extending 5 miles on each side of the centerline, but excluding Panama City and Colón, which otherwise would have been partly within the limits of...

was an unorganized US territory located within the Republic of Panama. It was established under the Hay-Bunau Varilla Treaty

Hay-Bunau Varilla Treaty

The Hay–Bunau-Varilla Treaty was a treaty signed on November 18, 1903, by the United States and Panama, that established the Panama Canal Zone and the subsequent construction of the Panama Canal...

in 1903 and disestablished in 1979 under the Torrijos–Carter Treaties. Panama gained full control over the Panama Canal

Panama Canal

The Panama Canal is a ship canal in Panama that joins the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean and is a key conduit for international maritime trade. Built from 1904 to 1914, the canal has seen annual traffic rise from about 1,000 ships early on to 14,702 vessels measuring a total of 309.6...

in 1999.

Virgin Islands

In 1917, the United States purchased the former Danish

Denmark

Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...

colony

Colony

In politics and history, a colony is a territory under the immediate political control of a state. For colonies in antiquity, city-states would often found their own colonies. Some colonies were historically countries, while others were territories without definite statehood from their inception....

of St. Croix, St. John and St. Thomas, which is now the U.S. Virgin Islands. The United States purchased these islands because they feared that the islands might be seized as a submarine base

Submarine base

A submarine base is a military base that shelters submarines and their personnel.Examples of present-day submarine bases include HMNB Clyde, Île Longue , Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay, Naval Submarine Base New London, and Rybachiy Nuclear Submarine Base .The Israeli navy bases its growing submarine...

during World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

. After a few months of negotiations, a sales price of $25 million (equivalent to $ in present day terms) was agreed. A referendum held in late 1916

Danish West Indian Islands sale referendum, 1916

A referendum on the sale of the Danish West Indian Islands to the United States of America was held in Denmark on 14 December 1916. The non-binding referendum saw 283,670 vote in favor of the sale and 158,157 against. The residents of the islands were not allowed to vote on the matter, but in an...

confirmed the decision to sell by a wide margin. The deal was thus ratified and finalized on January 17, 1917, when the United States and Denmark exchanged their respective treaty ratifications. The U.S. took possession of the islands on March 31, 1917. The territory was renamed the U.S. Virgin Islands. U.S. citizenship was granted to the inhabitants of the islands in 1927.

Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands

The Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands

Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands

The Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands was a United Nations trust territory in Micronesia administered by the United States from 1947 to 1986.-History:...

(TTPI) was a United Nations trust territory in Micronesia

Micronesia

(western Pacific) administered by the United States from July 18, 1947, comprising the former League of Nations Mandate

League of Nations mandate

A League of Nations mandate was a legal status for certain territories transferred from the control of one country to another following World War I, or the legal instruments that contained the internationally agreed-upon terms for administering the territory on behalf of the League...

administered by Japan and taken by the U.S. in 1944. The various island groupings in the Trust Territory were later divided up. The Marshall Islands
Marshall Islands
The Republic of the Marshall Islands , , is a Micronesian nation of atolls and islands in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, just west of the International Date Line and just north of the Equator. As of July 2011 the population was 67,182...

, and the Federated States of Micronesia
Federated States of Micronesia
The Federated States of Micronesia or FSM is an independent, sovereign island nation, made up of four states from west to east: Yap, Chuuk, Pohnpei and Kosrae. It comprises approximately 607 islands with c...

achieved independence on October 21, 1986. Palau
Palau
Palau , officially the Republic of Palau , is an island nation in the Pacific Ocean, east of the Philippines and south of Tokyo. In 1978, after three decades as being part of the United Nations trusteeship, Palau chose independence instead of becoming part of the Federated States of Micronesia, a...

did so in 1994. All three nations signed Compacts of Free Association

Compact of Free Association

The Compact of Free Association defines the relationship that three sovereign states—the Federated States of Micronesia , the Republic of the Marshall Islands and the Republic of Palau—have entered into as associated states with the United States.Now sovereign nations, the three freely associated...

with the United States.

Mexican boundary

The Boundary Treaty of 1970
Boundary Treaty of 1970
The 1970 Boundary Treaty between the United States and Mexico settled all then pending boundary disputes and uncertainties related to the Rio Grande border. The most significant dispute remaining after the Chamizal Settlement in 1963 involved the location of the boundary in the area of Presidio,...

transferred 2702.9 acres (10.9 km²) of Mexican territory to the U.S.. In exchange, the U.S. ceded 2087.87 acres (8.4 km²) to Mexico, including the little town of Rio Rico, Texas
Rio Rico, Texas
Rio Rico is a city near the Rio Grande in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas; it and the surrounding land were part of the US state of Texas that was ceded by the United States to Mexico in 1970...

.

Northern Mariana Islands

The Northern Mariana Islands

Northern Mariana Islands

The Northern Mariana Islands, officially the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands , is a commonwealth in political union with the United States, occupying a strategic region of the western Pacific Ocean. It consists of 15 islands about three-quarters of the way from Hawaii to the Philippines...

were part of the former Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands but decided in the 1970s not to seek independence. The Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands in political union with the United States was established in 1978.

External links

“Hope and Memory”. 1801-2004 timeline of 163 U.S. interventions. Adbusters
AdBusters
The Adbusters Media Foundation is a Canadian-based not-for-profit, anti-consumerist, pro-environment organization founded in 1989 by Kalle Lasn and Bill Schmalz in Vancouver, British Columbia...

.

The Insular Empire: America in the Mariana Islands, PBS documentary film & website} (Alternate link) History links to the early US involvement in Latin America from casahistoria.

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

1783-1848

Louisiana

West Florida

Red River

East Florida

Along Canadian border

Texas

Oregon

Mexican Cession

Gadsden Purchase

Since 1848

Guano islands

Alaska

Hawaii

Spanish colonies

Cuba

Puerto Rico

Guam

Philippines

Wake Island

American Samoa

Panama Canal Zone

Virgin Islands

Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands

Mexican boundary

Northern Mariana Islands

See also

External links