Building An Empire

Building An Empire — page 3 — At the start of the nineteenth century the United States had only 17 states and the large Northwest Territory which surrounded the Great Lakes There were five and a half million Americans mostly living along the eastern seaboard However more than 700,000 settlers moved west of the Appalachian Mountains after the American Revolution ended in 1783 They pressed into regions that later became Ohio Indiana Illinois Kentucky Tennessee Alabama and Mississippi These people who by 1803 outnumbered Native Americans by eight to one were farmers fur traders hunters and adventurers Many of them used the Mississippi River and the vital port of New Orleans to send their products to the Atlantic coast and to Europe 6

Building An Empire — page 4 — But the lower Mississippi and New Orleans remained in foreign hands Originally claimed in the name of King Louis XIV by French explorers in 1682 Louisiana had been under Spanish control since 1763 Winning the American Revolution had given the United States the Northwest Territory while Britain retained Canada and continued to claim Oregon Country However Spain still controlled Florida the Southwest and all of the land from Texas to the Pacific Ocean King Louis XIV 1638-1715 The Proclamation of 1763 declared that the colonies could not build west of the Appalachian Mountains which changed after the American Revolution 7

Building An Empire — page 5 — Although Spain had been an American ally in the Revolution Spain was determined to keep Americans out of its territory In particular the sparsely populated lands west of the Mississippi River made an excellent buffer zone between Spain’s rich silver mines in Mexico and the restless Americans who always seemed to want more land Americans living near the frontier often felt neglected by their government Some politicians in remote areas began encouraging groups of people to secede from the United States and become a part of Spain Congress now had to decide whether to encourage or discourage western settlement and in 1787 it passed the Northwest Ordinance This act said that settlers could elect a territorial government when 5,000 males not including slaves lived in a district and with 60,000 people they could apply for statehood Thomas Jefferson suggested many names for new states such as Metropotamia Pelisipia and Slyvania 8

Building An Empire — page 6 — The Declaration of Independence was outlined by Thomas Jefferson John Adams and Benjamin Franklin and written by Jefferson The men that fought for the United States were called Patriots THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION After the wars with France England was left with a growing empire and a huge debt so the king of England raised taxes in the American colonies Colonists protested the new taxes and began to form militia groups The American Revolutionary War began in 1775 and on July 4 1776 the Second Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence The British surrendered in 1781 and the Treaty of Paris signed on September 3 1783 granted the 13 colonies independence 9

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