U.S. Territorial Acquisitions, 1803...
Transcript of U.S. Territorial Acquisitions, 1803...
G U I D E T O G E O G R A P H Y C H A L L E N G E
Manifest Destiny and the Growing Nation 1 © Teachers’ Curriculum Institute
kilometers
U.S. Territorial Acquisitions, 1803–1853
140°W
B R I T I S H C A N A D A
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Portland
OREGON COUNTRY
Boston
Sacramento
San Francisco
MEXICAN CESSION
Fort Hall Sout
h Pass
LOUISIANA TERRITORY
Tr
UNITED STATES, 1800
Independence
St. Louis
New York
Los Angeles Santa Fe
GADSDEN PURCHASE
TEXAS
New Orleans
FLORIDA, 1819
ATLANTIC
OCEAN
PACIFI
C OCEAN
M E X I CO G u l f o f M e x i c o
120°W
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0 400
400 110°W
800 miles
880000 kilometers
80°W
Lambert Azimuthal Equal-Area Projection 100°W 90°W
G U I D E T O G E O G R A P H Y C H A L L E N G E
Manifest Destiny and the Growing Nation 2 © Teachers’ Curriculum Institute
Geography Skills
Score 1 point for each correct answer. Use the
map on the previous page to check shading
and labeling.
1. Adding the Louisiana Territory in 1803 about
doubled the size of the United States.
2. Texas was added in 1845 and the Mexican
Cession in 1848. The Gadsden Purchase
was the other territory acquired from
Mexico.
3. The Oregon Trail crossed the Louisiana
Territory on the way to Portland. The Santa
Fe Trail crossed it on the way to Santa Fe.
The California Trail crossed it on the way
to Sacramento.
4. The United States added Oregon Country
in 1846.
5. The western end of the Old Spanish Trail was
Los Angeles.
6. Following the Santa Fe and Old Spanish trails
to California required settlers to cross the
Arkansas River, Rio Grande, and Colorado
River as well as the Rocky Mountains and
Sierra Nevada. (Note: Students may not be
certain about the Arkansas River.)
7. The California Trail left the Oregon Trail at
Fort Hall.
8. The Mormon, California, and Oregon trails
crossed the Rocky Mountains at South
Pass.
Critical Thinking
Questions may have more than one correct
answer. Score 1 to 3 points for each reasonable
answer, depending on the strength of students’
geographic reasoning. Possible answers are
given here.
9. By following rivers, the trails provided
travelers with a source of water along much
of their journey.
10. Moving wagons over mountains, and with
snow and cold weather, would have been slower
than riding over flat land.
11. Had the Louisiana Territory not become part
of the United States, Americans traveling to
Oregon and California would have had to
cross land that belonged to another nation.
This might have discouraged Americans from
settling in these regions.