Declaration Of Independence Essay

Originally, there were 13 colonies that declared independence from England and formed the United State of America. In the Proclamation of 1763, they said that they would not cross the Appalachian Mountains. After the War of 1812, the British abandoned their forts in the West and more and more people moved into the West. As people moved west, our country began to grow into the vast nation we have today. The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 set the precedent for new states to enter the union. It was adopted by the Congress of the Confederation under the Articles of Confederation. Thanks to this act, we were able to obtain land that would become Wisconsin, Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, and Michigan, along with parts of Minnesota. The territory it addressed

There were border disputes concerning where the Louisiana Purchase’s domain ended. The fact that Seminoles and escaped slaves posed a threat to neighboring Georgia concerned American leaders as well. As a result of that threat, General Andrew Jackson led violent campaigns in the area believing that the Spanish would not resolve the issue. Senator John Adams used Jackson’s military action to present Spain with a choice to either control its colony’s inhabitants or cede it to the United States. In the end, Spanish Minister Onis and Secretary Adams signed the Onis-Adams Treaty of 1819, giving the United States control of Florida, which was approximately 65,755 square miles.

When Congress passed a tariff on imported sugar, the sugar planters there were upset. They knew that by annexing the island nation to the United States, their sugar would no longer be considered imported, thus nulling the tariff. In 1893, they staged an uprising to overthrow Queen Liliuokalani. She was forced to abdicate and Hawaii’s fate was left in the United States’ hands. However, the president at the time was an anti-imperialist and he withdrew the annexation treaty from the Senate. It would remain that way until 1898 when President William McKinley felt annexing it would be tactically beneficial against the Spanish. The 10,931 square miles of islands would remain a territory until 1959, when Hawaii gained