Territorial evolution of the United States

High school (ages 12+)
Geography

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/territorial-evolution-of-the-united-states

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the year of mexican cession?1848
2. What is the major territories acquired post-spanish-american war?Puerto Rico, Guam, Philippines
3. What did the Treaty of Paris in 1783 do for the United States?It ended the American Revolution and gave the new country land all the way to the Mississippi River, doubling its size.
4. How did the Louisiana Purchase make the USA bigger?In 1803, the U.S. bought a huge area from France, almost twice its size at the time, giving new land to explore and settle.

Cession: The formal surrender or yielding of rights, property, or territory.
Secession: The act of formally withdrawing from a federation or body, especially a political state.
Trust Territory: A territory administered by another country under the supervision of the United Nations.
Contiguous United States: The 48 states that share borders, excluding Alaska and Hawaii.