American Samoa was acquired by the United States in 1900 after the end of the Second Samoan Civil War. Support for the independence of Cuba from the Spanish Empire, and the sinking of the USS Maine, led to the Spanish–American War in 1898, in which the United States gained Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines, and occupied Cuba for several years. Alaska, the last major acquisition in North America, was purchased from Russia in 1867. The Pacific expansion culminated in the annexation of Hawaii in 1898, after the overthrow of its government five years previously. Most of these claims were eventually abandoned, largely due to competing claims from other countries. The country began expanding beyond North America in 1856 with the passage of the Guano Islands Act, causing many small and uninhabited, but economically important, islands in the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea to be claimed. The cultural endeavor and pursuit of manifest destiny provided a strong impetus for westward expansion in the 19th century. The American Civil War led to the defeat of the Confederacy in 1865 and the eventual readmission of the states to the United States Congress. This came to a head in 18, when the governments of the southern states proclaimed their secession from the country and formed the Confederate States of America. However, as the development of the country moved west, the question of slavery became more important, with vigorous debate over whether the new territories would allow slavery and events such as the Missouri Compromise and Bleeding Kansas. The annexation of the Republic of Texas in 1845 led directly to the Mexican–American War, after which the victorious United States obtained the northern half of Mexico's territory, including what was quickly made the state of California. The Oregon Country gave the United States access to the Pacific Ocean, though it was shared for a time with the United Kingdom. The first great expansion of the country came with the Louisiana Purchase of 1803, which doubled the country's territory, although the southeastern border with Spanish Florida was the subject of much dispute until it and Spanish claims to the Oregon Country were ceded to the US in 1821. In time, these grants were ceded to the federal government. This land was organized into territories and then states, though there remained some conflict with the sea-to-sea grants claimed by some of the original colonies. ![]() This effectively doubled the size of the colonies, now able to stretch west past the Proclamation Line to the Mississippi River. Their independence was recognized by Great Britain in the Treaty of Paris of 1783, which concluded the American Revolutionary War. The union was formalized in the Articles of Confederation, which came into force on March 1, 1781, after being ratified by all 13 states. In the Lee Resolution, passed by the Second Continental Congress two days prior, the colonies resolved that they were free and independent states. The United States of America was formed after thirteen British colonies in North America declared independence from the British Empire on July 4, 1776. Animated map of the territorial evolution of the United States ( click to view full size image) US Census Bureau map depicting territorial acquisitions, 2007 After Japan's defeat in World War II, the Japanese-ruled Northern Mariana Islands came under control of the United States. For trails in the American Old West, see Westward Expansion Trails.
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