How Did America Get So Big? A Lesson in American History.

Vocab review:

Founded (verb) - officially established or started.

Example: The university was Founded in the 18th century and is one of the oldest in the country.

Whopping (adjective) - extremely large or impressive.

Example: The Taylor Swift concert sold a whopping 50,000 tickets in the first hour.

Enormous (adjective) - very large in size or amount.

Example: The size of the pizza in New York City is enormous, each slice was bigger than my head.

A cent (noun) - a very small amount of money, equal to one-hundredth of a dollar.

Example: I checked my pocket and realized I did not have a cent to buy a snack.

Something happened overnight (phrase) - something happened very quickly and surprisingly.

Example: The small band became famous overnight after their song went viral online.

Debt (noun) - money that is owed to another person or group.

Example: After buying the house, they took out a large loan and had a lot of debt.

Would rather (phrase) - would prefer to do or have.

Example: She would rather travel during the winter when the airfare prices are lower.

Poverty stricken (adjective) - extremely poor.

Example: The local charity raises money to help families who are poverty stricken.

Crippled (adjective) - badly damaged, weakened, or unable to function well.

Example: The city's transport system was crippled by the heavy snowstorm.

Adversaries (noun) - enemies or opponents in a conflict, dispute, or contest.

Example: Despite being political adversaries, the two leaders respected each other.

Rival (adjective/noun) - competing with another person or group for the same thing.

Example: The two biggest rival coffee shops opened right next door to each other.

Ironic (adjective) - surprising or unexpected, often in a humorous or difficult way.

Example: It was ironic that the marathon runner was late because his car broke down.

Insatiable (adjective) - impossible to satisfy, always wanting more.

Example: The child had an insatiable appetite for adventure books.

To annex (verb) - to formally take control of a territory or land and add it to one's own country or state.

Example:: The powerful king planned to annex the small islands off the coast.

A lucky break (phrase) - a sudden, unexpected piece of good fortune.

Example: Getting the interview for the job was a lucky break since I almost didn't see the advertisement.

Abundance (noun) - a very large amount of something.

Example: The lake provides an abundance of fresh water for the entire city.

Horrendous (adjective) - extremely bad.

Example: The customer sent the soup back to the kitchen because the taste was absolutely horrendous.

To mock (verb) - to make fun of someone or something by copying them or laughing at them.

Example: The opposing team started to mock the players after they missed the shot.

Mockingly (adverb) - in a way that makes fun of someone or something.

Example: The interviewer smiled mockingly when the candidate claimed they spoke five languages fluently.

How Did America Get So Big? The westward expansion.

When the United States was founded in 1776, it was just a group of 13 small states on the East Coast of what is now one of the largest nations in the world. In less than 75 years the U.S. was able to increase the size of its territory by a whopping 1,000 %. But how did this happen? Let’s take a look at the 5 largest expansions that made the U.S. so enormous.

1. The Louisiana Purchase (1803) – The Deal of the Century

One of the cheapest land purchases in all of history was in 1803 when France’s leader, Napoleon Bonaparte, sold a huge piece of land, the Louisiana Territory, to the United States. The United States bought the Louisiana Territory for a mere $15 million, which was about 4 cents per acre (or 7 dollars per square kilometer), it was an absolute steal! This purchase more than doubled the size of the country overnight. Luckily for the Americans, Napoleon needed money to pay back his war debt in Europe and also knew he couldn’t protect the land from the British, so he decided that he would rather sell it to the Americans than lose the territory to the British. Today

2. Florida Joins the Union (1819)

Today, Florida is famous for its year-round summer, theme parks, and beautiful beaches. But before joining the United States, Florida was poverty-stricken, crippled by pirates and adversaries, and under Spanish control. The United States wanted to buy Florida for many reasons, but one of the biggest reasons was that Spain was not able to control the territory, so the U.S. feared that a rival country could easily take over Florida and then start war with the U.S. Still today, Florida is one of the most Spanish-speaking states in the U.S. due to the immigration from Latin America.

3. Texas and the Southwest (1845–1848)

The Americans had an insatiable desire to expand the size of their nation. In 1845, the U.S. began a three-year plan to gain another three million square kilometers. This expansion started with annexing Texas and ended with the defeat of the Mexican army, which resulted in the United States taking control of the entire Southwest, including what is now California, Arizona, New Mexico, and parts of several other states. So if you ever wondered why the names of American cities sound extremely Spanish in the southwest, it's because they’re actually Mexican.

4. The Oregon Territory (1846)

After defeating Mexico and annexing Texas, the size of the United States had increased by almost 500%. However, the Americans immediately decided to go for another expansion, the Oregon Territory. The Oregon deal turned out to be another lucky break for the Americans. Both the United States and Britain had claimed the Oregon Territory as their own, fortunately, the two countries chose to divide the land peacefully instead of going to war. This agreement gave the United States three new states: Oregon, Washington, and Idaho. While this region doesn't have many mega cities, like New York City or Los Angeles, it does have an abundance of natural beauty, mountains, and landscapes.

5. Alaska – “Seward’s Icebox” (1867)

If there is one man in American history that is owed an apology, it's William Steward. As the secretary of state, Steward bought Alaska from Russia in 1867 for just over 7 million dollars (that’s 3 dollars and 50 cents per square kilometer), the cheapest land deal ever made. But the people of the United States thought it was a horrendous decision and mockingly referred to Alaska as “Steward’s Icebox.” Ironically, Alaska turned out to be full of gold and oil - today, it’s America’s most valuable (and largest) state.

Concept Questions:

• Why did Napoleon sell the Louisiana Territory to the U.S.?

• Why did the U.S. want to have control of Florida?

• Did Britain and the U.S. fight over Oregon or did they make a peaceful deal?

• Were most Americans happy about the Alaska purchase?

Discussion Questions:

• Do you think America is too big?

• Do you think it's risky for a country to expand very quickly like America did? 

• What part of the USA would be most interesting to visit?

• In the past people cared a lot about having more land. What do you want more of?

• Is it ever okay for a strong country to take over a weak country?

• Should governments be able to buy and sell land like people buy houses? What are the pros and cons?

• Is it better to live in a small and peaceful country, or a larger, more powerful one?

• Would you rather live in a place with a strong economy or beautiful nature?