Question

How did the United States manage to expand its territory across the continent?

Answer 1

First, you've got Napoleon wanting to get out of the Americas and sell Louisiana for
cheap so he could spend more time conquering Europe.

Then Mexico invites some nice American families to come live in it's northern territory of Texas. The Americans were not well behaved though. They wouldn't learn the language and insisted on keeping their slaves and Protestant beliefs, even though they promised in exchange for free land. Those former Americans set up their own country but couldn't hack it. So Texas begged to be part of the US.

Meanwhile, the British, claimed everything along the Pacific north of Spanish?Mexican California. Some Americans went there to live an teach Indians Christianity others just wanted to catch beavers and some just hoped for some farmland before they took an arrow to the knee. Britain had lost 2 wars to the US recently and wasn't in the mood to do it again. So the drew a straight line and gave the Oregon territory to the US and kept the north part British called Columbia.

Back in Texas it never was certain were Texas ended and Mexico started. It's this river, no it's that river. Some American troops got into a skirmish with a Mexican patrol. They played "He started it" "No, HE started it." a little bit. But the US saw a reason to go to war with another democracy. Abraham Lincoln got laughed out of the House of Representatives for trying to figure out who really started it. The Marines got to go into the Halls of Montezuma and we got California and most everything between the Pacific and Texas.

So now we can sing "From sea to shining Sea"

Answer 2

Thank a lot =')