What was the Louisiana Purchase?

In 1803 the United States bought about 828,000 square miles west of the Mississippi River from France for $15 million.

What was the Mexican Cession?

Land Mexico gave up after the Mexican-American War, in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848): today’s California, Nevada and Utah, and parts of four more states.

What was the Gadsden Purchase?

In 1853 the United States bought a strip of land from Mexico, now southern Arizona and New Mexico, for a southern railroad route.

How did the US get Oregon Country?

The Oregon Treaty with Britain in 1846 set the border at the 49th parallel.

When did the US buy Alaska?

In 1867, from Russia, for $7.2 million.

US Territorial Expansion Map Quiz

Territorial Expansion of the United States

In 1783 the United States reached from the Atlantic to the Mississippi River. By 1853 it stretched to the Pacific, and Alaska and Hawaii came later. This map quiz helps students in grades 5–12 find each land the United States gained and the year it was gained.

Pick Land Name to find each area by name, or Year Gained to find the land that joined in a given year.

10lands to find

1803Louisiana Purchase doubles the country

1898Hawaii, the last land on the map

Quick questions

What was the Louisiana Purchase?: In 1803 the United States bought about 828,000 square miles west of the Mississippi River from France for $15 million.
What was the Mexican Cession?: Land Mexico gave up after the Mexican-American War, in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848): today’s California, Nevada and Utah, and parts of four more states.
What was the Gadsden Purchase?: In 1853 the United States bought a strip of land from Mexico, now southern Arizona and New Mexico, for a southern railroad route.
How did the US get Oregon Country?: The Oregon Treaty with Britain in 1846 set the border at the 49th parallel.
When did the US buy Alaska?: In 1867, from Russia, for $7.2 million.

All 10 lands and the year each was gained

Before 1820

Florida – 1819
Louisiana Purchase – 1803
Red River Basin – 1818
United States in 1783 – 1783

1845 to 1853

Gadsden Purchase – 1853
Mexican Cession – 1848
Oregon Country – 1846
Texas Annexation – 1845

After 1860

Alaska – 1867
Hawaii – 1898

Sources and simplifications

Boundaries follow the standard textbook map of US territorial acquisitions (as on the National Atlas map). They are drawn on modern state lines and simplified: treaty lines along the Arkansas River, the Rio Grande, the Gila River and the Continental Divide are traced by hand. West Florida (1810 to 1813) is shown with Florida (1819). The Texas Annexation includes the land Texas claimed to the Rio Grande and north to the 42nd parallel. The 1842 Maine border settlement is not shown.

Teachers: run a Class Conquest with your whole class, or see what a Teacher code unlocks.

Standards

This map is aligned with:

C3 Framework D2.Geo.2.6-8: Use maps and other representations to explain how the locations of places and regions relate to each other.
National Geography Standard 1: Use maps and other geographic representations to understand and communicate information.
National Geography Standard 2: Use mental maps to organize information about people, places and environments.
National Geography Standard 5: People create regions to make sense of Earth’s complexity.

Alignment is our own. The groups that write these standards have not reviewed or endorsed Atlas Conquest.

Printable test for this map

Teachers can print the US Territorial Expansion Map Test with an answer key, with or without a word bank, and in A and B versions so neighbors can’t copy. See the US Territorial Expansion Map Test or browse all printable map tests.

US History: Territorial Expansion