CESSIONS EY FOREIGN POWERS. —Sept. 3, 1783, by treaty with Great Britain, the territory bf the United States was declared to extend from the Atlantic ocean w. to the Mississippi river, and from a line along the great lakes on the n. to the 31st parallel and the s. border of Georgia. April 30, 1803, by treaty with France, the "province of Louisiana" was ceded. Its w. boundary as finally adjusted, Feb. 22, 1819, by treaty with Spain, ran up the Sabine river, to and along the 17th meridian (94th Greenwich), to and along the Red river, to and along the 23d meridian (100th Greenwich). to and along the Arkansas river, to and along the Rocky mountains, to and along the 29th meridian (100th Greenwich), to and along the 42d parallel. to the Pacific ocean. Its n. boundary was conformed to the boundary established between the BritiJh possessions and the United States. On the e. it was bounded by the Mississippi as far s. as the 31st parallel, where different boundaries were claimed. The United States construed the cession of France to include v11 the territory between the 31st parallel and the gulf of Mexico, and between the Mississippi and Perdido, the latter of which is now the western boundary of Florida. Under this construction of the cession, the "province of Louisiana" is now covered by those portions of the states of Alabama and Mississippi which lie s. of the 21st parallel; by Louisiana, Arkansas, Iowa, Nebraska, Oregon, Minnesota w. of the Mississippi, and Kansas; by the territories of Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Washington, and that known as Indian country; and by the portion of Colorado lying e. of the Rocky mountains and n. of the Arkansas river, and all of 'Wyoming n. of the 42d parallel, and that portion of Wyoming which is s. of that parallel and e. of the Rocky mountains. In 100. however, the " province of Louisiana" had been ceded by Spain to France, Spain claiming that she ceded to France no territory e. of the Mississippi except the •' island of New Orleans," and also contending that her province of west Florida included all of the territory s. of the 31st parallel and between the Perdido and Missis sippi, except the "island of New Orleans." Under this construction, the "province of Louisiana" included on the c. of the Mississippi only the territory bounded on the v. and e. by the "rivers Iberville and Amite and by the lakes Maurepas and Ponchartrain." Feb. 22, 1819, Spain formally ceded the territory now covered by Florida and by por tions of Alabama, and Mississippi, which lie s. of the 31st parallel, and by that portion of Louisiana which lies e. of the Mississippi and is not included in the "island of New Orleans." This territory was styled by Spain the " provinces of East and West Florida."
Previous to this cession, by the authority of the joint resolution of Jan. 15. 1811, and the acts of Jan. 15, 1811 and Mar. 3, 1811, passed in secret session and first published in 1818, the United States had taken possession of the East and West Floridas. By treaty of Jan. 12, 18,28, between the United States and the United Mexican states, the boundary of the ince of Louisiana," which was established by treaty with Spain when Mexico was a part of the Spanish monarchy, was agreed upon as the boundary between the two republics. Dec. 29, 1815, Texas, formerly a portion of Mexico, and later an independent republic, was admitted to the union. Feb. 2. 1848, Mexico ceded the territory now covered by California and Nevada; also her claims to the territory covered by the present Texas, by Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico, by portions of Wyoming and Colorado, and by the unorganized territory w. of the Indian country, except that part of Arizona and that part of New Mexico lying s. of the Gila and w. of the old boundary of New Mexico, which lands were ceded by Mexico Dec. 30, 1853, and are known as the GadsdeL pur chase. By treaty of March 30, 1807, exchange of ratification and transfer of title having been made June 20, 1807, Russia ceded Alaska. This cession made the line between the continent of Asia and America the n.w. boundary of the territory of the United States, and extending the territory of the United States northward to the Arctic ocean. On the e. this cession was bounded by a line beginning at the s. point of Prince of Wales island (parallel 54° 40') and running n. along Portland channel to the junction of the 56th parallel of n. latitude with the continent, and thence along the summit of the mountains parallel to the coast, to and along the 141st meridian to the Arctic ocean. But where the crest of the mountains skirting the coast from the specified parallel to the meridian is more than ten marine leagues from the ocean, there the boundary is a line not more than ten marine leagues from the coast and parallel to its windings. This cession is separated from the main territory of the United States by the w. part of the British possessions between the parallels of 54° 40' and 49° n. latitude. At the close of the revolutionary war the territory really occupied by the old 13 states covered scarcely a quarter of a million sq.m.; according to the most trustworthy measurements and esti mates in 1870 the laud surface was 3.603.884 sq.m., and the water areas included made an area in round numbers of 4,000,000 sq.m., or 2,500,000,000 of acres.