By treaty of 22 Feb. 1819 Spain ceded 37, 931,520 acres, now constituting the State of Florida, at a total cost of $6,289,768.
By treaty of 2 Feb. 1848 Mexico ceded 334,443,520 acres, now constituting the States of California, Nevada, Utah and parts of New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado and Wyoming, at a cost of $19,250,000.
On 25 Nov. 1850 Texas ceded 61,892,480 acres, now constituting a part of New Mexico, Oklahoma and Colorado, for $16,000,000.
By treaty of 30 Dec. 1853 Mexico ceded 29,142,400 acres, known as the Gadsden Pur chase,* now part of New Mexico and Arizona, for $10,000,000.
By treaty of 30 March 1867 Russia ceded all Of Alaska, embracing 378,165,760 acres, for $7,200,000.
On 7 July 1898 the Territory of Hawaii was acquired, containing 4,127,360 acres. By treaty of 10 iDec. 1898 Spain ceded Porto Rico, containing 2,198,400 acres; Guam, 134,400 acres, and the Philippine Islands, containing 73,573, 120 acres, for $20,000,000.
By treaty of 2 Dec. 1899 with Germany and Great Britain, Tutuila and other small Samoan islands, containing in all 49,280 acres, were annexed.
By treaty of 7 Nov. 1900 Spain ceded Sibutu and other small islands in the vicinity of the Philippines, containing in all 43,520 acres, for $100,000.
The Oregon Country, containing 183,480,960 acres and embracing Oregon, Washington, Idaho and part of Montana, was claimed by the United States through discovery and ex ploration and that claim was afterward recog nized by England and Spain.
A controversy with Great Britain regard ing the northern boundary west of the Rocky Mountains was not settled until the treaty, of 15 June 1846, which, however, left undetermined the extreme western end of the boundary line at its junction with the Pacific Ocean.
The treaty of 8 May 1871 provided, among other matters, that the decision of this point should be left to the emperor of Germany, who decided in favor of the contentions of the United States, 21 Oct. 1872.
The total area of the acquisitions by State cessions was about 500,000 square miles or 320,000,000 acres at a cost of $4200,000. The area acquired from foreign governments, in cluding the Oregon Country, was about 2,400, 000 square miles or about 1,500,000,000 acres, at a cost of $65,957,389.98. In addition to these
costs, which include interest and settlement of private claims, the United States has paid more than $200,000,000 for extinguishing the rights of the Indians to these lands.
In forming new States from the territory obtained through these cessions from States and foreign governments, Congress has re quired each new State to adopt an irrevocable ordinance that the State shall not tax the pub lic lands nor pass laws to interfere with the primary disposal thereof by the United States.
The public lands of the United States were, in the beginning, regarded as an asset for the payment of the debt incurred in carrying on the War of the Revolution. Many plans for disposing of the lands were proposed and considered. The earliest efforts were to sell the land in large blocks and prior to the or ganization of our present government Con gress made three such sales. The first was the sale to the Ohio Company. This was ori inally intended to cover 2,000,000 acres at j1 per acre, the land lying in the present State of Ohio on the Scioto and Ohio rivers. The area was reduced to 822,900 acres and the sale was confirmed 27 July 1787. The amount actually received was two-thirds of a dollar per acre and payment was made in certificates of the public debt.
The second sale was to John Cleves Symmes, finally confirmed by the Act of 5 May 1792. The lands lie in the present State of Ohio on the Ohio River, between the Great and Little Miami rivers, near the site of Cin cinnati. The tract was supposed to contain 1,000,000 acres, but its actual area was 248,540 acres. This was sold at the same rate of two thirds of a dollar, paid in certificates of the public debt and military land warrants.
The third sale was to the State of Pennsyl vania, a tract now in Erie County, containing 202,187 acres, ceded. to the United States in 1781 by New York. This was sold at the same rate and paid likewise in certificates and mili tary land warrants.