CESSIONS BY FOREIGN POWERS. In the treaty of September 3, 1783, with Great Britain the west ern limits of the United States were declared to be the Mississippi River to the thirty-first parallel. On April 30, 1803, by treaty with France, the `Province of Louisiana' was acquired. (See LOUISI ANA PURCHASE.) its western boundary as final ly adjusted, February 22, 1819, by treaty with Spain, ran up the Sabine River, to and along the seventeenth meridian (94th Greenwich), to and along the Red River, to and along the twenty-third meridian (100th Greenwich), to and along the Arkansas River, to and along the Rocky Moun tains, to and along the twenty-ninth meridian (106th Greenwich), to and along the forty-second parallel, to the Pacific Ocean. Its northern boun dary conformed to the boundary established, between the British possessions and the United States. On the east it was bounded by the Mis sissippi as far south as the thirty-first parallel, where different boundaries were claimed. The United States construed the cession of France to include all the territory between the thirty first parallel and the Gulf of Mexico, and be tween the Mississippi and Perdido, the latter of which is now the western boundary of Florida. Under this construction of the cession, the Troy_ ince of Louisiana' is now covered by those por tions of the States of Alabama and Mississippi which lie south of the thirty-first parallel; by Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, Minnesota west of the Mississippi, Kansas, Nebraska, North and South Dakota, _Montana, Idaho, Oregon, Washington. and the Indian Territory; and by the portion of Colorado lying east of the Rocky Mountains and north of the Arkansas River, and that portion of Wyoming lying east of the Rockies and south of the forty-second Spain. from which power France had acquired Louisiana by treaty in 1800 (see SAN ILDEFONSO, TREATY 011, claimed that she had ceded to France no territory east of the :+lississippi except the 'Island of New Orleans,' and also contended that her Province of West Florida included all of the territory south of the thirty-first parallel and be tween the Perdido and Mississippi, except the 'Island of New Orleans.' Under this construc tion, the 'Province of Louisiana' included on the east of the Mississippi only the territory bounded on the north and east by the "rivers Iberville and Amite and by the lakes Maurepas and Pontchar train." By the treaty of 1803 the national ter ritory was increased by 1,171,931 square miles. The extreme northwestern portion of this terri tory was claimed by Great Britain, with which power the United States concluded the North west Boundary Treaty in 1846. By the treaty of February 22, 1819, Spain formally ceded the ter ritory now covered by Florida, by those portions of Alabama and Mississippi which lie south of the thirty-first parallel, and by that portion of Louisiana which lies east of the Mississippi and is not included in the 'Island of New Orleans.' This territory was styled by Spain the 'provinces of East and \Vest Florida.' Previous to this ces sion, by the authority of the joint resolution of January 15, 1811, and the acts of January 15, 1811, and March 3, 1811, passed in secret session and first published in 1818, the United States had taken possession of the East and West Floridas.
In fact, as early as 1810 the Americans controlled all of West Florida except Mobile, while in 1814 Jackson temporarily seized Pensacola, and again in 1818 occupied both Pensacola and Saint Marks. The United States, however, did not take formal possession until 1S2]. After prolonged negotia tions, and a vigorous political contest, Texas, formerly a portion of Mexico, and later an inde pendent republic, was admitted to the Union by a joint resolution of Congress, approved by Pres ident Tyler on March 1, 1845. As a result of the Mexican War (q.v.), by the Treaty of Guada lupe Hidalgo (q.v.), on February 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, by the bulk of Arizona and of New Mexico. and by portions of Wyoming and Colorado. That part of Arizona and that part of New Mexico lying south of the Gila and known as the Gadsden Purchase were ceded by Mexico on December 30. 1S/53. By treaty of March 30, 1367. Russia ceded Alaska. At the close of the Revolutionary War the territory really occupied by the old thirteen States covered scarcely a quarter of a million square miles. and after the treaty of 1783 the nation occupied only 825.000 square miles, but in 1867 the territory belonging to the United Stales had an area in round numbers of 3.561,000 square miles. A further accession was effected in 1S98, when, on July 6th, Congress passed a joint resolution an nexing Hawaii (q.v.) to the United States. In the following year negotiations were concluded by which the island of Tutuila, Samoa, on which is located the excellent harbor of Pago-Pago, was ceded absolutely to the United States. An important accession of territory was that in cident to the Spanish-American War (is.), and formally effected in the treaty of December 10, 1898, in accordance with which Spain ceded Porto Rico (q.v.) and the Philippine Islands (q.v.), together with the island of Guam (q.v.), to the United States.
BIBLIOGRAPHY. The most important volume in Bibliography. The most important volume in this connection, with all the texts, is the Treaties and Conventions, published by the Government (Washington, 1889). Some useful maps illustrat ing these treaties are to he found in The United States of America, 17654865, by Charming (New York, 1896). Consult also, as to treaty of 1S03, Adams, History of the United States, vol. ii., and Roosevelt, Winning of the West, vol. iv. Of spe cial works, consult: Adams, Maryland's Influence on the Land Cessions (Baltimore, 18S5) ; Gan nett, Boundaries of the United States: Garrett, South Carolina Land Cession; Donaldson, Public Domain (Washington, 1884) ; and the appendix to vol. vii. of Winsor, Narrative and Critical History of America (Boston, 1886-S9).