Read maps that show how borders and territory changed

Grade 8 Social Studies Worksheet - Challenge Me

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Maps in treaties

   The Southwest and Alaska, 1848 to 1868 (cards A to E). Card A, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, Article V (Avalon Project): "The southern and western limits of New Mexico, mentioned in the article, are those laid down in the map entitled "Map of the United Mexican States, as organized and defined by various acts of the Congress of said republic, and constructed according to the best authorities. Revised edition. Published at New York, in 1847, by J. Disturnell," of which map a copy is added to this treaty, bearing the signatures and seals of the undersigned Plenipotentiaries." Card B, a summary in our words from the State Department's Office of the Historian: the two countries each claimed the Mesilla Valley after the war. On December 30, 1853, the United States agreed to pay $15 million for 45,000 square miles. The Senate ratified a revised treaty on April 25, 1854, that cut the payment to $10 million and the land to 29,670 square miles. The page says the land gave a route for a southern railroad, and that after the purchase "a new border dispute caused tension over the United States' payment". The treaty text on the Avalon Project is titled "December 30, 1853" and says "ten millions of dollars, of which seven millions shall be paid immediately upon the exchange of the ratifications of this treaty, and the remaining three millions as soon as the boundary line shall be surveyed, marked, and established". Card C, a summary in our words from the State Department's Office of the Historian: Russia offered to sell Alaska in 1859, and the Civil War delayed the sale. On March 30, 1867, Secretary of State Seward agreed to buy it for $7.2 million. The Senate approved the treaty on April 9, President Johnson signed it on May 28, and Alaska was transferred on October 18, 1867. The page says that "permanent Russian settlers in Alaska never numbered more than four hundred." Card D, a summary in our words from the National Archives: "For less than 2 cents an acre, the United States acquired nearly 600,000 square miles." Opponents called the purchase "Seward's Folly" until 1896, when the Klondike gold strike convinced the harshest critics. The check for $7.2 million was issued on August 1, 1868. Card E, the Alaska treaty, Article III (Avalon Project): inhabitants who stayed, "with the exception of uncivilized native tribes, shall be admitted to the enjoyment of all the rights, advantages, and immunities of citizens of the United States." "The uncivilized tribes will be subject to such laws and regulations as the United States may, from time to time, adopt in regard to aboriginal tribes of that country." The treaty was made between Russia and the United States; Alaska Native peoples were not parties to it, and they live in Alaska today.

2. 1.

   Cards A and B: the treaty fixed New Mexico's limits by a named map, yet both countries claimed the Mesilla Valley. What would show if the map caused the dispute, Ari asks?

   • One more statement that the map was the cause of the whole dispute
   • The claims that the New Mexico governor alone made about the valley and its people
   • A later textbook map of the region, redrawn from the modern surveys
   • The signed copy of the map and the commissioners' survey notes, compared
3. 2.

   Card B: $15 million for 45,000 square miles, then $10 million for 29,670. How do the two prices per square mile compare, Bo asks?

   • About $333 and $337 per square mile, almost the same price for less land
   • About $333 and $33 per square mile, a much lower price in the revision
   • About $333 and $337, so the revision was a cut in the price paid to Mexico
   • About $15 million and $10 million, the totals paid under each version
4. 3.

   Card B: $10 million for 29,670 square miles. Card D: less than 2 cents an acre for Alaska. About how many times higher per acre was the Gadsden price, Esme asks?

   • About 28 times higher, so Alaska was worth far less than the Gadsden land
   • About 280 times higher, since the comparison uses square miles and not acres
   • About 2.8 times higher, found by misplacing the decimal point in the long division
   • About 28 times higher; a price per acre ignores the land's use and its people
5. 4.

   The treaty text on Avalon is titled "December 30, 1853" but names $10 million, while card B puts $15 million at that date. How should a reader treat this, Kira asks?

   • As proof that the United States paid $15 million, and later paid $10 million more as well
   • As a label mismatch: the text seems to be the revised treaty, so check the ratified one
   • Throw out both sources, since they cannot both be right about the date of the treaty
   • As proof that the treaty text was forged after the revision had been signed in 1854
6. 5.

   Using card C, which order best describes how the Alaska purchase moved forward in 1867, Milo asks?

   • The Civil War ended the sale in 1859, and Seward revived it in 1867
   • Signing on May 28, then the Klondike gold strike, then the agreement
   • Transfer on October 18, then Senate approval on April 9, then agreement on March 30
   • Agreement on March 30, Senate approval April 9, signing May 28, transfer October 18
7. 6.

   Card C: agreed March 30, 1867, and transferred October 18, 1867. About how many days passed, and what does it suggest, Noah asks?

   • About 365 days, since the check was issued in 1868
   • About 200 days, enough for approval, signing and transfer in steps
   • About 20 days, since both dates fall in the same year
   • About 200 days, so the Senate delayed the treaty for months before approving it
8. 7.

   Card D says opponents called the purchase "Seward's Folly." What does that name show best, Pia asks?

   • That the Klondike gold strike was predicted by the critics in 1867
   • That the land had little value, since critics knew the territory well
   • Nothing, because a nickname given by critics is an insult and no more
   • How opponents saw the purchase, not what the land was worth
9. 8.

   Card E's Article III separates "uncivilized native tribes" from other inhabitants. How should a reader treat that wording, Ren asks?

   • As a promise of citizenship to the inhabitants, including the tribes
   • As 1867 wording, made by two governments without Alaska Native peoples
   • As a record that no Alaska Native peoples lived in Alaska in the year 1867
   • As the words Alaska Native peoples chose for themselves in the treaty
10. 9.

    Cards A and B span 1848 to 1854. How did the way the border was fixed change, Tala asks?

    • From no map in 1848 to a map that settled the border for good in 1854
    • From the Disturnell map to the Alaska treaty, which used the same map to fix its border
    • From a named map attached to a treaty to a line to be surveyed and marked
    • From a line surveyed and marked in 1848 to a named map in 1854
11. 10.

    Card C says permanent Russian settlers never numbered more than four hundred. What new evidence would show who lived in Alaska in 1867, Zee asks?

    • A modern map labeled "Russian America" that shows the same claim
    • The reports sent back by the Russian officials about their own settlers there
    • Records of the time by Alaska Native communities and other residents
    • One more statement that the land was empty before the sale