Read maps that show how borders and territory changed

Grade 8 Social Studies Worksheet - Building Confidence

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Words and lines

   Louisiana and the Sabine, 1803 to 1821 (cards A to D). Card A, the treaty by which France ceded Louisiana to the United States (Avalon Project; spelling and capitals as printed). It repeats an earlier agreement between Spain and France to cede "the Colony or Province of Louisiana with the Same extent that it now has in the hand of Spain, & that it had when France possessed it; and Such as it Should be after the Treaties subsequently entered into between Spain and other States." Card B, a summary in our words from the State Department's Office of the Historian: in 1803 the United States bought Louisiana from France for $15 million. The page says the purchase "encompassed 530,000,000 acres" and that Louisiana, which Spain had owned since 1762, "included 828,000 square miles," making up all or part of fifteen modern U.S. states between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains. Card C, the Adams-Onis Treaty with Spain (Avalon Project; concluded February 22, 1819; ratifications exchanged February 22, 1821). The boundary west of the Mississippi "shall begin on the Gulph of Mexico, at the mouth of the river Sabine, in the sea, continuing north, along the western bank of that river, to the 32d degree of latitude". It then follows the "Rio Roxo of Nachitoches, or Red River," and the Arkansas River to its source, and then the 42nd parallel to the Pacific. "The whole being as laid down in Melish's map of the United States, published at Philadelphia, improved to the first of January, 1818." It adds: "But if the source of the Arkansas River shall be found to fall north or south of latitude 42, then the line shall run from the said source due south or north". Card D, a summary in our words from the State Department's Office of the Historian: by the Treaty of Paris in 1783, East and West Florida returned to Spanish control. The United States asserted that the portion of West Florida from the Mississippi to the Perdido rivers "was part of the Louisiana Purchase of 1803." Settlers in West Florida rebelled against Spain in 1810, and the United States used that to claim the region. The matter was settled by the 1819 treaty.

2. 1.

   Card A is the treaty text. What is it best evidence for, Ari asks?

   • What the governments agreed in words about the land that was ceded
   • Which fifteen modern states the land would later include in total area
   • Exactly where each mile of the western edge of the land lay
   • How much the United States paid France for the land in 1803
3. 2.

   Card A defines Louisiana as having "the Same extent that it now has in the hand of Spain." What does that wording give a map-maker, Bo asks?

   • A promise that Spain would draw the line after the sale was made
   • A complete and exact outline of the borders Louisiana had in 1803
   • A list of rivers and parallels to follow along the whole western edge
   • A pointer to earlier holdings, but no line or coordinates to draw
4. 3.

   A student writes: "The 1803 treaty set Louisiana's western edge at the Rocky Mountains." How strong is that claim, given cards A and B, Esme asks?

   • Strong: card A names the Rocky Mountains as the western edge of the land
   • Strong: card B says the land lay between the Mississippi and the Rockies
   • Strong: fifteen modern states now lie between the river and the mountains
   • Weak: card A names no western line, and card B is a modern summary
5. 4.

   Card B: 828,000 square miles and 530,000,000 acres. A square mile holds 640 acres. Do the two numbers agree, Jun asks?

   • No: acres and square miles cannot be compared with each other
   • No: 828,000 times 640 is about 53 million acres, far too few
   • Yes: 828,000 times 640 is about 530 million acres
   • Yes, which is enough to conclude that the western edge was exactly where card B says
6. 5.

   Card B: $15 million for 530,000,000 acres. About how much was that per acre, Kira asks?

   • About 3 cents an acre, so the land was worth nothing to anyone
   • About 35 dollars an acre, since the acres in millions are divided by the price
   • About 3 cents an acre
   • About 28 cents an acre, found by moving the decimal point wrongly
7. 6.

   The treaty of cession was signed in 1803; card C's treaty had its ratifications exchanged in 1821. About how many years apart, Luz asks?

   • About 18 years, so the treaty of 1819 was slower than most treaties
   • About 28 years, a period that runs from 1793 to 1821
   • About 18 years, a long time for the western line to stay unsettled
   • About 2 years, since the treaty was concluded in 1819
8. 7.

   Card C calls a river "the Rio Roxo of Nachitoches, or Red River." What does that show about names on documents and maps, Noah asks?

   • One river could carry two names, so names must be matched first
   • There were two different rivers, and the treaty followed both of them
   • Rivers on maps of that time had exactly two names each
   • The Spanish name alone was real, and the English name was a mistake
9. 8.

   Card C says the line is "as laid down in Melish's map" but allows a change if the Arkansas's source is off. What does that show, Pia asks?

   • The negotiators drew the map themselves on the day of the signing
   • The negotiators ignored the map and followed the rivers alone instead
   • The negotiators believed that the map was perfectly exact in each part of it
   • They relied on a published map but knew it could be wrong, so wrote a rule
10. 9.

    Card B counts "fifteen modern U.S. states." What does the word modern warn a reader about, Ren asks?

    • The count shows what the negotiators of 1803 expected the land to become
    • The count shows that the treaty named fifteen states by name in 1803
    • The states did not exist in 1803, so the count describes today's map
    • The count shows how many acres each of the fifteen states holds today
11. 10.

    Cards A and C are sixteen years apart, 1803 and 1819. How did the way the border was described change, Zee asks?

    • From named rivers and parallels in 1803 to an open phrase in 1819
    • From an open phrase about an old extent to named rivers, parallels and a map
    • From no border in 1803 to a border settled with the countries around it in 1819
    • From the 1803 lines to the later lines that were drawn in 1867