Territorial Evolution of The United States - 1800s

1800s

July 4, 1800

Indiana Territory was formed from the western portion of Northwest Territory. It corresponded to present-day Illinois, Indiana, northeastern Minnesota, and Wisconsin, as well as the western half of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan and all but the eastern tip of the Upper Peninsula. Northwest Territory was left with only most of Ohio and the rest of Michigan.

July 10, 1800

Connecticut ceded its Western Reserve to the federal government, which made it part of Northwest Territory, and is the northeastern part of present-day Ohio.

October 1, 1800

The secret Third Treaty of San Ildefonso transferred the colony of Louisiana from Spain to France. Its boundaries were not specified and control was not actually transferred until the Louisiana Purchase.

April 26, 1802

Georgia finally ceded its western claims, the Yazoo Lands, to the federal government, where it became unorganized land.

March 1, 1803

The southeastern portion of Northwest Territory was admitted as the 17th state, Ohio. The remainder of Northwest Territory was transferred to Indiana Territory.

April 30, 1803

The Louisiana Purchase was made, expanding the United States west of the Mississippi River. The U.S. later had a dispute with Spain regarding whether France had included Spanish West Florida, located east of the Mississippi River, in the sale. West of the Mississippi, it was defined as the Mississippi Basin, whose extent was not known at the time and extended slightly north of the modern Canada-US border. It consisted of the whole of present-day Arkansas, Kansas, Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska, and Oklahoma, and portions of Colorado, Louisiana, Minnesota, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, Texas and Wyoming. It also included the southernmost portions of the present-day Canadian provinces of Alberta, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan.

March 27, 1804

The unorganized land ceded by Georgia was added to Mississippi Territory, consisting of the whole of present-day Mississippi and Alabama, minus their panhandles which were still part of West Florida.

October 1, 1804

The Louisiana Purchase was split into the District of Louisiana, which was temporarily under the authority of Indiana Territory, and the organized Territory of Orleans, which corresponded to part of present-day Louisiana with a small portion of Texas. The western border of Orleans Territory caused further conflict with New Spain, specifically over the region between the Sabine River on the west and the Arroyo Hondo (River) on the east, which became known as the Sabine Free State. This land was later confirmed as U.S. territory by the Adams-OnĂ­s Treaty of 1819.

January 11, 1805

Michigan Territory was split from Indiana Territory, including the whole of the lower peninsula of present-day Michigan but only that eastern tip of the upper peninsula which was held by the Northwest Territory after Indiana Territory had been split from it.

July 4, 1805

The District of Louisiana was organized as Louisiana Territory.

March 1, 1809

Illinois Territory was split from Indiana Territory. Illinois Territory included present-day Illinois, northeastern Minnesota, and Wisconsin. Indiana Territory included the present-day borders of Indiana, with its western and eastern borders continuing northward; thus, it also included the central portion of the upper peninsula of Michigan, as well as Door Peninsula of present-day Wisconsin.

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