History of U.S. Land Acquisitions

Over the course of a little more than a century, the United States transformed from a young republic along the Atlantic seaboard into a continental—and overseas—power through westward expansion and territorial additions. The map and table below reveal the monumental impact of seven major land acquisitions between 1803 and 1917. Today—even after a loss of more than 85 million acres (132,810 square miles, or 343,980 square km) when the Philippines gained independence in 1946—the United States remains more than 2 million square miles (5 million square km) larger than it was at the dawn of the 19th century.