Ask the Chatbot Games & Quizzes History & Society Science & Tech Biographies Animals & Nature Geography & Travel Arts & Culture ProCon Money Videos
History of U.S. Land Acquisitions
Introduction References & Edit History Related Topics
Images
Map highlighting major U.S. land acquisitions, with regions colored in orange to show areas gained through the Louisiana Purchase, Alaska Purchase, Gadsden Purchase, Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, Florida Purchase, Danish Virgin Islands, and the Philippines. Inset labels provide each acquisition's year, seller, acreage, and cost at the time and in 2024 dollars.
Quick Facts
Related Topics:
annexation
See all related content
Britannica AI Icon
Adding us as a Preferred Source tells Google you trust our content, so our articles show up more often in your Google Search, Discover feed, and AI Overviews.
verifiedCite
While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions.
Select Citation Style
Feedback
Corrections? Updates? Omissions? Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login).
Thank you for your feedback

Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.

External Websites

History of U.S. Land Acquisitions

Written by
Mindy Johnston
Mindy Spitzer Johnston is Managing Editor at EncyclopĂŠdia Britannica. 
Mindy JohnstonAll
Fact-checked by
Britannica Editors
Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....
Britannica Editors
History

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.

Map highlighting major U.S. land acquisitions, with regions colored in orange to show areas gained through the Louisiana Purchase, Alaska Purchase, Gadsden Purchase, Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, Florida Purchase, Danish Virgin Islands, and the Philippines. Inset labels provide each acquisition's year, seller, acreage, and cost at the time and in 2024 dollars.
History of U.S. land acquisitionsBetween 1803 and 1917, the United States acquired more than 1,388,000,000 acres (2,168,750 square miles, or about 5,617,000 square km) of land. The land acquired through the Mexican Cession is in the southwest (Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo).
acquisition seller year acres square miles square km cost when purchased cost in 2024 dollars
1$11,250,000, plus $3,750,000 in claims made by U.S. citizens against France.
2$5 million in assumed liability, not a direct purchase.
3$15 million, plus $3 million in claims made by U.S. citizens against Mexico, as specified in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.
4Philippines gained independence in 1946.
Louisiana Purchase France 1803 530,000,000 828,125 2,144,834 $15 million1 $443.6 million
Florida (East and West) Spain 1819 (effective 1821) 42,084,480 65,757 170,310 $5 million2 $131.4 million
Mexican Cession Mexico 1848 336,000,000 525,000 1,359,744 $15 million3 $635.5 million
Gadsden Purchase Mexico 1853 18,988,800 29,670 76,845 $10 million $432.7 million
Alaska Purchase Russia 1867 375,303,680 586,412 1,518,800 $7.2 million $162.7 million
Treaty of Paris: Philippines4 Spain 1898 85,913,600 134,240 347,680 $20 million $806.3 million
Danish Virgin Islands Denmark 1917 85,760 134 347 $25 million $632.1 million
Mindy Johnston Kenny Chmielewski