History4U

Did you know?

• Spain secretly gave Louisiana Territory to France.
• Some living in 1803 thought that settlers wouldn't cross Mississippi for a hundred years.
• Louisiana Territory was purchased for 2½¢ per acre.
• After the War of 1812 pirates broke the treaty with US because they thought the US navy had been weakened by the war with Britain.
• The Monroe Doctrine meant that no other country could claim land in the Americas. That includes both North and South America.
• Wagons stopped crossing the plains when the railroad made the journey short and easy.
• Representatives from Britain and America met in Geneva. It was decided that Britain would pay ½ million dollars to US for aiding the Confederates.
• Emperor of Germany drew a line on a map across Puget Sound to settle the dispute border between American and Canada.
• There was a great strike, in 1877, when 150,000 men went on strike.
• Hawaiian Islands' Queen Liliuokalani was dethroned and the islands became a US territory.

In most cases treaties and agreements are designed to either avoid or end conflict. Early in America’s history agreements with Britain, France, Mexico, and Spain involved a payment for vast amounts of land, which of course was taken from Native Americans.

Of the most notable treaties are those with pirates, who in one case were paid $1 million dollars to free American hostages and to prevent harassment of US vessels by pirates.