# data[].attributes.headline
1776- 美國革命與13州獨立 American Revolution and the Proclamation of the independence of the 13 states

# data[].attributes.subject
1776- 美國革命與13州獨立 American Revolution and the Proclamation of the independence of the 13 states

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Located in the heart of Historic Philadelphia, the Museum explores the dramatic, surprising story of the American Revolution and its enduring legacy.

# data[].attributes.body
美國以1500萬美元向法國購入 超過210萬平方公里的路易斯安那地區，國土整整擴大了一倍 The United States paid 15 million US dollars to France to purchase the 2.1 million km² of the Louisiana Territory. Its territory doubled.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Milestones: 1801–1829 - Office of the Historian

# data[].attributes.headline
1804 -  劉易斯與克拉克遠征 Lewis and Clark Expedition

# data[].attributes.subject
1804 -  劉易斯與克拉克遠征 Lewis and Clark Expedition

# data[].attributes.body
路易斯與克拉克遠征是美國國內首次橫越大陸西抵太平洋沿岸的往返考察活動 Lewis and Clark Expedition was the first United States expedition to cross the newly acquired land to the Pacific coast of the country after the Louisiana Purchase.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
On a gloomy December afternoon in 1803, a boat crept along the banks of the Mississippi River and landed at the mouth of the Wood River in what is now the state of Illinois. A group of men climbed out and began to set up camp under a dark canopy of oak trees. Suddenly a violent storm moved in, pelting the area with snow and hail.

The men didn't turn back though. Instead, they hunkered down and spent the next five months here preparing for the trip they were about to embark on,in which poor weather would be one of the many dangers they'd face.

Among these men were Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, co-leaders of an expedition tasked with exploring land that the United States had recently acquired. Their trip would turn into an epic 8,000-mile-long trek-and the first big step in the United States' westward expansion.

LET'S MAKE A DEAL

When Thomas Jefferson became the third president of the United States in 1801, the country basically stopped at the Mississippi River. France controlled much of the land to the west of this waterway.

President Jefferson wanted to acquire the Port of New Orleans, in what is now the state of Louisiana, from the French. Its prime location made it a key spot for trade. In 1803, Jefferson made what's known as one of the greatest real estate deals in history: the Louisiana Purchase.

After negotiations, France agreed to sell the entire city of New Orleans, which included the port, to the United States for $10 million; they threw in the rest of the territory they owned for an additional $5 million. The agreement-which gave the United States approximately 828,000 square miles of land-almost doubled the size of the nearly 30-year-old nation.

The United States only paid about three cents an acre for the land, which stretched from the Mississippi River in the east to the Rocky Mountains in the west and from the Gulf of Mexico in the south to the Canadian border in the north. Spain still owned much of the southwestern part of what's now the United States, stretching from the area that would become Texas to present-day California.

Purchasing this enormous amount of land was one thing, but exploring it was another. Jefferson wanted to plan an expedition to investigate the territory. He called the proposed mission the Voyage of Discovery and began assembling a team of explorers called the Corps (KOR) of Discovery. The president chose Captain Meriwether Lewis and Captain William Clark to lead the expedition. Lewis, President Jefferson's personal secretary, was an officer in the United States Army and spoke several Native American languages. Lewis recommended Clark-a retired officer who had served alongside him in the Army-as the expedition's co-leader.

WAY OUT WEST

In the spring of 1804, Lewis, Clark, and dozens of other men left St. Louis, Missouri, by boat. They traveled westward through what is now Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, and South Dakota.

In November they reached Knife River Village in present-day North Dakota. There they met a young Shoshone Native American woman called Sacagawea (Sa-kuh-juh-WEE-uh) and her fur-trader husband, Toussaint Charbonneau (Too-SAHNT SHAR-bon-oh). The couple joined the expedition as interpreters, translating the language of the local tribes for Lewis and Clark's men.

Sacagawea didn't just serve as an interpreter during the trip, however. She helped Lewis and Clark's men obtain essential supplies and horses, identified edible plants and herbs, and prevented hostile relations with other tribes simply by being with the group-all while carrying her newborn baby on her back.

After meeting Sacagawea and her husband, the Corps traveled west from North Dakota, 15 to 20 miles a day on foot and by boat, toward the mountains. Day after day, the exhausted, freezing team braved rough rivers and perilous peaks, getting by on very little food. They wouldn't see the Pacific Ocean until November 1805-over a year after they first left Missouri.

COMING HOME

After a long winter waiting out the bad weather, the Corps was able to start making their way back east in March 1806. After returning Sacagawea and her husband to North Dakota, the remainder of the Corps arrived back in Missouri in late September, more than two years after they started their expedition.

Lewis and Clark's team mapped uncharted land, rivers, and mountains. They brought back journals filled with details about Native American tribes and scientific notes about plants and animals they'd never seen before. They also brought back stories-tales that made other Americans dream about heading west.

Many Americans did more than dream. The great westward expansion was about to begin.

Text adapted from The Journals of Lewis and Clark; The Mississippi and the Making of a Nation: From the Louisiana Purchase to Today; and Sacagawea

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
How Lewis and Clark-along with a Native American guide, Sacagawea-explored the newly expanded United States

# data[].attributes.body
1819年，西班牙與美國簽訂條 約，將佛羅里達割讓予美國。 Spain signed a treaty with the US in 1819 to cede Florida to the United States.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
NOTE TO READERS
"Milestones in the History of U.S. Foreign Relations" has been retired and is no longer maintained. For more information, please see the full notice.

The colonies of East Florida and West Florida remained loyal to the British during the war for American independence, but by the Treaty of Paris in 1783 they returned to Spanish control. After 1783, Americans immigrants moved into West Florida.

In 1810, these American settlers in West Florida rebelled, declaring independence from Spain. President James Madison and Congress used the incident to claim the region, knowing full well that the Spanish government was seriously weakened by Napoleon's invasion of Spain. 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. Negotiations over Florida began in earnest with the mission of Don Luis de Onís to Washington in 1815 to meet Secretary of State James Monroe. The issue was not resolved until Monroe was president and John Quincy Adams his Secretary of State. Although U.S. Spanish relations were strained over suspicions of American support for the independence struggles of Spanish-American colonies, the situation became critical when General Andrew Jackson seized the Spanish forts at Pensacola and St. Marks in his 1818 authorized raid against Seminoles and escaped slaves who were viewed as a threat to Georgia. Jackson executed two British citizens on charges of inciting the Indians and runaways. Monroe's government seriously considered denouncing Jackson's actions, but Adams defended the Jackson citing the necessity to restrain the Indians and escaped slaves since the Spanish failed to do so. Adams also sensed that Jackson's Seminole campaign was popular with Americans and it strengthened his diplomatic hand with Spain.

Adams used the Jackson's military action to present Spain with a demand to either control the inhabitants of East Florida or cede it to the United States. Minister Onís and Secretary Adams reached an agreement whereby Spain ceded East Florida to the United States and renounced all claim to West Florida. Spain received no compensation, but the United States agreed to assume liability for $5 million in damage done by American citizens who rebelled against Spain. Under the Onís-Adams Treaty of 1819 (also called the Transcontinental Treaty and ratified in 1821) the United States and Spain defined the western limits of the Louisiana Purchase and Spain surrendered its claims to the Pacific Northwest. In return, the United States recognized Spanish sovereignty over Texas.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Milestones: 1801-1829 - Office of the Historian

# data[].attributes.body
門羅主義表明美國政府認為歐洲列強不應再殖民美洲。The Monroe Doctrine was a United States foreign policy position that opposed European colonialism in the Americas

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The Monroe Doctrine was articulated in President James Monroe's seventh annual message to Congress on December 2, 1823. The European powers, according to Monroe, were obligated to respect the Western Hemisphere as the United States' sphere of interest.

President James Monroe's 1823 annual message to Congress contained the Monroe Doctrine, which warned European powers not to interfere in the affairs of the Western Hemisphere.

Understandably, the United States has always taken a particular interest in its closest neighbors - the nations of the Western Hemisphere. Equally understandably, expressions of this concern have not always been favorably regarded by other American nations.

The Monroe Doctrine is the best known U.S. policy toward the Western Hemisphere. Buried in a routine annual message delivered to Congress by President James Monroe in December 1823, the doctrine warns European nations that the United States would not tolerate further colonization or puppet monarchs. The doctrine was conceived to meet major concerns of the moment, but it soon became a watchword of U.S. policy in the Western Hemisphere.

The Monroe Doctrine was invoked in 1865 when the U.S. government exerted diplomatic and military pressure in support of the Mexican President Benito Juárez. This support enabled Juárez to lead a successful revolt against the Emperor Maximilian, who had been placed on the throne by the French government.

Almost 40 years later, in 1904, European creditors of a number of Latin American countries threatened armed intervention to collect debts. President Theodore Roosevelt promptly proclaimed the right of the United States to exercise an "international police power" to curb such "chronic wrongdoing," in his so-called Roosevelt Corollary (or extension) to the Monroe Doctrine.

While the Monroe Doctrine's message was designed to keep European powers out of the Western Hemisphere, Roosevelt would strengthen its meaning to justify sending the United States into other countries of the Western Hemisphere. As a result, U.S. Marines were sent into Santo Domingo in 1904, Nicaragua in 1911, and Haiti in 1915, ostensibly to keep the Europeans out. Other Latin American nations viewed these interventions with misgiving, and relations between the "great Colossus of the North" and its southern neighbors remained strained for many years.

In 1962, the Monroe Doctrine was invoked symbolically when the Soviet Union began to build missile-launching sites in Cuba. With the support of the Organization of American States, President John F. Kennedy threw a naval and air quarantine around the island. After several tense days, the Soviet Union agreed to withdraw the missiles and dismantle the sites. Subsequently, the United States dismantled several of its obsolete air and missile bases in Turkey.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
EnlargeDownload Link Citation: Message of President James Monroe at the commencement of the first session of the 18th Congress (The Monroe Doctrine), 12/02/1823; Presidential Messages of the 18th Congress, ca. 12/02/1823-ca. 03/03/1825; Record Group 46; Records of the United States Senate, 1789-1990; National Archives.

# data[].attributes.body
美國政府於1830年頒布了《印第 安人遷移法案》，強行將原住民印第安人西遷至指定的區域 。 In 1830, the federal government enacted the Indian Removal Act. The American Indians were expelled from their homelands and forced to move to the Indian reservations in the West.

# data[].attributes.headline
1835 – The first battle of the Texas Revolution occurs at Gonzales, Texas

# data[].attributes.subject
1835 – The first battle of the Texas Revolution occurs at Gonzales, Texas

# data[].attributes.headline
1841 – 俄勒岡小徑 People begin to travel west on the Oregon Trail

# data[].attributes.subject
1841 – 俄勒岡小徑 People begin to travel west on the Oregon Trail

# data[].attributes.body
俄勒岡小徑全長2,170英里，是美國開拓者、移民通行的主要道路之一，貫穿密蘇里河至俄勒岡地區。The Oregon Trail was a 2,170-mile east–west, large-wheeled wagon route and emigrant trail in the United States that connected the Missouri River to valleys in Oregon.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Many books have been written about the Oregon Trail, the 2,000-mile-long route across the High Plains that shuttled millions of pioneers to the American West. But when award-winning journalist, Rinker Buck, discovered that no one had made the epic journey by covered wagon since 1909, he jumped at the chance.

Growing up on a horse farm in New Jersey, he was familiar with driving mule teams and having roped in his brother, Nick, they set off together across America. The Oregon Trail: A New American Journey is the story of that epic crossing.

Talking from his summer home in Maine, he describes how the Oregon Trail shaped the American character; why it is important to travel slowly; and how methamphetamine is leaving a trail of tears in the footprints of the pioneers across today's Midwest.

You come from a family with 11 children. How did you end up with a name like Rinker?

[Laughs] My parents were very ambitious for unique names. The first four children, Dempsey, Turniham, McNamara, Rinker, were named after our grandparents' surnames. After that it became Bridget, Brian, Patty, Nicky, because they ran out of original names. My grandmother was a Rinker, a Swiss-German name from Pennsylvania. So, I'm Rinker. Everyone has always told me, "That's a great name. You better become a writer."

You had this crazy idea to retrace the trek the pioneers took by covered wagon from Kansas City, Missouri, to Portland, Oregon. What possessed you?

It was pretty much serendipitous. I was out in Kansas and took a hike along the Oregon Trail. I'm a history nut, one of these guys who buy out every museum bookstore. Two things annoyed me. The first was that I didn't know more about the Oregon Trail, since my real love is 19th Century America. Second, when I started reading up on the Trail, I was astonished at how different the actual history was from the myths passed down to us as school children.

Women played a much more prominent role developing the Trail; the Indians were friendly. I was planning to write a 'normal' book, then I ran across a statement in one of the history books that said, "The last documented crossing of the Oregon Trail by covered wagon was in 1909." I said, 'Oh, that's a better book.'

My brother and I grew up on a horse farm; we know how to drive teams, and that enabled me to say, 'Well, I can do that.' So, we did.

Why is the history of the Oregon Trail important to American history?

It's vital. Between 1843 and the Civil War about a half million American pioneers crossed from around the Missouri River to the Columbia River on the Pacific Coast. After the Civil War, another half million crossed.

That was mainly the stagecoach era, although homesteaders continued to cross in covered wagons up until the 1890's. It's also vital for the mindset of the Americans. This 2,000-mile trail across the High Plains completed America as a continental space.

In many ways it also defined our character: the clash of ethnic groups, the determination to succeed no matter the hardship. So many of the issues on the trail, like economic scams by outfitters, religious and ethnic battles, resonate through America today.

I found it fascinating that initially the indigenous people were helpful to the pioneers. It was only after the American government reneged on its promises that the Indian Wars began. Can you tell us about the Plains Indians and how they suffered from this mass migration?

When the White Man came along in the 1840's in their covered wagons, [the Indians] saw opportunities to trade. They bartered with immigrants for trinkets, supplies and horses. They were very helpful at first. In fact, the ingenuity of the Indians in crossing the rivers was a crucial aspect of the Oregon Trail. You have to ford numerous rivers, and the Shoshones, Pawnees and Sioux, were extremely adept at helping the pioneers make these fords.

For about 20 years it was very friendly as opposed to the impression that you get from Hollywood movies. But when the Indians realized the White Man was there to slaughter the buffalo, their protein source-and we did, in hellacious numbers-they turned hostile and declared war. They'd also made several treaties with the Great Father in Washington, all of which had been violated. Disease had also decimated their ranks. Plus, the inequality of weapons made it very difficult for them to prevail.

Mules are an essential part of the Oregon Trail history. Can you tell us about your relationship with your mules, Bute, Beck and Jake? What did they teach you?

Getting mules from Europe after we broke off from Great Britain was a huge advance for American society because mules can do so many things better than horses. Because of interbreeding with the wild feral burro, mules have slightly larger cranial capacity and are believed to have higher intelligence, even though people interpret that sometimes as being ornery. They won't go places horses will go unless they're reassured that they're safe.

You have to be constantly " calling" them, so they know you're on their side and not going to put them in danger. We were riding along one day and Beck, one of the more crazy mules we had, saw a No Hunting-No Trespassing sign made out of an old truck tire hanging on a fence in Nebraska. She started jumping sideways, like it was a Bogey Man.

A bad mule call would be, "You dumb-ass mule, get going!" Good mule handling, even though you've got your feet braced on the footboard and you are pulling with all your might to stop this mule, is, "It's OK, Beck, good girl; it's OK, it's just an old tire." She hears from the tone of voice you are going to keep her safe.

I have to confess my brothers and I are also completely different and if we had undertaken the task you and your brother, Nick, did, we would have killed each other. How were you two able to get along for such a long period of time?

We're very different. I'm sort of refined, a writer and college educated. My brother, Nick, is very blue collar and gruff and considers, probably correctly, that anybody with a college education has destroyed their brain and is of no use to society.

But we come from a pretty rugged, tough family and so we were competing like the mules were to show that we had more persistence than the other. Our skill bases also complimented each other. I'd been studying the trail for months and could call ahead and organize everything. Nick was a really great driver.

Whenever anything broke, he could fix it. And we had a lot of breakdowns! I would go over to Nick and say, "Hey, can I help you with these fixes?" He would say, "I don't want your college-educated butt anywhere near this wagon until I'm done."

People think that good management is telling people what to do. What I learned on the Oregon Trail was that good management means disappearing as a person, not being dominant or ever giving orders, but allowing each of our personalities to do what they could for the trip.

The Donner Party was the most notorious story of murder and cannibalism on the Oregon Trail. Set that story in the social context of the American ethos.

In 1846, the Donner Party became famous throughout America. They were going to California, across the Sierras. You always tried to get over them by October because it starts to snow that early up in the Rockies. But they left late and got trapped. The story is that, as people died, they ate the bodies, though archeological research at the site pretty much confirms that there probably wasn't any cannibalism. No matter, it got into the tabloids and was a big story of the day.

What I found in the trail journals was that by the time the pioneers got into the Wyoming desert there were short tempers and a lot of competition for water. A lot of wagon trains had cattle with them, for food. Whenever they crossed a river the cattle would get mixed up, and there'd be tremendous fights over whose cattle was whose. People would pull their guns out and start shooting each other.

I feel that the Oregon Trail years and the stresses and the tensions of the crossing introduced this kind of violence into the American ethos. It's kind of the standard default of Americans. If things aren't going right, we pull out a gun. Unfortunately, we've seen our share of it in the last couple of years.

What were your interactions like with people along the way? Were they interested in your mission?

This was one of the most touching things of our trip: the natural generosity and openness of the American West. On the plains, you could see a covered wagon coming from 30 or 40 miles away. Sometimes, we would get to the intersection and there'd be two ranchers having an argument. "He's coming to my place!" "No, he's coming to mine!" It was unending hospitality. Women would take one look at us and say, "Guys, you're coming back to my house and you're gonna get a shower." Everyone wanted to help us.

You had a sign on your wagon-tell us about that?

My father loved horses and carriages and one year he decided it would be a good thing for the family if we took a covered wagon trip between our farm in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. In those days the roads weren't that busy. But he thought if traffic backed up behind us he should explain to people why this covered wagon was running along the roads in 1958.

So, he had a sign painted that said, "We are sorry for the delay but we want our children, and then in big letters, TO SEE AMERICA SLOWLY." My brother still had that sign. So, we flipped it over, painted it white on the bare side and we printed in the same type, "We are sorry for the delay but we want to SEE AMERICA SLOWLY.

Why is it important to see it slowly?

One little example: in Kansas, early in the trip, we passed through areas that were rural but still relatively inhabited with little housing developments here and there. The children would see us coming from way across the plains and by the time we got to their driveways they would run out with bags of apples and buckets of water in their little red wagons because they wanted to feed the mules.

I began to notice that the parents of these children were the wrong age. They were all grandparents. I finally asked one man about it and he said, "Oh yeah, you're gonna see a lot of that as you cross the West. The methamphetamines epidemic and the recession of 2008 combined to make the parents of many of these children spin off into drug abuse."

You never would have seen that if you were speeding by in a minivan. A slow-moving, covered wagon, travelling at about four miles an hour, turned out to be an almost ideal vehicle for a social observatory to understand and see the America of today.

How did making this historic journey change you and your perspective on what the pioneers accomplished?

It made me more confident of dreams. I'm this guy who sits around and reads stuff in books. This trip affirmed that you have much deeper wells of persistence and strength in you than you think.

What it told me about the pioneers? America was a very unstable country then. In just about every decade there was a major financial panic. In the panic of 1837 half the banks in America closed; farmers couldn't buy seed and lost their farms. On a really hot, rough day when Nick and I were crossing the trail, we looked at each other and said, "Nobody would do this unless they had to." That was my big insight. These were people who were brave in the face of catastrophe. They were forced to go. But somehow they managed and survived.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
How a 2,000-Mile Trail Helped Define The American Mindset

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Many books have been written about the Oregon Trail, the 2,000-mile-long route across the High Plains that shuttled millions of pioneers to the American West. But when award-winning journalist, Rinker Buck, discovered that no one had made the epic journey by covered wagon since 1909, he jumped at the chance.

# data[].attributes.headline
1945 約翰·沙利文 - 天命所歸 John O’ Sullivan first uses the term “Manifest Destiny”

# data[].attributes.subject
1945 約翰·沙利文 - 天命所歸 John O’ Sullivan first uses the term “Manifest Destiny”

# data[].attributes.body
天命所歸指美國人把「文明之光」，也就是美國的優越制度與文化（例如基督教），傳播到整個北美洲。  Manifest Destiny referred to the Americans were keen on carrying the 'light of civilization' westwards, i.e. superior American system and culture (including Christianity).

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The Library of Congress does not own rights to material in its collections. Therefore, it does not license or charge permission fees for use of such material and cannot grant or deny permission to publish or otherwise distribute the material.

Ultimately, it is the researcher's obligation to assess copyright or other use restrictions and obtain permission from third parties when necessary before publishing or otherwise distributing materials found in the Library's collections.

For information about reproducing, publishing, and citing material from this collection, as well as access to the original items, see: Popular Graphic Arts Collection - Rights and Restrictions Information

Rights Advisory: No known restrictions on publication.

Reproduction Number: LC-DIG-ppmsca-09855 (digital file from original print) LC-USZC4-668 (color film copy transparency) LC-USZC2-1332 (color film copy slide) LC-USZCN4-52 (color film copy neg.) LC-USZ62-737 (b&w film copy neg.)

Call Number: PGA - Crofutt--American progress (B size) [P&P]

Obtaining Copies

If an image is displaying, you can download it yourself. (Some images display only as thumbnails outside the Library of Congress because of rights considerations, but you have access to larger size images on site.)

Alternatively, you can purchase copies of various types through Library of Congress Duplication Services.

1. If a digital image is displaying: The qualities of the digital image partially depend on whether it was made from the original or an intermediate such as a copy negative or transparency. If the Reproduction Number field above includes a reproduction number that starts with LC-DIG..., then there is a digital image that was made directly from the original and is of sufficient resolution for most publication purposes.

2. If there is information listed in the Reproduction Number field above: You can use the reproduction number to purchase a copy from Duplication Services. It will be made from the source listed in the parentheses after the number.
If only black-and-white ("b&w") sources are listed and you desire a copy showing color or tint (assuming the original has any), you can generally purchase a quality copy of the original in color by citing the Call Number listed above and including the catalog record ("About This Item") with your request.

3. If there is no information listed in the Reproduction Number field above: You can generally purchase a quality copy through Duplication Services. Cite the Call Number listed above and include the catalog record ("About This Item") with your request.

Price lists, contact information, and order forms are available on the Duplication Services Web site.

Access to Originals

Please use the following steps to determine whether you need to fill out a call slip in the Prints and Photographs Reading Room to view the original item(s). In some cases, a surrogate (substitute image) is available, often in the form of a digital image, a copy print, or microfilm.

1. Is the item digitized? (A thumbnail (small) image will be visible on the left.)

Yes, the item is digitized. Please use the digital image in preference to requesting the original. All images can be viewed at a large size when you are in any reading room at the Library of Congress. In some cases, only thumbnail (small) images are available when you are outside the Library of Congress because the item is rights restricted or has not been evaluated for rights restrictions.
As a preservation measure, we generally do not serve an original item when a digital image is available. If you have a compelling reason to see the original, consult with a reference librarian. (Sometimes, the original is simply too fragile to serve. For example, glass and film photographic negatives are particularly subject to damage. They are also easier to see online where they are presented as positive images.)

No, the item is not digitized. Please go to #2.

2. Do the Access Advisory or Call Number fields above indicate that a non-digital surrogate exists, such as microfilm or copy prints?

Yes, another surrogate exists. Reference staff can direct you to this surrogate.

No, another surrogate does not exist. Please go to #3.

3. If you do not see a thumbnail image or a reference to another surrogate, please fill out a call slip in the Prints and Photographs Reading Room. In many cases, the originals can be served in a few minutes. Other materials require appointments for later the same day or in the future. Reference staff can advise you in both how to fill out a call slip and when the item can be served.

To contact Reference staff in the Prints and Photographs Reading Room, please use our Ask A Librarian service or call the reading room between 8:30 and 5:00 at 202-707-6394, and Press 3.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
1 print : chromolithograph ; 37.6 x 49 cm (sheet) | Print shows an allegorical female figure of America leading pioneers westward, as they travel on foot, in a stagecoach, conestoga wagon, and by railroads, where they encounter Native Americans and herds of bison.

# data[].attributes.body
1844年，美國與德薩斯共和國簽訂合併條約，德薩斯共和國於1845年納入美國版圖。 In 1844, the United States signed an agreement with the Republic of Texas. Texas was then admitted into the United States in 1845.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
During his tenure, U.S. President James K. Polk oversaw the greatest territorial expansion of the United States to date. Polk accomplished this through the annexation of Texas in 1845, the negotiation of the Oregon Treaty with Great Britain in 1846, and the conclusion of the Mexican-American War in 1848, which ended with the signing and ratification of the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo in 1848.

These events brought within the control of the United States the future states of Texas, California, Nevada, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Washington, and Oregon, as well as portions of what would later become Oklahoma, Colorado, Kansas, Wyoming, and Montana.

Following Texas' successful war of independence against Mexico in 1836, President Martin van Buren refrained from annexing Texas after the Mexicans threatened war. Accordingly, while the United States extended diplomatic recognition to Texas, it took no further action concerning annexation until 1844, when President John Tyler restarted negotiations with the Republic of Texas. His efforts culminated on April 12 in a Treaty of Annexation, an event that caused Mexico to sever diplomatic relations with United States. Tyler, however, lacked the votes in the Senate to ratify the treaty, and it was defeated by a wide margin in June. Shortly before he left office, Tyler tried again, this time through a joint resolution of both houses of Congress. With the support of President-elect Polk, Tyler managed to get the joint resolution passed on March 1, 1845, and Texas was admitted into the United States on December 29.

While Mexico did not follow through with its threat to declare war if the United States annexed Texas, relations between the two nations remained tense due to Mexico's disputed border with Texas. According to the Texans, their state included significant portions of what is today New Mexico and Colorado, and the western and southern portions of Texas itself, which they claimed extended to the Rio Grande River. The Mexicans, however, argued that the border only extended to the Nueces River, north of the Rio Grande.

In July, 1845, Polk, who had been elected on a platform of expansionism, ordered the commander of the U.S. Army in Texas, Zachary Taylor, to move his forces into the disputed lands that lay between the Nueces and Rio Grande rivers. In November, Polk dispatched Congressman John Slidell to Mexico with instructions to negotiate the purchase of the disputed areas along the Texas-Mexican border, and the territory comprising the present-day states of New Mexico and California.

Following the failure of Slidell's mission in May 1846, Polk used news of skirmishes inside disputed territory between Mexican troops and Taylor's army to gain Congressional support for a declaration of war against Mexico. On May 13, 1846, the United States declared war on Mexico.

Following the capture of Mexico City in September 1847, Nicholas Trist, chief clerk of the Department of State and Polk's peace emissary, began negotiations for a peace treaty with the Mexican Government under terms similar to those pursued by Slidell the previous year. Polk soon grew concerned by Trist's conduct, however, believing that he would not press for strong enough terms from the Mexicans, and because Trist became a close friend of General Winfield Scott, a Whig who was thought to be a strong contender for his party's presidential nomination for the 1848 election. Furthermore, the war had encouraged expansionist Democrats to call for a complete annexation of Mexico. Polk recalled Trist in October.

Believing that he was on the cusp of an agreement with the Mexicans, Trist ignored the recall order and presented Polk with the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo, which was signed in Mexico City on February 2, 1848. Under the terms of the treaty, Mexico ceded to the United States approximately 525,000 square miles (55% of its prewar territory) in exchange for a $15 million lump sum payment, and the assumption by the U.S. Government of up to $3.25 million worth of debts owed by Mexico to U.S. citizens.

While Polk would have preferred a more extensive annexation of Mexican territory, he realized that prolonging the war would have disastrous political consequences and decided to submit the treaty to the Senate for ratification. Although there was substantial opposition to the treaty within the Senate, on March 10, 1848, it passed by a razor-thin margin of 38 to 14.

The war had another significant outcome. On August 8, 1846, Congressman David Wilmot introduced a rider to an appropriations bill that stipulated that "neither slavery nor involuntary servitude shall ever exist" in any territory acquired by the United States in the war against Mexico. While Southern senators managed to block adoption of the so-called "Wilmot Proviso," it nonetheless provoked a political firestorm. The question of whether slavery could expand throughout the United States continue to fester until the defeat of the Confederacy in 1865.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Milestones: 1830-1860 - Office of the Historian

# data[].attributes.headline
1846- 取得俄勒崗地區 Acquisition of Oregon Territory

# data[].attributes.subject
1846- 取得俄勒崗地區 Acquisition of Oregon Territory

# data[].attributes.body
1918年英美兩國聯合管治俄勒崗地區，1846年英美兩國簽訂條約把俄勒崗地區納入美國版圖。In 1918, Britain and the US ruled the Oregon Territory jointly. In 1846, Britain and the US concluded a treaty to let the US obtain the Oregon Territory.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
NOTE TO READERS
"Milestones in the History of U.S. Foreign Relations" has been retired and is no longer maintained. For more information, please see the full notice.

Along with territorial disputes with Spain and Mexico over the Southwest, the fate of the Oregon Territory was one of the major diplomatic issues of the first half of the 19th century.

Landscape in Oregon Country (Charles Marion Russell)

The territory became a focus of those who believed that it was the United States' obligation and right to extend its rule and liberties across the North American continent. The Oregon Territory stretched from the Pacific coast to the Rocky Mountains, encompassing the area including present-day Oregon, Washington, and most of British Columbia.

Originally Spain, Great Britain, Russia, and the United States claimed the territory. In 1819, under terms of the Transcontinental Treaty, Spain ceded its claims to the territory to the United States. Shortly thereafter the United States contested a unilateral Russian move to grant its citizens a fishing, whaling, and commercial monopoly from the Bering Straits to the 51st parallel. In 1823 President Monroe promulgated his doctrine, which put Russia on notice that the United States did not accept Russian attempts at monopoly. The U.S. claim was based on the explorations of Lewis and Clark and on the establishment of trading posts set up by John Jacob Astor's Pacific Fur Company, such as Astoria at the mouth of the Columbia River. Great Britain based its claim, in part, on James Cook's exploration of the Columbia River.

As early as 1818 British and American Commissioners had fixed the border between the United States and Canada at the 49th parallel from the Lake of the Woods (Minnesota Territory) west to the Rocky Mountains. The United States had proposed to extend the border along the same parallel to the Pacific Ocean, but Great Britain insisted that the northern border be drawn west to the Columbia River and then follow that river to the ocean. Neither side then budged, but they did agree to postpone the decision for 10 years. In 1827 Washington and London agreed to postpone the issue indefinitely subject to one year's notice by either party. There the matter remained until the Webster-Ashburton Treaty of 1842 partially delineated the northeastern U.S.-Canada border, but left the border of the Oregon Territory unsettled.

By 1843, increased American immigration on the Oregon Trail to the Territory made the border issue a burning one in Congress, where jingoists raised the slogan of "54 degrees 40 minutes or fight." President James Polk, a supporter of Manifest Destiny with an eye also on the Mexican Southwest and California, was eager to settle the boundary of the Oregon Territory and proposed a settlement on the 49 degree line to Great Britain. British Minister to Washington, Richard Pakenham, and Secretary of State James Buchanan, supported and encouraged by British Foreign Secretary Lord Aberdeen and Senator John C. Calhoun of South Carolina, worked out a compromise. With some minor modifications, which reserved the whole of Vancouver Island to Canada, Great Britain agreed to Polk's suggestion. The Senate ratified the treaty by a vote of 41-14 on June 18, 1846. A later controversy over the precise boundaries in the Juan de Fuca Strait was resolved by international arbitration in favor of the United States.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Milestones: 1830-1860 - Office of the Historian

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
NOTE TO READERS "Milestones in the History of U.S. Foreign Relations" has been retired and is no longer maintained. For more information, please see the full notice. Along with territorial disputes with Spain and Mexico over the Southwest, the fate of the Oregon Territory was one of the major diplomatic issues of the first half of the 19th century.

# data[].attributes.headline
1846–1848 – 美墨戰爭及取得墨西哥割讓地 The Mexican American War and the Acquisition of the Mexican Cession 

# data[].attributes.subject
1846–1848 – 美墨戰爭及取得墨西哥割讓地 The Mexican American War and the Acquisition of the Mexican Cession 

# data[].attributes.body
墨西哥於美墨戰爭戰敗，根據戰後和約,墨西哥割讓加利福利亞、新墨西哥等南部州分給美國，而美國則付出1,500萬美元補償金。Mexico was defeated in the Mexican American War. In the treaty, Mexico ceded a vast region including present-day states in the Southwestern states like California, New Mexico. In return, the US paid a sum of 15 million US dollars to Mexico.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
mexican war mexico bibliography guide virtual program service digital reference section library of congress james polk zachary taylor abraham lincoln

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
A Guide to the Mexican War (Virtual Programs & Services, Library of Congress)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Overview of the Gold Rush by Curator Emeritus Gary F. Kurutz. Features examples drawn from the California History Section's special collections.

# data[].attributes.body
美國以720萬美元向俄國購入阿拉斯加。 US government used 7.2 million US dollars to purchase Alaska.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Treaty concerning the cession of the Russian possessions in North America by His Majesty the emperor of all the Russias to the United States of America.

# data[].attributes.headline
1898-取得海外領土 Acquisition of overseas colonies

# data[].attributes.subject
1898-取得海外領土 Acquisition of overseas colonies

# data[].attributes.body
1898年，美國通過 簽署合併條約取得夏威夷, 同年，它又通過戰爭取得關島與菲律賓 。In 1898, the US obtained Hawaii through treaty. In the same year, the US gained Guam and the Philippines through war.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Background

When the Hawaiian islands were formally annexed by the United States in 1898, the event marked end of a lengthy internal struggle between native Hawaiians and white American businessmen for control of the Hawaiian government. In 1893 the last monarch of Hawaii, Queen Lili'uokalani, was overthrown by party of businessmen, who then imposed a provisional government. Soon after, President Benjamin Harrison submitted a treaty to annex the Hawaiian islands to the U.S. Senate for ratification. In 1897, the treaty effort was blocked when the newly-formed Hawaiian Patriotic League, composed of native Hawaiians, successfully petitioned the U.S. Congress in opposition of the treaty. The League's lobbying efforts left only 46 Senators in favor of the resolution, less than the 2/3 majority needed for approval of a treaty. The League's victory was shortlived, however as unfolding world events soon forced the annexation issue to the fore again. With the explosion of the U.S.S. Maine in February of 1898 signaling the start of the Spanish American War, establishing a mid-Pacific fueling station and naval base became a strategic imperative for the United States. The Hawaiian islands were the clear choice, and this time Congress moved to annex the Hawaiian islands by Joint Resolution, a process requiring only a simple majority in both houses of Congress. On July 12, 1898, the Joint Resolution passed and the Hawaiian islands were officially annexed by the United States.

The Hawaiian islands had a well-established culture and long history of self-governance when Captain James Cook, the first European explorer to set foot on Hawaii, landed in 1778. The influence of European and American settlers quickly began to alter traditional ways of life. Originally governed by individual chiefs or kings, the islands united under the rule of a single monarch, King Kamehameha, in 1795, less than two decades after Cook's arrival. Later the traditional Hawaiian monarchy was overthrown in favor of a constitutional monarchy. Eventually, the monarchy itself was abandoned in favor of a government elected by a small group of enfranchised voters, although the Hawaiian monarch was retained as the ceremonial head of the government. Even elements of daily life felt the social and economic impact of the white planters, missionaries and businessmen. The landholding system changed, and many aspects of traditonal culture were prohibited including teaching the Hawaiian language and performing the native Hula dance.

In 1887, the struggle for control of Hawaii was at its height as David Kalakaua was elected to the Hawaiian throne. King Kalakaua signed a reciprocity treaty with the United States making it possible for sugar to be sold to the U.S. market tax-free, but the haole - or "white" - businessmen were still distrustful of him. They criticized his ties to men they believed to be corrupt, his revival of Hawaiian traditions such as the historic Hula, and construction of the royal Iolani Palace. A scandal involving Kalakaua erupted in the very year he was crowned, and it united his opponents, a party of businessmen under the leadership of Lorrin Thurston. The opposition used the threat of violence to force the Kalakua to accept a new constitution that stripped the monarchy of executive powers and replaced the cabinet with members of the businessmen's party. The new constitution, which effectively disenfranchised most native Hawaiian voters, came to be known as the "Bayonet Constitution" because Kalakaua signed it under duress.

When King Kalakaua died in 1891, his sister Lili'uokalani succeeded him, and members of the native population persuaded the new queen to draft a new constitution in an attempt to restore native rights and powers. The move was countered by the Committee on Annexation, a small group of white businessmen and politicians who felt that annexation by the United States, the major importer of Hawaiian agricultural products, would be beneficial for the economy of Hawaii. Supported by John Stevens, the U.S. Minister to Hawaii, and a contingent of Marines from the warship, U.S.S. Boston, the Committee on Annexation overthrew Queen Lili'uokalani in a bloodless coup on January 17, 1893 and established a revolutionary regime.

Without permission from the U.S. State Department, Minister Stevens then recognized the new government and proclaimed Hawaii a U.S. protectorate. The Committee immediately proclaimed itself to be the Provisional Government. President Benjamin Harrison signed a treaty of annexation with the new government, but before the Senate could ratify it, Grover Cleveland replaced Harrison as president and subsequently withdrew the treaty.

Shortly into his presidency, Cleveland appointed James Blount as a special investigator to investigate the events in the Hawaiian Islands. Blount found that Minister Stevens had acted improperly and ordered that the American flag be lowered from Hawaiian government buildings. He also ordered that Queen Lili'uokalani be restored to power, but Sanford Dole, the president of the Provisional Government of Hawaii, refused to turn over power. Dole successfully argued that the United States had no right to interfere in the internal affairs of Hawaii. The Provisional Government then proclaimed Hawaii a republic in 1894, and soon the Republic of Hawaii was officially recognized by the United States.

The overthrow of Lili'uokalani and imposition of the Republic of Hawaii was contrary to the will of the native Hawaiians. Native Hawaiians staged mass protest rallies and formed two gender-designated groups to protest the overthrow and prevent annexation. One was the Hui Hawaii Aloha Aina, loosely translated as the Hawaiian Patriotic League, and the other was its female counterpart, the Hui Hawaii Aloha Aina o Na Wahine. On January 5, 1895, the protests took the form of an armed attempt to derail the annexation but the armed revolt was suppressed by forces of the Republic. The leaders of the revolt were imprisoned along with Queen Lili'uokalani who was jailed for failing to put down the revolt.

In March of 1897, William McKinley was inaugurated as President of the United States. McKinley was in favor of annexation, and the change in leadership was soon felt. On June 16, 1897, McKinley and three representatives of the government of the Republic of Hawaii --Lorrin Thurston, Francis Hatch, and William Kinney-- signed a treaty of annexation. President McKinley then submitted the treaty to the U.S. Senate for ratification.

The Hui Aloha Aina for Women and the Hui Aloha Aina for Men now organized a mass petition drive. They hoped that if the U.S. government realized that the majority of native Hawaiian citizens opposed annexation, the move to annex Hawaii would be stopped. Between September 11 and October 2, 1897, the two groups collected petition signatures at public meetings held on each of the five principal islands of Hawaii. The petition, clearly marked "Petition Against Annexation" and written in both the Hawaiian and English languages, was signed by 21,269 native Hawaiian people, or more than half the 39,000 native Hawaiians and mixed-blood persons reported by the Hawaiian Commission census for the same year.

Four delegates, James Kaulia, David Kalauokalani, John Richardson, and William Auld, arrived in Washington, DC on December 6 with the 556-page petition in hand. That day, as they met with Queen Lili'uokalani, who was already in Washington lobbying against annexation, the second session of the 55th Congress opened. The delegates and Lili'uokalani planned a strategy to present the petition to the Senate.

The delegation and Lili'oukalani met Senator George Hoar, chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations on the following day, and on December 9, with the delegates present, Senator Hoar read the text of the petition to the Senate. It was formally accepted. The next day the delegates met with Secretary of State John Sherman and submitted a formal statement protesting the annexation to him. In the following days, the delegates met with many senators, voicing opposition to the annexation. By the time the delegates left Washington on February 27, 1898, there were only 46 senators willing to vote for annexation. The treaty was defeated in the Senate.

Other events brought the subject of annexation up again immediately. On February 15, 1898, the U.S. Battleship Maine was blown up in Havana harbor in Cuba. The ensuing Spanish-American War, part of which was fought in the Philippine Islands, established the strategic value of the Hawaiian islands as a mid-Pacific fueling station and naval installation. The pro-annexation forces in Congress submitted a proposal to annex the Hawaiian Islands by joint resolution, which required only a simple majority vote in both houses. This eliminated the 2/3 majority needed to ratify a treaty, and by result, the necessary support was in place. House Joint Resolution 259, 55th Congress, 2nd session, known as the "Newlands Resolution," passed Congress and was signed into law by President McKinley on July 7, 1898.

Once annexed by the United States, the Hawaiian islands remained a U.S. territory until 1959, when they were admitted to statehood as the 50th state. The story of the annexation is a story of conflicting goals as the white businessmen struggled to obtain favorable trade conditions and native Hawaiians sought to protect their cultural heritage and maintain a national identity. The 1897 Petition by the Hawaiian Patriotic League stands as evidence that the native Hawaiian people objected to annexation, but because the interests of the businessmen won out, over the coming decades most historians who wrote the history of Hawaii emphasized events as told by the Provisional Government and largely neglected the struggle of the Native Hawaiians. Today, there is a growing movement on the Islands to revive interest in the native Hawaiian language and culture. Primary sources such as this petition bear witness that there is another side to the story.

The annexation petition with its voluminous signatures, along with many related records, is filed in the Records of the U.S. Senate, Record Group 46, at the National Archives and Records Administration. The petitions are available on microfilm as publication M1897.

Resource

Silva, Noenoe K. Aloha Betrayed: Native Hawaiian Resistance to American Colonialism.. Durham: Duke University Press, 2004, pages 123-163.

The Documents
The 1897 Petition Against The Annexation of Hawaii
Page 6 of Men's Petition
Against Annexation of Hawaii
September 11, 1897

Click to Enlarge

Record Group 46
Records of the U.S. Senate
National Archives and Records Administration

Page 22 of Women's Petition
Against Annexation of Hawaii
September 11, 1897

Click to Enlarge

Record Group 46
Records of the U.S. Senate
National Archives and Records Administration

Image Top Right:
"Lahaina, Maui, T.H. - Formerly the Capital"
Department of Commerce and Labor.
Lighthouse Board. 12th Lighthouse District. (1903 - 1913)
RG 26: Records of the United States Coast Guard [USCG], 1785 - 1988

Article Citation

Schamel, Wynell and Charles E. Schamel. "The 1897 Petition Against the Annexation of Hawaii." Social Education 63, 7 (November/December 1999): 402-408.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The 1897 Petition Against the Annexation of Hawaii

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Background When the Hawaiian islands were formally annexed by the United States in 1898, the event marked end of a lengthy internal struggle between native Hawaiians and white American businessmen for control of the Hawaiian government. In 1893 the last monarch of Hawaii, Queen Lili'uokalani, was overthrown by party of businessmen, who then imposed a provisional government.