What did the United States look like between 1783 and 1803?

Step 1: Go to the ArcGIS Online map, From Compromise to Conflict, and explore the map.

• Note the location and shape of the original 13 colonies on the map. By what country and when was the land to the west of the colonies, cede?

Step 2: Click on the Northwest Ordinance marker and read the text.

Step 3: Click the button, Content.

Step 4: Click the checkbox to the left of the layer name, U.S. as of 1783. The layer is turned off.

Step 5: Turn on the layer, U.S. as of 1803.

• Approximately how much of the modern-day contiguous U.S. was part of the country in 1803?
• From which countries had the U.S. acquired lands?

What states developed from 1803 to 1819?

Step 6: Click the states on the map to see detailed information.

• By 1803, how many states were there?

Step 7: Turn on the layer, U.S. as of 1820.

• By 1820, how many states were there? Hint: Toggle the 1803 for visibility.
• How many states in 1820 were slave states?
• How many states in 1820 were free states?

What caused the Missouri Compromise of 1820?

Step 8: Turn on the layer, Demarcation Lines.

The purpose of these lines was because slavery was prohibited in the rest of the Louisiana Purchase north of the 36th parallel, with the exception of Missouri. The state affected the balance of free to slave states.

How might new land acquisition affect the Senate balance?

Observe the layer, U.S. as of 1849 – with the Demarcation (Missouri Compromise) Line.

• What new lands were acquired after the Missouri Compromise?
• The Oregon Territory would mean more land in the north and lead to more free states.

How did land acquisition lead to more conflict?

Step 9: Turn on the U.S. After Compromise of 1850 layer.

• How did the Compromise of 1850 change the balance?

Step 10: Turn on the layer, U.S. After Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854.

• How did this legislation change the amount of land open to slavery?
• Predict a result of the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854.