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ceded to Britai n all of her territory
in Canada , plus all of the land east
of lh e Mississ ippi from Canada in
lhc north
to
the Florida territory in
the outh.
lnl cresling ly e n o ug h . when
France wa defea ted by England.
she offered the victor ei ther the is–
land of Guadc loupe in the West In–
di es. or Canada. Fort unatel y.
Benjamín Franklin happened to be
in London al the time. and he rea l–
ized the va. t potential of the Cana–
dian territory. He th ercfore wrote a
pamphlct in whi ch he urged Britain
to takc Canada rat hcr than the
suga r-and-rum- ri ch Caribbea n is–
land. and many Bri tons we re disa p–
pointcd when their govc rnmcnt.
fo llowing Franklin's advice. chose
Canada
~a thcr
than Guadelo upe !
American Revolutionary War
ot long a rter the 1763 Trca ty of
París had granted Britain a ll of
French Canada plus thc prescnt-day
tates east of th e Mi sissippi from
Ca nada to the Florida territory.
trouble brokc out bctwecn the thirteen
American colonies and England.
The
PLAIN TRUTH July 1976
On July 4. 1776. the Thirteen Col–
onies declared thcir independence
and began waging thc American
Revolutionary War to secure their
freed om. All odds favored a British
victory in th at wa r. but Cornwall is'
de fea t a t Yorktown on Oct. 19.
178 1. by the combined force of
Wa s hin g to n wo rking with the
Frcnch navy, mean! that America
would soon ga in tota l ind epe n–
dence.
In 1783 . Britain gran ted to the
ncw Unitcd States not only lhe litle
deed to the ori ginal Thi rteen Colo–
nie . bul shc also gavc those colo–
nies a ll the land from the Alla nt ic
west lo lhe Mi ssiss ippi Ri ver. thal is.
al l the land be1ween Canada in lhe
no rth and th e Florida territory in
lhe south.
Beginning with this first titlc
grant. the United Statcs ,,·ent on lo
evc ntua lly acqu ire a ll of th c land
encompassed in thc contiguous 48
s tates.
How Amcri ca acquired all of the
original 48 sullcs during a 70-yea r
period is one of the most fa cinating
sto ries to be found in the anna l of
SECURING THE BIRTHRIGHT:
The
Battle of Bunker Hi/1; the drive west to
fulfill Manifest Destiny - home–
steaders, the wagon trains, the Gold
Rush of 1849.
Credlls. Copyrtght Yale Umvers•ty Atl Galiety Reptoduced
by perm•sSton ol Hun/lngron Lioraty. San Matmo Ca
Secunry Pactflc Nat10nar Bank
any na tion. In fact. thcrc is no other
similar parallel in allt he world 's his–
tory. At no other time did a nation
ever acquire such a vast, rich, stratc–
gic tract of land in such a short
period of time.
History's Greatest Bargain!
On ly
20
years aft c r lhc seco nd
T rea ty of París convened in 1783
- grant ed th e United Statcs the ter–
ritory east of the Mississ ippi. other
even ts moved swiftly Lo give her
possess ion of the vast Louis iana
Te rritory wcst of th e Mississ ippi.
Here i how Amcrica acquired that
land - the mos t fabulous land bar–
gai n in thc history of thc cnt ire
world.
Durin g the apoleonic wa rs. the
vain. ambi tious Napolcon planned
to establish a French cmpirc we t of
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