The  War with Mexico

For the next ten years, the Mexicans and Americans could not agree on a border where Texas ended and  Mexico  began.  In 1845, Texas joined  the United States.  

A year late, the border fight between  Texas and Mexico grew into and war  between Mexico and United States.  The war lasted two years .  Battles took place all the way from Mexico city to Northern California.  The Mexicans lost the war and they were forced  to give up all their land north of the Rio Grande. This included  California and New Mexico.

Some American leaders were greedy and wanted to continue the war and take  over  of the Mexico.  Others felt that the United States had already taken to much. They said that the war had started over Texas and that it was unfair to take  California   as well.  But they never gave Mexico their land back. 

The states and territories of America stretched from the Atlantic  to the Pacific, and from Canada to Mexico.

Trouble with Mexico

The price of new land in the states  was becoming  very high.  Farmers  heard that there was plenty  of cheap land in the Mexican  territories.  The land seekers  from the southern states moved west to buy cheaper land from Mexico.  

At that time, Mexico owned land from the edge of the Louisiana Territory  to the  Pacific Ocean.  Many Americans settled in a  large Mexican territory called Texas and the territory soon had more Americans that  Mexicans. The Americans did not like the Mexican laws and said that the president of Mexico ,  Santa Ana, was worse to them than King George was to the settlers in Boston.  The Americans in Texas decided to declare  their independence from Mexico.  

Santa Ana did not want to lose  this large territory , so he brought 3.000 soldiers to San Antonio, Texas.  They went to the Alamo , which was an old Spanish church that the Americans  used as a fort.  There were 187  men in the Alamo.  The men of the Alamo held off the Mexicans  for six days.  But in the and , all the Americans  were killed. 

When an American leader named Sam Houston heard  about the battle ,  he formed  an army  and trapped  Santa Ana and his soldiers .  In less than twenty minutes  , the Mexican army fled.  The  Americans caught Santa Ana  and forced him to sign  a paper that said Texas was free from Mexico.

x

                               Pioneers Move West

By 1836, the United States had grown to twenty-five states.  Many became restless and wanted to move west.  People heard how beautiful  Oregon  was and many  groups of people  traveled west in groups of covered wagons pulled by horses or oxen.  

These  group of covered wagons were called wagon trains.  The people who moved to the west became known as pioneers.  

The road  the pioneers took  was called the Oregon Trail.

                                             The  Northwest Territory

Before America bought the Louisiana Territory, it added the Northwest Territory.  The U.S. Government passed  a law  called the Northwest Ordinance.  It said that people who settled in territories of the United States  could form states if they chose to.  In the meantime , they would have the same rights as in the states.  

Six new state were formed from this territory.  This was the rule for settling   all new territories.  The states formed out of  the land of the Northwest Territory  were:  Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin and part of Minnesota.

                          The Louisiana Purchase

Most of the land around the thirteen colonies was owned  by England , France and Spain . Some Americans  Leaders were afraid that this land might fill up with settlers from these other countries and later the people  would cause trouble for them. 

The  American  leaders wanted their country to own more land. Thomas Jefferson , who wrote the Declaration  of Independence  , hoped that the United States of America would  someday stretch from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean. When he became President of the United States , he asked the government to buy a huge chunk of land from the French. 

The French were having financial troubles and they desperately  needed the money . The Americans were able to buy the land from them. This new chunk of land was called  the Louisiana Territory . A territory was any land owned by the United States that had not yet become a state.

Jefferson sent out to explorers , Lewis and Clark , to find out what the land was like . The trip was dangerous  and after travelling  a few months, the team of forty – five people reached the Rocky Mountains . 

The Shoshone Indians  knew  about secret  path to cross the mountains , but they would not tell everyone. One of the team members was from this tribe of Indians . She  showed  them the way and the explorers  soon the reached  the Pacific Ocean. 

The trip to the Pacific  and back took two years. Lewis and Clark  documented  their trip and made maps of the land , showing the path they took.  They told the President that he got  the best land  buy there ever was. The price for the Louisiana Territory  , which  later made  up eight states, only cost 4 cent an acre. This land was rich with forests , rivers , mountains, animals and good farm land.

                                             

                                        The First U.S. Government

After the war, the national government was very weak. The first government plan was called  the Article  of the Confederation . The new government could only make laws .

It had no President to enforce the Laws , no courts to explain laws , no one to collect  taxes , no money , and no power. This was a dangerous situation because without the strong government  the United States would fall apart. The people were also afraid that England  and Spain could take their land away.

In 1787 , George Washington met with the leaders from the original thirteen states. They wrote a new plan of government and called it the Constitution of the United States. The principles of the Constitution were liberty , equality justice for all.

  The Constitution was the highest law which everyone had to follow. Power was balanced between the national government and the states . 

The government  had three parts

*  one that made of laws , 

* one that explained the laws

* and one that enforced the laws.  

Each part had special powers to check the other parts. This was called  checks and balances.

The leaders decided that America needed a president , not a king. The people elected George Washington as the first President of the United States. He served for eight years. He is still considered the father of our country. 

Washington's birthday became a legal holiday in America.

                         The Declaration of Independence

After the Revolutionary War began , the leaders chose five men to write the  Declaration of Independence . The men decided what it should say and Thomas Jefferson was chosen to write it. 

This document  explained  why the Americans were fighting against England. It said that colonies would no longer belong to England . They would form their own free country , with their own laws and their own leaders.

 On July 4, 1776 the leaders of all the thirteen colonies gathered in Philadelphia and signed the Declaration of Independence .  

John Hancock  was the first to sign it. This day is now called independence day . It is the birthday of the United States and it is a legal holiday.