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Means of State Territorial Change
Sphere of Influence
• Military conquest
• Cession: A formal ceding of a portion of State
territory, typically involving a treaty
• Annexation: A formal attaching of an entire State’s
territory, possibly without a treaty.
• Accretion: addition of land by a natural process.
• Avulsion:
A l i
a sudden
dd cutting
i
off
ff off land
l d by
b flood,
fl d
currents, or change in the course of a river.
• Leases: Territory is “rented” (military bases, Hong
Kong, Macao)
• Purchase: Louisiana, Alaska, Gadsden, Virgin
Islands
• Servitude: An obligation that permits use of a State’s
territory by a foreign State.
• Lands peripheral to a relatively powerful
State, and over which (for reasons related to
its security) it periodically exerts political or
economic control.
• A territorial area within which the political
influence or interests of a powerful foreign
State are held to be more or less paramount.
• A region more or less under the control of a
foreign State but not constituting a formal
recognized protectorate.
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Guantanamo Bay
• Largest harbor on
south coast of Cuba
• 1903 Cuban-American
Treaty gives the U.S. a
perpetual lease
• U.S. regards it as part
of its sovereign territory
and uses it as a military
base.
• Cuba regards continued
U.S. presence as illegal
and the result of
coercion.
Treaty of 1818
The Spanish Cession, 1819
• Resolved boundary issues between the
United States and the United Kingdom
• Helped cement Lat. 49° North as a
major portion of the future boundary
with Canada.
• U.S. acquired lands that would become
part of ND, SD and MN.
• U.S. also ceded land to what is now
Canada.
• Concerns U.S. acquisition of all of present-day
Florida, plus parts of Alabama, Mississippi,
Louisiana and Colorado.
• Followed un-authorized invasion of Florida by Gen.
Andrew Jackson on the pretext that Spain could not
control its colony, thus allowing Seminoles and
runaway slaves to harass the U.S. borderlands.
• U.S. agreed to pay Spain up to $5 million to cover the
claims of American citizens against Spain for
damages related to the incursions.
• Made official by the Adams-Onis Treaty, which redrew the border between the United States and New
Spain.
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The British Cession of 1842
• The result of the Webster-Ashburton
Treaty of 1842
• Used to resolve boundary issues between
the United States and the United Kingdom
related to map inaccuracies at the time of
the Treaty of Paris, 1763
• A major focus was on lands now in Maine
and Minnesota
Mitchell Map, ca. 1755
Used to help draft the Treaty of Paris, 1763
Mexican Cession, 1848
• Large area formally
transferred from Mexico
to the U.S. by the Treaty
of Guadelupe Hidalgo,
following the Mexican
War.
• Technically purchased
for $15 million (more
than $300 million in
today’s money, but
written off to settle preexisting Mexican debts.
Annexation of Texas, 1845
• Annexation of the
Republic of Texas as the
28th State.
• Led to war with Mexico
(1846-1848)
(1846
1848) and further
U.S. expansion.
• The culmination of years
of negotiation between
the U.S. and Texans, most
of whom were Americans
by birth.
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Cession vs. Annexation
Hawaiian Annexation, 1898
(formal ceremony shown in photo)
• Formerly the Republic of
Hawaii
• Overthrown with the help
of the U.S. to prevent
restoration of the
monarchy and any
possibility of Hawaii’s
acquisition by a
European power
• 1993 U.S. Apology
Resolution for
overthrowing the
government of a
sovereign state.
• In the case of cession, land is given or
sold through treaty.
• In the case of annexation, land is
seized
i d and
d held
h ld by
b a foreign
f
i
State
St t and
d
made legitimate by the approval or
recognition of an appropriate agency of
that State and/or a recognized foreign
body.
Rockall
Annexations since 1948
Ogaden (by Ethiopia)
Rockall (by U.K.)
Tibet (by PRC)
Goa, Diu and Damao (by India)
South Vietnam (by North Vietnam)
East Timor (by Indonesia)
Western Sahara (by Morocco)
Jerusalem, West Bank, Golan (by Israel)
Kuwait (by Iraq)
Location of Rockall
Acquisition of territory by purchase:
a form of cession important to the
expansion of the United States
---------•
•
•
•
The Louisiana Purchase,, 1803 (France)
(
)
The Gadsden Purchase, 1853 (Mexico)
The Alaska Purchase, 1867 (Russia)
The Virgin Islands, 1917 (Denmark)
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Gadsden Purchase, 1853
• An area of Arizona and
southwest New Mexico
purchased from Mexico in
1853 for $10 million.
• The brainchild of James
Gadsden a South CaroGadsden,
Caro
linian railroad magnate
who dreamed of a
southern transcontinental
railroad to make the West
dependent on the South.
• Appointed Minister to
Mexico by Pres. Pierce.
The U.S. Virgin Islands
• Purchased from Denmark in 1916.
• An organized, unincorporated U.S. territory.
• Has an internal political structure and relation
to the U.S. similar to those of Puerto Rico.
A Meandering River
A meandering
river over time
Top frame is the
oldest
Bottom frame is
the most recent
A Portion of the
Mississippi River
Boundary
between the
states of
Mississippi (right)
and
Arkansas and
Louisiana
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The Meander History
of a portion of the Mississippi River
Matters of shape and size
Compact
Prorupted
Elongated
Framented
Namibia: A Prorupted State
(Note The Caprivi Strip at top right of Namibia)
Thailand
An example of a
prorupted State
Indonesia and Its Provinces
And Example of a Fragmented State
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Norway: An Elongated State
Chile: An Elongated State
The Philippines: A Fragmented State
Enclave vs. Exclave
• Enclave: A sovereign State or a portion
of its territory that is enclosed within
the lands of another State.
portion of a sovereign
g State
• Exclave: A p
separated from the main part, possibly
constituting an enclave within a foreign
State.
• [Embassies and Consulates may be
considered as either of the above.]
Spain
and its
exclaves
Ceuta
and Melilla
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