Trail of Tears

In the 1830s, gold was discovered in the Southeast. Word quickly spread, and settlers poured into the southern states. Most did not find gold, but many stayed to start cotton farms in Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, and the Carolinas. Some of these lands were home to the Cherokee, a large group of Native Americans. U.S. citizens wanted these lands—and their valuable resources.

The government forced the Cherokee to leave their lands. In 1838 thousands of Cherokee men, women, and children were rounded up by U.S. soldiers. These people were forced to make the long and difficult journey to Indian Territory in Oklahoma, far west of the Mississippi River and 1,000 miles from their homeland. The land they were given to live on was dry and difficult to farm, which was very different from the land they were forced to leave. Thousands of Cherokee died during and after the journey. This terrible event became known as the Trail of Tears.

The Great Migration

The years after the Civil War were a time of change in the Southeast. Slavery became illegal in all states. Angry that slavery was outlawed, many states passed laws that took away the rights the freed African Americans had recently gained. During the late 1800s, thousands of African Americans moved to states in the Mid-Atlantic, New England, and the Midwest. The relocation of people from the South to the North was called the Great Migration.

Purchase of Alaska

During the late 1800s, the United States made its last land acquisitions. The first new territorial gain was Alaska. In 1867, the United States purchased Alaska from Russia for just over $7 million. The future state was so large that the cost was only about two cents per acre. The purchase of Alaska was not entirely popular. Some newspaper editors criticized Secretary of State William Seward for agreeing to the sale. They called the area “Seward’s Icebox” or “Seward’s Folly.” In 1898, however, gold and copper were found in Alaska. These discoveries awakened new interest in the land.

The Quebec Act

France was a powerful nation in the 1600s and 1700s. It had a rival for power, however. Britain competed with France in the Americas. The two nations fought wars in the 1700s. As a result of a British victory in 1763, France was forced to give up much of its land in North America. Even though the French no longer had claim to Canada, there were still many French settlers in Canada. The Quebec Act, passed by the British in 1774, gave French settlers in Canada the right to keep their language, religion, and system of laws.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police

Gold was discovered in the Yukon Territory. This discovery led to a gold rush, where thousands of people moved to the area hoping to find gold. Helping keep order in the west was a police force that formed in 1873. Called the North West Mounted Police, the group is known today as the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

Growth in Canada

In the late 1900s, Canada became an industrial nation. Canadians built factories and took advantage of their mineral resources. They developed hydroelectric projects and new transportation systems. To help increase the nation’s industrial power, Canada needed more workers. Canada’s leaders made it easier for people to enter the country. Canada’s population began to grow, particularly after World War II, which helped Canada meet its need for more workers. Canada’s population jumped from 12 million people in 1945 to nearly 35 million in 2012.

Treaty of Tordesillas

In 1493 Christopher Columbus returned to Spain with news of his explorations and of new lands. The Spanish worried that neighboring Portugal, a powerful seafaring rival, would try to claim these lands for itself. So they asked the pope to find a solution. The pope decided that all new lands west of a certain line should belong to Spain. Lands east of the line would belong to Portugal. The two countries agreed to this division in 1494 by signing the Treaty of Tordesillas.

Almost nothing was known of the region’s geography, so neither side realized how unequal the division was. Almost all of the Americas lay west of the line, which became Spanish territory. The only exception was the eastern part of South America, which became Portuguese territory. Today, this part of South America is Brazil. That is why Brazil is the only South American country that has a Portuguese heritage.

Colonizing Brazil

Portuguese sailors established a few trading posts along Brazil’s coast and collected brazilwood. The red dye extracted from this wood was highly valued in Europe. It was because of this trade that the Portuguese named the region Brazil.

The valuable brazilwood trade made other Europeans more interested in Brazil. French traders began collecting the wood and shipping it to France. To bring Brazil under tighter Portuguese control, Portugal’s King John III established a permanent colony and government there.

Brazil moves towards Independence

In 1805, Britain joined by its allies Russia, Austria and Sweden, went to war with France to crush Napoleon. Instead, Napoleon defeated them and conquered much of Europe. In 1807 Napoleon invaded Portugal. As the French army closed in on Portugal’s capital city of Lisbon, ruler Dom João, the royal family, and other government leaders fled to Brazil.

Rio de Janeiro became the new capital of the Portuguese Empire. Brazil’s status within the empire changed from a colony to a kingdom. This action gave Brazil equal status with Portugal within the empire. This eventually led Brazil becoming an independent country.