![]() ![]() Sharing some similarities with the assertions of Puerto Ricans and Guamanians, some residents of Washington DC take issue with the fact that they do not have representatives in Congress. The concept of “no taxation without representation” was a big part of why America fought for independence from Britain, so it was important to the Founding Fathers to have the seat of government in a neutral non-state that would not have representation in Congress. The Constitution created Washington DC as the seat of America’s government. Prior to the signing of the Constitution, part of this District was part of Virginia, and the other part was part of Maryland. The DC in Washington DC stands for the District of Columbia. The Colonization of Puerto Rico Photo Courtesy: benedeck/iStock Eventually, Hawaii, then named the Republic of Hawaii by those who overthrew the monarchy, was annexed as U.S. ![]() Although President Cleveland expressed his discomfort with what was happening in Hawaii, he did not intervene. military, who was involved in the operation because of U.S. This resulting economic turmoil set the stage for a group of American sugar planters to revolt against the monarchy and establish an independent republic of their own. Otherwise, they would stand to lose considerable profits. There were decades of history between the United States and Hawaii working together on certain endeavors for the mutual benefit of both neighboring nations.ĭuring Queen Liliuokalani’s reign, a Congressional Act was passed to force Hawaii’s hand, declaring that Hawaiian sugar would only be lucrative for foreign sugar farmers from America and Europe if Hawaii were part of America. In the 1800s, Hawaii was its own nation, and a royal monarchy ruled it. Overthrowing the Hawaiian Monarchy Photo Courtesy: Eric Broder Van Dyke/iStockPhoto The Gadsen Purchase, another result of post-war diplomacy, is also the reason for parts of Arizona and New Mexico’s statehood. This is the direct reason that parts of Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, California, Utah, and California are now parts of the United States. and Mexico were still contentious, to say the least. After the war, relations between the U.S. The war ended with the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. This chain of events set off the Mexican-American War, which lasted for four years. After all, an agreement to purchase the land was never reached. ![]() Some pointed out that America had actually been the aggressor because the battle happened on land that still belonged to Mexico. Congress approved starting a war, but there was controversy even amongst American politicians. President Polk declared the resulting deaths of American soldiers to be an act of war because it happened on American soil. In response, there was a small battle between Mexican and American forces. President Polk responded by sending American soldiers to occupy all of the then Mexican-owned lands he wanted to buy. President Herrera had no intentions of selling. Mexico’s President, José Joaquín Herrera, heard about the plan and turned down Polk’s request for a meeting. It was his intention to offer to buy Texas and a lot of other land, currently known as much of the southwestern U.S., for $30 million. Polk sought a meeting with the President of Mexico. Have you ever wondered why southwestern states have so many Spanish names for towns and landmarks? The answer is that they were once a part of Mexico. The Mexican-American War Shaped the Southwest Photo Courtesy: Dominic Jeanmaire/iStock Here are some more controversial stories of how states became part of the USA. used to be part of other sovereign nation states, and became part of the US through colonial and neocolonial practices. Additionally, many of the states that are now part of the U.S. Nowadays, there is growing understanding of the violence, displacement, and genocide of Indigenous peoples that occurred as part of the “manifest destiny” story, and there is growing support for the Land Back movement. Then, settlers kept moving farther and farther west to clear unsettled land. You may know the story of Manifest Destiny. It would seem that being or not being a state wouldn’t be such a complicated concept. ![]()
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