US boundaries

[DHonks]

I remember seeing a very basic flash-type visual representation of the historical changes to the US boundaries over time. Does anyone know what this site might be...I can't find it. I'd like to show it to my students

[DHonks]

nevermind, I found it.

 

http://www.edstephan.org/48states.html

[mtrebs]

Didn't Wisconsin become a state in 1848? That site has it at 1849...unless the state of Wisconsin was larger for one year.

[hawing]

Didn't Wisconsin become a state in 1848? That site has it at 1849...unless the state of Wisconsin was larger for one year.

1848 is correct (May 29, 1848 to be exact).

Maybe the map creator was recording boundaries as of January 1 of each year. Either that or his work includes an error.

[PlayerHader]

Neat. What was the deal with Oklahoma in the late 19th/early 20th century?

[Schlitz001]

I think what happened was that Oklahoma originally tried to become two separate states, one half being strictly Indian territories. The government didn't want the Native Americans to possess an entire state to themselves and would only admit Oklahoma to statehood if they merged with the other territory forming the Oklahoma we know today. At least that's how I remember it from history class.

[DocLuna7]

I am not positive, but I believe that Oklahoma's borders were also changing because of the land which the US government offered as an inducement for settlers. Basically, all of the territory not belonging to Native American Indian reservations was put up for grabs for free to encourage development.