How The States Got Their Shapes

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  • How Illinois Got Its Shape
    How Illinois Got Its Shape

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    The Illinois Territory’s northern boundary originally ended at the southernmost point of Lake Michigan, leaving it with no port on the Great Lakes, and, crucially, no access to the proposed Erie Canal. Congress shifted the border north, taking land from Wisconsin, and giving Chicago to Illinois.

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  • How Florida Got Its Shape
    How Florida Got Its Shape

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    Florida was once Spanish and much larger. Its panhandle stretched from the Savannah River to the Mississippi, but, over time, the Spanish relinquished land and the entire area came under American control.

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  • How California Got Its Shape
    How California Got Its Shape

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    With the discovery of gold in 1848, thousands of prospectors poured into California. When it came time to create a state, the new residents wanted to make sure California included all potential gold fields in the Sierra Nevada range, and so drew their own borders.

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  • Hatfields & McCoys
    Hatfields & McCoys

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    One of the country's most famous family feuds began over a simple case of a stolen pig.

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  • The Fur Trade Shapes the West
    The Fur Trade Shapes the West

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    Beaver furs were one of the first commodities settlers traded with Europe.

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  • The States

    The States

    Stretching more than 3,000 miles from the Atlantic to the Pacific, the United States of America is comprised of 50 states, each with its own unique traditions and history.

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