ABSTRACT
BETWEEN 1815 and 1860 Florida, Texas, and the Far West were added to the territorial possessions of the United States, with a resulting increase in area of 1,307,000 square miles or about 76 per cent. Though significant for the future, the addition of this vast area had a relatively small influence on American industrial development before 1860. Some trade and agricultural activity appeared, and the discovery of gold in California in 1848 led to the rapid settlement of that region. But for the most part this newer territory remained but sparsely populated and largely unexploited until later in the century.
