Glossary · North America
Every North American territory on the map
Chaco Canyon, New France, and the states of today.
- Entries
- 22
- Span
- AD 850 – today
- Eras
- 5
What this region covers
From the great houses of Chaco Canyon and the Haudenosaunee Great Law of Peace to Norse Greenland, New France and New Sweden, the breakaway republics of Texas, the Rio Grande and California, and the states of the continent today.
Nothing matches that.
Indigenous North America
AD 850 – 1500 4 entries- 850–1150 Chaco regional system Ancestral Puebloan ceremonial and trade network centered on Chaco Canyon's great houses in the San Juan Basin.
- 985–15th century Norse Greenland Westernmost outpost of the medieval Norse world, founded by Erik the Red and the launch point for Leif Erikson's voyages.
- 1150–1300 Puebloans - Aztec Regional System Ancestral Puebloan successor system to Chaco, centered on the misnamed Aztec Ruins great houses on the San Juan River.
- 1450–1782 Haudenosaunee Powerful Iroquois confederacy of Five, later Six, Nations governed by the Great Law of Peace and clan-chosen sachems.
Norse and colonial ventures
1500 – 1776 5 entries- 1583–1707 English Colonial Empire England's chain of Atlantic seaboard colonies beginning with Jamestown, Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay under royal charters.
- 1534–1763 New France France's vast, thinly populated North American empire founded by Samuel de Champlain and sustained chiefly by the fur trade.
- 1638–1655 New Sweden Short-lived Swedish colony on the Delaware River founded by Peter Minuit, later seized by the neighboring Dutch of New Netherland.
- 1721–present Greenland Danish colonial territory founded around a missionary's trading post, later becoming an integral part of the Kingdom of Denmark.
- 1776–present United States of America Federal republic born of the Declaration of Independence from Britain, expanding westward under Manifest Destiny.
Independence and the new republics
1776 – 1840 7 entries- 1777–1791 Vermont Republic Unrecognized mountain republic born of a land dispute between New York and New Hampshire settlers, led by Ethan Allen's militia.
- 1800–1803/1804 French Louisiana Brief return of the vast Louisiana Territory to French control under Napoleon, sold to the United States before resettlement.
- 1804–1814 First French colonial empire France's residual Western Hemisphere holdings after the Louisiana Purchase, reduced to Caribbean islands and fishing outposts.
- 1821–1823 First Mexican Empire Short-lived monarchy following Mexican independence under Emperor Agustin de Iturbide, stretching briefly toward Panama.
- 1824–1835/1864 Federal Republic of Mexico First Mexican Republic under a federal constitution modeled on the United States, destabilized by Federalist-Centralist strife.
- 1836–1845 Republic of Texas Independent Texan republic born of revolt against Santa Anna's Mexico, secured after the Alamo's fall and victory at San Jacinto.
- 1840 Republic of the Rio Grande Ephemeral separatist republic proclaimed by Federalist rebels in northern Mexico's borderlands, with Laredo as its capital.
Breakaway states and civil war
1840 – 1900 3 entries- 1846 California Republic Fleeting settler republic of the Bear Flag Revolt in Mexican Alta California, absorbed within weeks by the United States.
- 1853–1854 Republic of Baja California Fraudulent filibuster state carved from Mexican Baja California by the adventurer William Walker before its swift collapse.
- 1861–1865 Confederate States of America Breakaway republic of eleven seceding slave states under Jefferson Davis, founded on white supremacy and provoking civil war.
The modern states
1900 – today 3 entries- 1910–1911 Maderistas Followers of Francisco Madero whose revolt toppled the long dictatorship of Porfirio Diaz and launched the Mexican Revolution.
- 1867–present Canada Self-governing dominion formed by Confederation under Sir John A. Macdonald, bound by the transcontinental Pacific Railway.
- 1973–present The Bahamas Atlantic archipelago of some seven hundred islands, a former British colony independent under Sir Lynden Pindling's party.
Common questions
- How many North American states are in this glossary?
- 22 — every North American territory the atlas draws, from Chaco regional system (850–1150) to the states on the map today. Each entry lists its dates, its peak extent and the sources it was written from.
- Which is the oldest North American state on the map?
- Chaco regional system, 850–1150 — the first territory the atlas draws in North America. The most recent to appear is the The Bahamas (1973–present).
- Which North American state covered the most ground?
- Of the territories mapped here, United States of America reached the largest area — about 12.4M km² at its peak, as drawn by the border data.