BY RUFUS

Today, we mainly take it for granted that the USA is a global superpower with its long reaching influence, powerful armed forces and Blue Water Navy (a Navy which patrols outside a nation’s territorial waters.) But why is it a superpower? How did it expand so quickly from its original 13 colonies? A key answer is down to geography.

After independence, the United States as we know it expanded drastically from the original 13 colonies of New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia.

Apart from the areas gained from the Mexican-American war of 1846 – 1848, almost all territory was gained by various purchases including the Louisiana purchase of 1803, the Adams-Onis Treaty of 1819 and the purchase of Alaska in 1867. Ultimately, this meant that America bought most of its current territory including California, Nevada, Utah, New Mexico, most of Arizona and parts of Wyoming, Colorado and Kansas.

By 1900, America’s territory looked roughly the same as it does today. It has a lot of assets which help it to be a superpower. It has gold which enabled the USA to buy its way into the game as a world power. It has natural deep harbours in the Atlantic and Pacific as well as massive quantities of oil and natural gas. It also has a very large land mass to fall back on in the event of an attack.

Some political experts think that by 2050 China will overtake the USA as the main global superpower. China is growing rapidly and is building its own Blue Water Navy. But the Chinese economy is behind the USA’s so it is unlikely to happen that soon.