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The Expansionist Party of the United States presents a

Virtual
National Expansion
Hall of Fame / Hall of Shame

All four Presidents depicted on Mount Rushmore were Expansionists.

In 1783, the new United States of America comprised thirteen states east of the Mississippi River, south of Canada, and north of The Floridas (East Florida and West Florida). Today, the U.S. comprises fifty states and five territories, spans the entire breadth of North America, and spills over onto the northwest corner of the American continent, southeastward into the Caribbean, and thousands of miles into Oceania. This didn't just happen.

A series of great men — and perhaps some great women whose names are not yet known in this connection — caused the United States to expand. They persuaded, argued, cajoled — and even went to war to get their way. Because of them, Americans today are secure within a vast and prosperous country, able to defend themselves and champion their values all over this planet. Had we not expanded in the Nineteenth Century, we might not have overcome the grave challenges of the Twentieth Century, such as the coordinated war efforts of the Axis alliance of Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, and militarist Japan that sought to conquer the world in the 1930s and '40s, and the worldwide Communist revolution pursued from 1917-1991. If we do not continue to expand, we or our children may find that we cannot survive the unforeseeable challenges of the next century.

To express appreciation to the great individuals who had the foresight and perseverance to create a huge and powerful country; to dramatize the story of U.S. national expansion to date; and to inspire similar exertions into the future, the Expansionist Party hereby establishes a "virtual" National Expansion Hall of Fame. The Hall is "virtual" because it presently exists only as an Internet site. Perhaps someday we will have the wherewithal to erect a physical Hall of Fame in the place where the principle of admitting new states on a basis with old was first established by the Continental Congress in the Northwest Ordinance of 1787: New York City.

Additions to this page will be made as worthy persons come to our attention. Readers may nominate worthies for the Hall of Fame, Hall of Shame, and "Expansionist of the Year". See "Essay Contests and Nominations", below.

[Go to the top of this page.] [Hall of Fame.] [Hall of Shame.] [Essay Contests and Nominations.] [Main Expansionist Party homepage.]