1763: Treaty of Paris ends French and Indian War (France yields lands east of Miss. River to Britain, west of Miss. River to Spain)

1778: Treaty of Alliance with France (France to fight until U.S. independence achieved)

1783: Treaty of Paris-Great Britain recognized American independence and control over western lands to the Miss. River

1794: Treaty of Greenville ends Indian War with Miami Confederation (Ohio Valley region ceded by Indians)

1795: Jay’s Treaty required Great Britain to remove troops from northwestern frontier

1795: Pinckney’s Treaty with Spain opened mouth of Mississippi River to U.S. navigation.

1803: Louisiana Purchase removed foreign control of Mississippi’s mouth and doubled U.S. territory.

1819: Adams-Onis Treaty with Spain, transferring Florida, extended the U.S. to present boundaries in southeast.

1823: Monroe Doctrine established U.S. policy of opposing European intervention or new colonization in Western Hemisphere.

1842: Webster-Ashburton Treaty with Great Britain settles Maine boundary and boundary from Lake Superior to Lake of the Woods

1846: Oregon Treaty with Great Britain divides Oregon at 49th parallel (present boundary)

1848: Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo, ending 1846-48 war with Mexico, confirmed U.S. claim to Texas and completed U.S. expansion to Pacific

1867: Alaska purchase ended Russian territorial presence and completed U.S. expansion on North American mainland

1868: Treaty of Fort Laramie ends Red Cloud’s War, whereby U.S. guarantees Black Hills and surrounding area to the Lakota (Sioux)

1898: Treaty of Paris, at end of Spanish-American War, transferred to the United States Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines, expanding U.S. power into the Pacific

1921-22: Five-Power Treaty limits battleship construction; Nine-Power Treaty affirms Open Door

1928: Kellogg-Briand Peace Pact renounces war as instrument of foreign policy

1941: U.S. declares war on Japan, Germany, and Italy

1945: U.S. and 50 other countries founded the United Nations

1947: Truman Doctrine asserted U.S. policy of containing Soviet expansion through economic and military aid to threatened countries

1947: Marshall Plan to provide funds for economic development of Europe and to contain Communist influence

1948: Ninth International Conference of American States created the Organization of American States (OAS) to intensify U.S. and Latin American collaboration in all fields

1949: NATO, first U.S. alliance concluded in peacetime, provided integrated force for defense of Western Europe and North America

1963: Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, first major-power agreement regulating atomic weapons testing, banned explosions in the atmosphere, in outer space and under water

1967: Nonproliferation Treaty, now signed by 110 governments, banned the spread of atomic weapons

1972: Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT) agreements with U.S.S.R. prescribed mutual limitations on defensive and offensive weapons and established SALT as a continuing process

1972: President Nixon’s visit to China represents important step in the process of normalizing relations with the People’s Republic of China

1979: U.S. established diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China ending 30 years of non-recognition

1979: Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty (Camp David Accords) ended 30 years of conflict between the two countries and provided possible framework for comprehensive peace in the Middle East (Carter wins Nobel Peace Prize)

1986: The U.S. Congress implemented strong economic sanctions against South Africa, which helped to bring an end to apartheid in 1991

1989-1991: The Cold War ended when communist regimes collapsed across Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union disintegrated

1990-1991: In response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, the United States, after United Nations approval, ejected Iraq from Kuwait through Operation Desert Storm

1992: Representatives of more than 175 nations, including the United States, met at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, which produced a treaty on climate change and was the largest international meeting on the environment ever convened

1994: The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) between the United States, Canada, and Mexico took effect

1995: The United States joined another structure that promoted global free trade, the World Trade Organization

1995: The General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina ended the Bosnian civil war by providing for NATO troops to serve as peacekeepers.

2003: The United States led a coalition to depose the regime of Saddam Hussein.