In the Treaty of Paris, the British Crown formally recognized American independence and ceded most of its territory east of the Mississippi River to the United States, doubling the size of the new nation and paving the way for westward expansion.
Yes i'd say so, at least that's what history has taught us. The largest empires were the ones who are known today as being "world powers" because since a lot of land belonged to them they held most of the power. A great example of this is the Roman Empire
Cotton became the dominant crop after 1793, due to the invention and introduction of the cotton gin by Eli Whitney, which made mass production of cotton possible.
