Stratus clouds are low clouds with a uniform layered base that are formed by rising thermals.
Having established its capital at Damascus, they then spread westwards down the Levant and across the North African coast until they crossed over into Spain in 711. In the East they got as far as the Indus Valley and border with China
Honestly, I think the United States would eventually look the same as it does now. If they had not bought the land, they likely would have gone to war for it. It is very unlikely that they would have let it stay there as part of France or an independent country, both because of Manifest Destiny and for national security.
Who the person is and what political party they are a part of