DCUSH Week 13

Overland Trails

Westward trail route of wagon trains bearing settlers; collective experience; despite contradicting stories, Indian attacks were extremely rare & more helpful than harmful

Plains Indians

Diverse group of Indians that posed a serious threat to western settlers because they possessed rifles and horses

Oregon Fever (1842)

Many Eastern and Midwestern farmers and city dwellers were dissatisfied with their lives and began moving up the Oregon trail to the Willamette Valley. This free land was widely publicized.

Rancheros

Owners of ranches

Tyler Presidency

This presidency led to the worst economic depression in the history of the young nation - bank failures mounted, unemployment soared,

Webster-Ashburton Treaty (1842)

Established Maine's northern border and the boundaries of the Great Lake states

James K. Polk

President in March 1845, wanted to settle oregon boundary dispute with britain, wanted to aquire California, wanted to incorperate Texas into union

Election of 1844

Main debate over Texas. Whigs nominate Henry Clay and democrats nominate James Polk. Polk says he will annex Texas and Oregon to make both sides happy. Polk was elected

Liberty Party

The party's main platform was bringing an end to slavery by political and legal means. The party was originally part of the American Anti-slavery however; they split because they believed there was a more practical way to end slavery than Garrison's moral crusade.

Oregon Treaty (1846)

Settled dispute of Oregon boundary dispute, stemming from the Treaty of 1818 in which both U.S. and British settlers were granted free navigation of the territory

Causes of the Mexican American War

1) US annexation of Texas 2)Manifest destiny 3) US wanted to buy land from Mexico, but they refused

Opposition to the Mexican American War

Southerners generally supported the war, and saw it as a way to extend slavery. Many Northerners opposed it as a war of aggression against Mexico plotted by Southerners eager to add new slave states to the Union. Many opposed war for territorial gain.

Henry David Thoreau

Transcendentalist; civil disobedience; gov. that violates individual morality has no legit authority

Annexation of California

Polk used the Mexican War to retrieve California, this ended the Missouri compromise because CA is on both sides of the line but was a free state

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

Treaty that ended the Mexican War, granting the U.S. control of Texas, New Mexico, and California in exchange for $15 million

Donner Party

California settlers and pioneers who were snow bound in Nevada, they resorted to cannibalism

Manifest Destiny

A notion held by nineteenth-century Americans that the United States was destined to rule the continent, from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Spread religion, enforced Spanish, and aimed to add more slave states

Empresarios

person who arranged for the settlement of land in Texas during the 1800s, they had cheap land as long as they obeyed mexican law and followed catholic religion

Stephen F. Austin

known as the Father of Texas, led the second and ultimately successful colonization of the region by bringing 300 families from the United States.

Texians

A Texan of American descent.

Slavery in Texas

outlawed by the Mexican constitution of 1824. this will cause a huge problem with texas settlers, most of whom own slaves

Causes of the Texas Revolution

Santa Anna's arrogant assumption of power and centralist dictatorship, Texan contempt for Mexican political and social systems

Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna

Mexican general who tried to crush the Texas revolt and who lost battles to Winfield Scott and Zachary Taylor in the Mexican War (1795-1876)

Sam Houston

United States politician and military leader who fought to gain independence for Texas from Mexico and to make it a part of the United States

Texas Revolution

War between Texas settlers and Mexico from 1835-1836 resulting in the formation of the Republic of Texas

Juan Seguin

Born in 1806. He was an outspoken champion of the Texans' demand for more self-government, and very critical of the dictatorial policies of President Santa Anna. On February 3, 1836, he was among the twenty-five men who accompanied Colonel William Travis into the Alamo. Then on the night of February 25, after the Alamo was surrounded, he was chosen to carry an urgent plea for reinforcements to the Texan commander at Gonzales.

Battle of San Jacinto (1836)

Final battle of the Texas Revolution; resulted in the defeat of the Mexican army and independence for Texas

Republic of Texas

Independent nation of Texas, which lasted from 1836 until 1848, when Texas was annexed to the United States

"Juan Crow"

The laws written to enforce discrimination against Hispanics were known as

Annexation of Texas

Texas decides to secede from Mexico and attempts to declare its independence which eventually leads to our adoption of the land as a state although it was feared that it would cause conflict with mexico leading to war. Southern states in support of this as Texas brought slaves with it meaning it would increase agricultural profits