Studied by 17 people
Stephen Austin
The “father of Texas”
Promoted American immigration into Texas via land grants and contracts he had w/ Mexico (they wanted to populate empy land)
Wanted to make Tex a separate state and was arrested by Mexican Congress for suggesting this w/o their approval
Secretary of State for Sam Houston (pres of Republic of Texas (aka Lone Star republic)
General Santa Anna
Dictator who seized power during Mexico’s uprising against Spain in 1833
leader of Mexico in Mexican War
Kind of an L leader overall? Lost Tex, Cali, and a lot of the American West to the US.
Alamo and Goliad
Alamo
Remember the Alamo
Santa Anna and his troops led multiple assaults on Texans in a San Antonio mission; they “fought to the death” and it became a battle cry.
Goliad
March 27, 1836
overshadowed by the fall of the Alamo, the Goliad Massacre claimed the lives of twice as many Texas rebels
both garnered support for the cause against Mexico
Battle of San Jacinto
Major Santa Anna L
He lost the battle and got captured (smh)
Sam Houston
American lawyer and politician
Leader in the Texas Revolution
First and only president of the Republic of Texas (Lone Star Republic)
Instrmental in the annexation of Texas as a state in 1845
Manifest destiny
It was a God given right and duty for American citizens to expand their country from sea to sea
Oregon Boundary Dispute
US and Brit were beefin over how much of Oregon they got
Expansionists were pushing for Polk to take all of Oregon Country (54’40 or fight)
Buchanan-Pakenham treaty extended American territory in Oregon, up to the 49th parallel. ‘Twas satisfactory to all but the most extreme expansionists
Stephen Austin
The “father of Texas”
Promoted American immigration into Texas via land grants and contracts he had w/ Mexico (they wanted to populate empy land)
Wanted to make Tex a separate state and was arrested by Mexican Congress for suggesting this w/o their approval
Secretary of State for Sam Houston (pres of Republic of Texas (aka Lone Star republic)
James K. Polk
“Dark horse” candidate in the Election of 1844
basically he wasn’t the favorite to win
Clay was salty af that he lost to a comparative newbie in the political space
Promoted expansionism; wanted annexation of Texas and more Oregon and so he got a lot of Southern support
Henry Clay
The Great Compromiser
Ran for president 3 times and failed
Speaker of the House then Secretary of State under JQA (corrupt bargain!)
American system dude
Annexation of Texas
Was a hot topic; no one really wanted to touch it b/c it was divisive btwn North and South
North didn’t want it b/c they thought it’d promote slavery and disturb the Union’s balance of slave vs free states
South wanted it for that reason; more slave state power
Oregon Treaty of 1846
Ended US & Brit joint occupancy of Oregon territory
Divvied it up along the 49th parallel
Solved the Oregon Crisis for all but the most rabid expansionists
Wilmot Proviso
by David Wilmot, 1846, UNsuccessful
proposed that the US Congress ban slavery in territory acquired from Mexico in the Mexican–American War
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
Treaty that ended the Mexican War
Santa Anna was given $15million for CA area, Texas, and New Mexico
Mexico ended up “selling” more than half of its land to the US, and in doing so doubled the size of the US
Zachary Taylor
12th president, pres from 1849-1850 when he died of illness
Was a general under Polk in the Mexican War, he and his men were the first to keep poking and poking until they got poked back.
Gold Rush
A rush for gold
1848–1855, James W. Marshall found gold at Sutter’s Mill
brought approximately 300K ppl to CA
John C. Calhoun
South Carolina governor
Influential leader of slave state rights and sought to protect the rights of White Southerners
Stephen A. Douglas
Former Illinois senator that tried ran as one of the two nominees from the Dem party
Lost to Abe Lincoln
Supported popular sovereignty, this lost him support from Republicans who favored Lincoln’s stance that it defied Congress’s responsibility to make national decisions
popular sovereignty
The idea that territories could determine their own stance on slavery based on the votes of their citizens
T’was a short term solution for sectional divides
Highly controversial and became a part of the central debate btwn Lincoln and Douglas.
Compromise of 1850
CA came in as a free state
Texas & US border established
territorial govt for Utah and New Mexico
Promoted popular sovereignty,
amended fugitive slave act (1850) so that slaves in free states had to be returned to their owners.
Fugitive Slave Act of 1850
Slaves had to be returned to their owners even if they were found in a free state.
Harriet Beecher Stowe and Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1852)
a popular novel that helped to spread the harsh and unjust reality of slavery
The book angered the south and inspired more abolitionism from the north.
Franklin Pierce
14th pres of the US, elected in 1852, democratic
Supporter of Compromise of 1850 and Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 Amendment
Signed the Gadsden Purchase of land from Mexico
Tried to buy Cuba and failed
pro slavery
Gadsden Purchase
1853 treaty in which the United States bought from Mexico parts of what is now southern Arizona and southern New Mexico.
provided the land necessary for a southern transcontinental railroad
attempted to resolve conflicts that lingered after the Mexican-American War
Ostend Manifesto
US diplomats said US should purchase Spain
If purchase not possible, then seize by force
Stemmed from height of expansionism and fear of slave revolt as was the case in Haiti
