APUSH Period 4/5 Unit F

Manifest Destiny

The belief that it was America's right and destiny to expand across the continent, first defined by John L. O’Sullivan.

Missouri Compromise

The agreement that set the stage for Manifest Destiny's expansion across the continent.

Texas

The first area where American settlers moved outside the Missouri Compromise, invited by Mexico to populate its northern province.

Stephen Austin

Led the first group of American settlers into Texas in 1823.

Alamo

A mission in San Antonio where Texan defenders fought against Mexican forces, becoming a symbol of the Texas independence movement.

Sam Houston

Commander of the Texan revolutionary army who rallied support for independence with the cry, “Remember the Alamo!”

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

The 1848 treaty that ended the Mexican-American War, recognizing the Rio Grande as Texas's southern boundary and ceding California and New Mexico to the U.S.

Wilmot Proviso

A proposed bill that aimed to ban slavery in any territory acquired from Mexico, highlighting the slavery debate.

Popular Sovereignty

The principle that settlers in a territory should decide whether it would be slave or free, introduced by Louis Cass.

Free Soil Party

A political party that opposed have black people at all in the west

Compromise of 1850

A series of legislative measures aimed at resolving the tensions between slave and free states, including admitting California as a free state.

Gadsden Purchase

The acquisition of land from Mexico in 1853 to facilitate a southern railroad, part of President Pierce's expansionist policies.

Seward's Folly

The purchase of Alaska from Russia in 1867, initially criticized but later recognized as a significant expansionist achievement.

Fugitive Slave Act

laws passed by Congress in 1850 aimed at helping southern slaveholders recapture runaway slaves who had escaped to northern states.

One of the key reasons for the failure of the compromise of 1850 was…

the admission of more free states without corresponding slave states. This angered the South, which felt that its rights and interests were being disregarded.

The Battle of Coleto

fought in March 1836 during the Texas Revolution, was a confrontation between Texian rebels and Mexican forces. The Texians were surrounded and forced to surrender, leading to the infamous Goliad Massacre.

The Battle of San Jacinto

the decisive battle in 1836 where Texan forces under Sam Houston defeated Mexican troops, leading directly to Texan independence.

Goliad Campaign

series of 19th-century military events that took place in Texas in 1836, during the Texas Revolution. It ended with the infamous Goliad Massacre.

Goliad Massacre

event that occurred during the Texas Revolution in 1836, following the Battle of Coleto Creek. Over 400 Texian soldiers were executed by Mexican forces under orders from General Santa Anna.

President Polk

11th president of United States from 1845-1849. He is known for his policy of westward expansion which led to U.S acquiring California and much territory in Southwest after winning Mexican-American war.

Texas War for Independence

fought from October 2nd,1835 to April 21st ,1836 between Mexico and rebellious colonists from the U.S living in Texas who wanted independence.

main causes for westward expansion

Americans wanted large tracts of land, fear of British taking lands, wanted trade ports with Asia, “spreading of freedom”

main reason congress rejected the idea of annexation of Texas

the fear of several more slave states (under Van Buren administration)

Pre-Emptioned Act of 1841

guaranteed the rights of settlers to purchase public Western lands that they “squatted” on and improved

Webster-Ashburton Treaty

ease tensions between US and Britain, the two split disputed land in Maine and agreed to patrol Atlantic for illegal slave trade

2 pressing issues of the election of 1844

annexation of Texas, Oregon territory

John Slidell

Sent to Mexico to deal with Rio Grande and Nueces River border dispute

what were the years of the Mexican-American war?

1846-1848

Ostend Manifesto

Document where America was gonna purchase Cuba from Spain before the news was leaked

filibuster

freelance adventurer who conducted armed expeditions into Latin America for conquest