APUSH Chapter 17 + 18: Mexican-American War + Sectionalism

Manifest Destiny

Belief in U.S. expansion across North America.

Tariff of 1842

Tax aimed to protect American industry and raise revenue.

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

1848 agreement ending Mexican-American War, Mexican cession ceded territories in the modern-day western U.S.

Wilmot Proviso

Proposal to ban slavery in territories from Mexico.

Bear Flag Republic

Short-lived California republic established in 1846.

Lone Star Republic

Independent Texas Republic from 1836 until U.S. annexation.

Aroostook War

Non-violent conflict over Maine-New Brunswick boundary.

Zachary Taylor

the general who led the American troops as war broke out in 1846.

Stephen W. Kearney

the American general who in 1846 led 1,700 troops over the Santa Fe Trail from Fort Leavenworth to Santa Fe.

John C. Fremont

the American explorer and army captain who was already in California to help raise the banner of the California Republic when the Mexican War broke out in 1846.

Winfield Scott

the American general who led his forces from Vera Cruz to Mexico City in 1847.

John Slidell

the man sent to Mexico City in 1845 to offer $25 million for California and the territory to the east.

Slidell Mission

1845 attempt to purchase California, escalating tensions.

Spot resolutions

the legislation introduced by Abraham Lincoln in 1846 to determine exactly where American blood had been spilled on American soil.

Walker Tariff

the name for the Polk administration tariff that lowered rates from 32 to 25 percent and proved to be a good revenue producer.

54-40 or Fight

Slogan asserting U.S. claim to Oregon Territory.

Conscience Whigs

Anti-slavery faction within the Whig Party.

Dark Horse candidate

Unexpected presidential candidate, James K. Polk.

Nicholas Trist

the chief clerk of the state department sent by the U.S. to accompany General Scott to arrange for an armistice with Santa Anna in 1847.

Third War with England

Series of conflicts involving U.S. ships and Britain; was a war of words.

"His Accidency"

Nickname given to John Tyler in 1841 by his opponents when he assumed the presidency upon the death of William Henry Harrison

The "Mandate"

In politics, the belief that an official has been issued a clear charge by the electorate to pursue some particular policy goal

Oregon Country

the area in the early 1800s that extended from the southern tip of present-day Alaska to the northern edge of California; ceded by Britain

Creole

the British managed to upset Americans in 1841 when they offered asylum to 130 Virginia slaves who had rebelled and captured this American ship.

William Henry Harrison

the president of the U.S. who died after only four weeks in office.

Lord Ashburton

the man sent by Britain in 1842 to mediate the "Aroostook War."

Buena Vista

the battle won by the forces of Zachary Taylor in 1847 that made Taylor a "hero" and presidential timber.

James K. Polk

the Democrats' "Young Hickory" who defeated Henry Clay in the first presidential election to feature a "dark horse" candidate.

John Tyler

the pro-states' rights vice-president from Virginia who succeeded to the presidency after only four weeks in office.

David Wilmot

Congressman who proposed the amendment that would have outlawed slavery from Mexican territories

Liberty party

the splinter, anti-Texas party in New York State that hastened the annexation of Texas by helping to defeat Clay.

Caroline

the U.S. steamer sunk by the British in 1837 on the Niagara River.

Thomas Hart Benton

the four-time Missouri senator who was a strong supporter of Jackson's hard-money and anti-bank policies.

David Webster

President Harrison's secretary of state.

Santa Anna

the dethroned Mexican dictator who promised the U.S. to sell out his country if they helped get him back to Mexico in 1846.

Hudson's Bay Company

the British company that had a monopoly of the fur trade in the Oregon Country in the 1840s.

independent treasury

a major objective of the Polk administration was to restore this financial system that had been dropped by the Whigs in 1841.

Webster-Ashburton

the treaty of 1842 that settled the conflict arising from the British attempt to build a road from Halifax to Quebec.

Nueces

in 1845 before the Mexican War began, part of the dispute was whether the southern boundary of Texas was the Rio Grande or this other river.

Oregon Trail

the 2,000-mile covered wagon route usually used by people who wanted to settle in the Columbia River basin in the early 1800s.

Rio Grande

in 1845 the Texans believed their southern boundary was this river.

Maine

the British attempt in the late 1830s to build a road from Halifax to Quebec led to a U.S.-British dispute over this state boundary.

Mesabi

an unexpected bonus from the settlement of the "Aroostook War" was a boundary change that gave this Minnesota iron range to the U.S.

Henry Clay

the leader of the Senate and the leader of the Whig party under William Henry Harrison.

“Fiscal Corporation”

The name concealed that it was really a new national bank. Clay called it this because he knew Tyler did not want a bank. It was vetoed by President Tyler, who opposed the establishment of a national bank.

Popular sovereignty

The concept that a state's people should vote whether to be a slave state or free state.

‘Taylor Fever’

The Whigs nominated Zachary Taylor for President.

Free Soil Party

A political party formed in 1848 that opposed the expansion of slavery into the western territories of the United States, advocating for free land and free labor.

Sutter’s Mill

A site in California where gold was discovered in 1848, sparking the Gold Rush and significant westward migration.

Gold Rush

A mass migration of people to California in search of gold, beginning in 1848 and leading to rapid population growth and economic development in the region.

Underground Railroad

A network of secret routes and safe houses used by enslaved African Americans to escape to free states and Canada during the mid-19th century.

7th of March Speech

A speech delivered by Daniel Webster in 1850, advocating for the Compromise of 1850 and urging the North to support the Fugitive Slave Act.

William Seward

"Higher law" and natural rights, Opposed slavery expansion, Whig senator. "Irrepressible conflict" expansion of slavery between north and south

Compromise of 1850

A series of legislative measures designed to resolve disputes over slavery in territories acquired from the Mexican-American War, which included the admission of California as a free state and the implementation of the Fugitive Slave Act.

Fugitive Slave Law

A law that required the return of escaped slaves to their owners, part of the Compromise of 1850, which heightened tensions between the North and South.

Millard Fillmore

New Yorker who supported and signed the Compromise of 1850 after he suddenly became president that same year.

Ostend Manifesto

A document that proposed the U.S. acquisition of Cuba from Spain, reflecting the expansionist desires of the 1850s and the belief in Manifest Destiny.

Opium War

A conflict between Britain and China in the mid-19th century over trade, particularly concerning the opium trade, which resulted in significant concessions from China.

Treaty of Wanghia

The first formal treaty between the United States and China, signed in 1844, which established trade relations and protected American interests.

“Most favored nation” status

an agreement that ensured equal trading rights for the U.S. in China, allowing American merchants to benefit from the same privileges as other foreign powers.

“Extraterritoriality”

A legal practice allowing foreign nationals in China to be tried under their own country's laws rather than Chinese law, protecting them from local jurisdiction.

Matthew C. Perry

American naval commander who opened Japan to the West in 1854.

Treaty of Kanagawa

The first treaty between the United States and Japan, signed in 1854, which opened Japanese ports to American trade and established a framework for diplomatic relations.

Gadsden Purchase

A 1854 agreement in which the United States purchased land from Mexico, including parts of present-day Arizona and New Mexico, to facilitate a southern transcontinental railroad.

Stephen A. Douglas

Illinois politician who helped smooth over sectional conflict in 1850, but then reignited it in 1854.

Kansas-Nebraska Act

Legislation passed in 1854 that created the territories of Kansas and Nebraska, allowing settlers to determine if they would allow slavery within their borders through popular sovereignty.

Republican Party

A political party formed in the 1850s, opposing the expansion of slavery into the territories, and advocating for free soil and free labor.

James Gadsden

American minister to Mexico in the 1850;s who acquired land for the US that would enable the building of a southern transcontinental railroad.

slave

Texas was a ____ state. (free OR slave)

north

The _____ won in the Compromise of 1850.

above: free states, below: slave states

36,30 line (above: ?, below: ?)

Clayton-Bulwer Treaty

An 1850 agreement between the United States and Great Britain regarding the construction of a canal in Central America, stating that neither nation would have exclusive control over the canal.