5.2-5.4 APUSH Vocab

Manifest Destiny

The 19th-century belief that the United States had a divine mission to expand westward across North America, spreading democracy and civilization from the Atlantic to the Pacific.

Gold Rush

The mass migration to California following the discovery of gold at Sutter's Mill in 1848.

Oregon Territory

A region in the Pacific Northwest long claimed by both the U.S. and Britain.

James K. Polk

The 11th U.S. president (1845-1849) and a strong advocate of Manifest Destiny.

Texas

Formerly part of Mexico, Texas declared independence in 1836 and became the Republic of Texas.

Antonio López de Santa Anna

A Mexican general and political leader who fought against Texas independence and later against the United States in the Mexican-American War.

Webster-Ashburton Treaty (1842)

An agreement between the United States and Great Britain that settled border disputes between Maine and Canada.

Mexican-American War (1846-1848)

A conflict caused by the annexation of Texas and disputes over its southern border.

California

A Mexican territory captured by U.S. forces during the Mexican-American War.

Bear Flag Republic

A short-lived independent republic established by American settlers in California in 1846.

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848)

The treaty that ended the Mexican-American War.

Mexican Cession

The large area of land ceded by Mexico to the United States in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.

Wilmot Proviso (1846)

A proposed amendment by Congressman David Wilmot that aimed to ban slavery in any territory gained from Mexico.

What was the Kanagawa Treaty?

An agreement between the United States and Japan that opened two Japanese ports to American trade and guaranteed the safety of shipwrecked sailors.

Who was Matthew C. Perry?

A U.S. naval officer who led a fleet to Japan in 1853-1854 to secure trade relations and resulted in the Kanagawa Treaty.

Ostend Manifesto

A secret plan by Southern expansionists to pressure Spain into selling Cuba, or to take it by force, in order to create a new slave state. The plan was exposed and rejected by the public.

Walker Expedition

An effort by adventurer William Walker to take over Central American countries like Nicaragua in the 1850s to create new slave-holding territories. The missions ultimately failed.

Gadsden Purchase

The U.S. bought a strip of land in what is now Arizona and New Mexico from Mexico for $10 million in 1853. This was done mainly to build a southern railroad, but it was seen by some as another attempt to expand Southern influence.

Free-Soil Movement

A political movement that opposed the expansion of slavery into new territories. Its goal was to keep the West open for white laborers, not necessarily to abolish slavery where it already existed.

Barnburners

An anti-slavery group within the Democratic Party in New York. They were so committed to their cause that they were willing to 'burn down the barn' (destroy their party) to stop the spread of slavery.

Popular Sovereignty

The idea that the people living in a territory should be able to vote and decide whether their territory will allow slavery. This led to conflict when pro-slavery and anti-slavery settlers rushed into territories like Kansas to sway the vote.

Henry Clay

A U.S. statesman and senator from Kentucky known as the 'Great Compromiser.' He was the key figure behind both the Compromise of 1820 and the Compromise of 1850, both of which tried to solve the conflicts over slavery.

Compromise of 1850

A series of laws intended to calm the slavery crisis. It admitted California as a free state, used popular sovereignty to decide slavery in Utah and New Mexico, but also enacted a stricter Fugitive Slave Act that angered the North.