U.S. History Unit 2: Westward Expansion and American Imperialism

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering U.S. westward expansion, the displacement of Native nations, the Texas Revolution, and American overseas imperialism from Unit 2.

Louisiana Purchase

A major land acquisition that had huge geographical significance by focusing the United States on western expansion.

Corps of Discovery

An expedition with the primary goals of discovering a water route across the continent to the Pacific Ocean and becoming familiar with Native nations.

Sacagawea

A Shoshone woman who served as a translator for the Corps of Discovery to facilitate meetings between the expedition and Native tribes.

Manifest Destiny

The belief that God had given Americans the right to western lands and intended for the United States to extend across North America.

"Fifty-Four Forty or Fight"

A campaign slogan used by James K. Polk referencing a line of latitude to support territorial expansion.

California Gold Rush

An event that triggered massive western migration to California by prospectors known as "forty-niners."

Major Impacts of Westward Expansion

The economic growth of the nation, a large population shift to the West, and the decline of Native culture.

Homestead Act

Legislation that granted $160$ acres of land to any settlers willing to farm and settle on the Great Plains.

Monroe Doctrine

A foreign policy declaration stating that European nations must stay out of the Western Hemisphere and that challenges to independent nations in the Americas would be viewed as a threat to the U.S.

Indian Removal Act

A policy that allowed the federal government to forcibly relocate Native Americans off their ancestral lands and move them west.

Andrew Jackson's Removal Policy

The presidential stance that breaking treaties and forcibly removing Native Americans westward was a generous policy.

Battle of Little Bighorn

A battle in which the U.S. Army was defeated by Native American warriors, though the Native tribes were eventually forced onto reservations.

Battle of Wounded Knee

A massacre carried out by the U.S. military that marked the end of traditional Native American life on the Great Plains.

Destruction of the American Bison

The widespread slaughter of bison that caused the collapse of Native traditions and economies, forcing tribes to submit to the federal reservation policy.

Native American Concept of Land

The view that land is sacred, cannot be owned by humans because humans belong to it, and must be lived on in harmony.

Empresarios

Real estate agents granted land by Mexico to attract American settlers to Texas with cheap land and $10$ years free of taxes.

Mexican Settlement Requirements (Early 1800s)

Mexican policies requiring settlers in Texas to convert to Catholicism, pay taxes, adopt Mexican customs, and not hold enslaved people; noncompliance led Mexico to close its borders.

Battle of the Alamo

A siege in which Texan defenders were defeated and executed by General Santa Anna's army, dramatically intensifying the Texas War for Independence.

Rio Grande

The river that Mexico accepted as the southern border of Texas following military conflict with the United States.

Annexation of Texas

The formal admission of Texas into the United States voted for by Texans, which contributed to the spread of slavery into the American West and advanced Manifest Destiny.

Yellow Journalism

Sensationalized and exaggerated reporting style that bordered on being false, and was sometimes completely fabricated.

USS Maine Explosion

The explosion of an American naval ship in Havana Harbor that served as the catalyst for the United States going to war with Spain.

Effects of the Spanish-American War

Outcomes that expanded American influence far beyond its borders, established U.S. colonies in the Pacific, and forced Cuba to amend its constitution.

Annexation of Hawaii

The acquisition of the Hawaiian Islands driven by the economic and political influence of American sugarcane planters.

Annexation of Alaska

A territorial addition that significantly increased the geographic size of the United States and provided valuable natural resources including timber, gold, and oil.

"Speak Softly and Carry a Big Stick"

Theodore Roosevelt's foreign policy philosophy advising the U.S. not to act as an aggressor, but to be fully prepared to back up its diplomacy with military might.

Modern Navy

The branch of the armed forces that American foreign policy dictated a nation must maintain in order to be recognized as a true world power.

Roosevelt Corollary

An addition to the Monroe Doctrine asserting that the United States had the right to intervene in Latin American affairs to prevent economic instability.

Great White Fleet

A group of modern U.S. battleships sent on a global tour by Theodore Roosevelt to showcase American naval power.

Philippines

The westernmost Pacific territory acquired by the United States following the conclusion of the Spanish-American War.

Gast's "American Progress"

An allegorical painting referencing Manifest Destiny, the Trail of Tears, and Lewis and Clark; its lighting illustrates the artist's belief in European cultural superiority as Native Americans are pushed further west.