U.S History Chapter 16

Tariff of 1842

Protective measure passed by Congressional Whigs, raising tariffs to pre–compromise tariff of 1833 rates.

Caroline

Diplomatic row between the United States and Britain. Developed after British troops set fire to an American steamer carrying supplies across the Niagara River to Canadian insurgents, during Canada’s short-lived insurrection.

Creole

American ship captured by a group of rebelling Virginia slaves. The slaves successfully sought asylum in the Bahamas, raising fears among southern planters that the British West Indies would become a safe haven for runaway slaves.

Aroostook War

Series of clashes between American and Canadian lumberjacks in the disputed territory of northern Maine, resolved when a permanent boundary was agreed upon in 1842.

Manifest Destiny

Belief that the United States was destined by God to spread its “empire of liberty” across North America. Served as a justification for mid-19th Century expansionism.

Fifty-four forty or fight

Slogan adopted by mid-nineteenth-century expansionists who advocated the occupation of Oregon Territory, jointly held by Britain and the United States. Though President Polk had pledged to seize all of Oregon, to 54° 40’, he settled on the forty-ninth parallel as a compromise with the British.

Liberal Party

Antislavery party that ran candidates in the 1840 and 1844 elections before merging with the Free Soil party. Supporters sought the eventual abolition of slavery, but in the short term hoped to halt the expansion of slavery into the territories and abolish the domestic slave trade.

Walker Tariff

Revenue-enhancing measure that lowered tariffs from 1842 levels, thereby fueling trade and increasing Treasury receipts.

Spot Resolutions

Measures introduced by Illinois congressman Abraham Lincoln, questioning President James K. Polk’s justification for war with Mexico. Lincoln requested that Polk clarify precisely where Mexican forces had attacked American troops.

California Bear Flag Republic

Short-lived California republic, established by local American settlers who revolted against Mexico. Once news of the war with Mexico reached the Americans, they abandoned the Republic in favor of joining the United States.

Battle of Buena Vista

Key American victory against Mexican forces in the Mexican War. Elevated General Zachary Taylor to national prominence and helped secure his success in the 1848 presidential election.

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

This ended the war with Mexico. Mexico agreed to cede territory reaching northwest from Texas to Oregon in exchange for $18.25 million in cash and assumed debts.

Conscience Whigs

Opposed slavery on moral grounds. They sought to prevent the annexation of Texas as a slave state, fearing that the new slave territory would only serve to buttress the southern “slave power.”

Wilmot Proviso

Amendment that sought to prohibit slavery from territories acquired from Mexico. Introduced by Pennsylvania congressman David Wilmot, the failed amendment ratcheted up tensions between North and South over the issue of slavery.

John Tyler

10th president of the United States. A Whig in name only, he opposed central tenets of the Whig platform, including tariffs, internal improvements, and a national bank.

James Polk

11th president of the United States. A North Carolina Democrat, largely unknown on the national stage, Polk campaigned on a platform of American expansion, advocating the annexation of Texas and the "reoccupation" of Oregon. As president, he provoked war with Mexico, which added vast tracts of land to the United States but led to a bitter sectional conflict over the expansion of slavery into newly acquired territories.

Stephen Kearny

American officer during the Mexican War who led a detachment of troops into New Mexico and captured Santa Fe.

John Fremont

Explorer who helped overthrow the Mexican government in California after the outbreak of war with Mexico. He later ran for president as the Republican nominee in 1856 but lost the election to Democratic candidate James Buchanan.

Winfield Scott

Military officer and presidential candidate who made a name for himself as a hero of the War of 1812. During the war with Mexico, he led the American campaign against Mexico City, overcoming tremendous handicaps to lead his men to victory. He later made an unsuccessful bid for the presidency in 1852 as the Whig candidate.

Nicholas Trist

American diplomat who negotiated the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848, which ended the Mexican War and through which the United States acquired a vast amount of territory from Mexico.

David Wilmot

Pennsylvania congressman best known for his "Wilmot Proviso," a failed amendment that would have prohibited slavery from any of the territories acquired from Mexico. He later went on to help organize the Free Soil and Republican parties, supporting Abraham Lincoln in 1860.