Chapter 11 Trails West, Mexican War, CA Gold Rush

James K. Polk

11th President

Campaign slogan was "54o 40'' or fight!"

Promised Americans that if they voted for me as their democratic candidate for president that I would expand America from coast to coast.

Levi Strauss

Immigrant from Germany

Produced the first denim pants in San Francisco during the California Gold Rush.

Davy Crockett

Famous frontiersman

Left Tennessee to help Texas fight Mexico for independence.

Died at the Alamo.

General Zachary Taylor

Nicknamed "Old Rough and Ready"

Defended the Texas border along the Rio Grande River

Captured northern Mexico

12th President of the United States.

General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna

Dictator of Mexico

Led the attack on The Alamo

Captured by Sam Houston.

Brigham Young

A Mormon leader that led his followers to Salt Lake City, Utah in 1846.

Stephen Austin

"Father of Texas"

Capital of Texas is named for him

Empresario land agent that led the first 300 families from the United States to Texas

Sam Houston

Commander of the Texas army

Defeated Santa Anna at the battle of San Jacinto

First and only president of Texas

General Stephen Kearny

Took Santa Fe, NM without a fight

Claimed the entire providence of NM for the U.S.

Marched west to California and seized CA from the Mexicans

Joseph Smith

Founded Mormonism

Killed in Nauvoo, IL

General Winfield Scott

Nicknamed "Old Fuss and Feathers

Led the U.S. forces to Mexico City during the Mexican War.

He took the capital city and ended the Mexican war.

John C. Fremont

Former US Army captain

Led the Californians in the Bear Flag Revolt.

William Travis

Army leader at the Battle of the Alamo

Henry Clay

Ran against James Polk in the 1844 election and was defeated.

Popular Whig senator and The Great Compromiser from Kentucky

John Sutter

Swiss immigrant and owner of a saw mill where gold was discovered in 1849 starting the California Gold Rush

Owned a fort in California near San Francisco

Manifest Destiny

A notion that it was God's will for the United States to rule the continent, from the Atlantic to the Pacific.

Empresarios

Persons hired by the Mexican government to recruit people to settle Texas.

Cede

(v.) to give up, surrender; to hand over to another

California

Another name for The Bear Flag Republic

Gadsden

A strip of land in modern-day Arizona and New Mexico

Purchased from Mexico to build a railroad in 1853 from Texas to California

Mormons

Members of a persecuted religion also called The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Polygamy

Having more than one spouse

Tejanos

Spanish settlers who lived in what is now Texas

Donner Party

California settlers and pioneers who were snow bound in the Sierra Nevada Mountains

Land Speculators

People who bought up large areas of land in the hope of selling it later for a profit

Oregon Trail

Trail from independence Missouri to Fort Vancouver, Oregon used by many pioneers during the 1840s

Annex

To add on

Texas

The Lone Star State/Republic

49ers

People who rushed to california in 1849 for gold.

Mountain Men

American adventurers and fur trappers who spent most of their time in the Rocky Mountains

People like John Jacob Aster, Jedediah Smith, Jim Beckwourth, and William Becknell

49 degrees north latitude

Border between Canada and the US

British treaty line

Mexican Cession

The region of the present day southwestern United States

Lands ceded to the U.S. by Mexico in 1848 under the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

Gold Rush of 1849

Mass migration to California following the discovery of gold near San Francisco

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

1848 treaty ending the Mexican-American War

The Alamo

A mission and fort in San Antonio, Texas,

Mexican forces massacred rebellious Texans in 1836

Texas Annexation

1845 TX was added as a U.S. state.

The U.S. Government believed that the annexation would lead to war with Mexico and the spread of slavery

Nueces River

River that Mexico claimed as the Texas-Mexico boundary

Crossed by Zachary Taylor's troops in 1846, starting the Mexican War

"American blood has been shed on American soil"

Famous line used by President Polk after the US invaded the disputed territory and was attacked by Mexico. These words were used as a way to encourage war.

Taylor / Scott / Kearny

Three U.S. generals sent to the 3 regions of Mexico to defeat Santa Anna's Mexican army

Causes of Mexican War

Boundary dispute, in which United States recognized the Rio Grande as the southern border of Texas, but Mexico argued that the traditional boundary was at the Nueces River farther north.

Texas winning its Independence from Mexico in 1836 and wanting to be annexed by the U.S.

The concept of manifest destiny caused many Americans to move into territories not owned by America.

The last straw was the American army occupying The Disputed Territory

Fort Sutter / San Francisco, CA

Location of The CA gold rush

Salt Lake City, Utah

Where the Mormons and Brigham young eventually settled.

Sierra Nevada Mts.

A mountain chain in eastern California.

Mormon Trail

1,300-mile-long route used by Mormons to travel west to Utah

Rio Grande River

Large river that forms a border between the US and Mexico

Independence, MO

Known as the "Queen City of the Trails"

Point of departure for the California, Oregon, and Santa Fe Trails.

The Alamo in San Antonio

186 Texans hold in an old mission turned fort. Travis, Bowie, and Crockett are all killed.

Battle of San Jacinto

(1836) Final battle of the Texas Revolution

Texans captured Santa Anna and forced him to sign a treaty giving Texas its independence

Oregon Trail

2000 mile trail from Independence, Missouri to Oregon used by thousands of pioneers during the 1840s

Santa Fe Trail

Trail going from Independence, Missouri to Santa Fe, New Mexico