45 - Canadian and American Expansion (abridged)

Durham Report

1839 report to British Parliament advising governmental reform in Canada including increased Canadian self-rule and the assimilation of French Canadian culture by English culture

Dominion of Canada

1867 organization of Quebec, Ontario, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick as a federated self-governing colony of the British empire

John A. Macdonald

first prime minister of Canada; served 19 years from 1867-1873 and 1878-1891; promoted the National Policy and ordered execution of Louis Riel for treason

National Policy

Canadian economic program supported by John A. Macdonald; supported high tariffs to protect manufacturing and reduce reliance on the U.S., built the Canadian Pacific Railway, and encouraged westward migration

Canadian Pacific Railway

transcontinental railroad built in the 1880s to connect Canada's east and west coasts; opened the Canadian Great Plains to European settlement

Louis Riel

founder of Manitoba and Métis leader; led two rebellions of French-speakers against the English-speaking Canadian government; hanged for treason in 1885; a martyred folk hero to French Canadians

Louisiana Purchase

vast United States territory between the Mississippi River and Rocky Mountains; purchased from France in 1803

Lewis and Clark expedition

1804-1805 American scientific exploration of the newly-acquired Louisiana Territory

Monroe Doctrine

1823 United States foreign policy declaration; stated that any further European attempt to colonize the Americas would be considered an unfriendly act by the U.S.; supported by Great Britain as a means of opening Latin American trade

Indian Removal Act of 1830

United States law requiring the forced relocation of eastern Native American tribes to reservations west of the Mississippi River in modern Oklahoma

Manifest Destiny

American belief that the United States was destined to rule the North American continent from the Atlantic coast to Pacific coast; led to claiming of Oregon Territory, annexation of Texas, and Mexican-American War

Oregon Trail

2,000-mile trail from Independence, Missouri to the Oregon Territory followed by settlers in the 1840s

Mexican-American War

1845 incorporation of the independent Republic of Texas into the United States as the 28th state; prompted the Mexican-American War

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

1848 agreement that ended the Mexican-American War; gave the United States control of Texas, California, Nevada, Utah, New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, and parts of Oklahoma, Kansas, and Wyoming; left legacy of deep distrust of the U.S. in Latin America

California gold rush

mass migration to northern California following the discovery of gold in 1848

Homestead Act

1862 American law that gave 160 acres of land to citizens willing to live on and cultivate it for five years; helped encourage European migration to the United States

Seward's Folly

1867 U.S. purchase of Alaska from Russia

Transcontinental Railroad

route from Omaha, Nebraska to San Francisco, California created by linking the Union Pacific and Central Pacific railroads; completed in 1869

Spanish-American War

1898 conflict between Spain and the United States; centered on Cuba and Puerto Rico; permitted American intervention in Caribbean, annexation of Puerto Rico and the Philippines

Emilio Aguinaldo

leader of the Filipino independence movement against Spain (1895-1898); proclaimed independence of the Philippines in 1899 after the Spanish-American War but his movement was crushed and he was captured by the United States Army in 1901

annexation of Hawaii

1898 American takeover of Hawaii five years after American sugar planter Sanford B. Dole overthrew Queen Lili'uokalani

Lili'uokalani

Hawaiian queen who opposed American annexation of Hawaii; wanted to keep the islands mainly native, reducing the power of merchants from foreign nations

Roosevelt Corollary

1904 extension of the Monroe Doctrine stating that the United States has the right to use military force to protect its economic interests in Latin America

Big Stick Diplomacy

gunboat-style U.S. foreign policy under Theodore Roosevelt (1901-1909); led to repeat American military interventions in Latin America, including support for a Panamanian rebellion against Colombia to secure land to build the Panama Canal

Panama Canal

artificial waterway through Central America connecting the Atlantic Ocean and Pacific Ocean; resulted from United States support for a Panamanian independence movement in return for exclusive right to dig across the Panama isthmus; completed 1914

Banana Wars

United States military interventions in Central America and the Caribbean between 1898 and 1934; largely driven by American commercial interests in fruit, tobacco, and sugar cane production