Manifest Destiny

Samuel F.B. Morse

• Instrumental to the Manifest Destiny→Invented electric telegraph & Morse code

• Ushered in a new era of technology

• United the growing nation through bridging vast distances

Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna

• Took over the Mexican government, declaring himself dictator

• Replaced as Mexico’s president

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

Treaty that officially ended the Mexican-American War

• Mexico was forced to sign after the capture of Santa Anna

Winfield Scott

American military general and commander & fought in the Mexican-American War

• Successful execution for the capture of Mexico City (1847)

Manifest destiny

• American belief that it was their God-given right to expand west

• Term coined by John O’Sullivan

• God-given right to own all the land from the Arctic to Latin America, from the Atlantic to the Pacific  

Battle of the Alamo (February 23 - March 6, 1836)

13 day siege during the Texas Revolution

• Took place in San Antonio, Texas

• Mexican Troops under Santa Anna destroyed the fort, killing nearly all Americans (& Tejanos) inside

Gadsden Purchase

An agreement between the U.S. and Mexico (signed by President Franklin Pierce)

• U.S. paid Mexico $10 million in exchange for a large sum of land that wasn’t for sale

• Gave U.S. parts of present-day Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, & California

• Natives were promised some freedoms

Zachary Taylor

• 12th U.S. President

• Ordered by Pres. James Polk to invade Mexico, crossing the Rio Grande

• Invades Mexico through Texas

Oregon Trail

• Crucial route for American expansion (Manifest Destiny)

• Dangerous terrain, diseases, & starvation

• Travelers were lured by the promise of fertile land, free land, economic opportunities, and a new beginning

• Went North

Sam Houston

• Leader of the Texas Revolution

• Secure independence through defeating & captured Santa Anna at the Battle of San Jacinto

• Served as president of the Republic of Texas

• Served as U.S. senator from Texas

Bear Flag Republic

Short-lived independent state declaration by revolting American settlers against Mexican rule that ceased to exist after U.S. military forces took control of California

Stephen Kearny

U.S. Army officer in the Mexican-American War

• Secured the American Southwest

• Successful, largely bloodless, march to capture Santa Fe, Mexico

• Established U.S. sovereignty over New Mexico and California

• Invades Mexico in South California

Santa Fe Trail

• Crucial route for American expansion (Manifest Destiny)

• Went South

• Used by traders, settlers, and the U.S. Army

• Acted as a major military route during the Mexican-American War & a path for settler moving west

Republic of Texas

Short-lived sovereign country in North America, now present day Texas (& portions of several other U.S. states)

• Born after the defeat of Santa Anna at the Battle of San Jacinto

Forty Niners

Prospectors in the California Gold Rush

Prospector→a person who searches for mineral deposits, especially by drilling and excavation

Land Grant

providing free land and infrastructure to settlers and corporations

• Driven by Manifest Destiny idealogies

• Homestead Act (1862)

- granted 160 acres of public land to settlers who improved it

- signed by Pres. Lincoln

- allowed citizens to claim land for a small fee, requiring 5 years of residence or a purchase option

• Pacific Railway Act (1862)

- authorized the first transcontinental railroad

- provided vast land to spur construction, encouraging western settlement and economic growth

Brigham Young

James K. Polk

• 11th president (1845-1849)

• Ran for president as an expansionist & was elected, promising to expand the country (wasted no time & was successful)

• Major expansionist who transformed the nation by fulfilling “Manifest Destiny”

• Sought a war with Mexico, leading the nation into the Mexican-American War

- sent troops into Mexico to instigate a war that Mexico cannot win

- believed it would allow him to claim Arizona, New Mexico & California

• His victory gave him the authority to admit Texas into the Union, but does not end with Texas

• Threaten Britain over the Oregon Territory

Gold rush

discovery of gold in California (CA) that triggered a global mass migration of nearly 300,000 “forty-niners” (fortune-seekers)

• James Marshall found gold at Sutter’s Mill, outside San Francisco

• CA experienced a massive population growth (over 100,000 people)

• Most didn’t get rich from gold; many merchants and farmers found CA profitable

Treaty of Fort Laramie (1851)

Treaty that gave Indians control of the plains and the U.S. agreed to abide by the treaty and make annual payments to the Indians

• Unsuccessful→White settlers continued moving west, while the U.S. government turned a blind eye towards Native outrage