Westward Expansion, Texas Independence, and the Mexican Cession

Vocabulary terms and definitions covering U.S. westward migration, the Texas War for Independence, the Mexican-American War, and the political fallout leading to the California Gold Rush.

Forty-Niners

Single men mostly in their twenties and thirties who rushed to California in 1849 attempting to strike it rich as miners during the Gold Rush.

Moses and Stephen F. Austin

Settlers originally from New England who obtained deeds of land from the Mexican government to establish white settlements in East Texas along the Brazos River.

Washington on the Brazos

An East Texas settlement area along the Brazos River extending into the Texas Hill Country where deeds of land were granted to Moses and Stephen F. Austin.

Comanches and Apaches

Native tribes whose raiding parties attacked settlements and Spanish missions, prompting the Mexican government to invite white southern settlers into Texas to act as a human shield.

Texas War for Independence

The 1835 to 1836 revolt by American settlers against the Mexican government after Mexico ended new land deeds, featuring the siege of the Alamo and the Battle of San Jacinto.

Battle of San Jacinto

A key engagement during the Texas War for Independence (1835–1836) that resulted in American settlers winning independence from Mexico.

Republic of Texas

An independent nation formed in 1836 that claimed land extending west to the sources of the Rio Grande and Colorado rivers, remaining independent until 1845 due to political tensions over slavery.

Missouri Compromise of 1820

An agreement establishing an imaginary line along the southern border of Missouri and northern border of Arkansas across to the Pacific, designating territory north as free and south as slave.

Mexican-American War

The conflict beginning in 1846 after U.S. troops entered the Rio Grande Valley, in which 7,000 U.S. troops with superior artillery defeated 32,000 Mexican troops armed with older Napoleonic-era weaponry.

Mexican Cession of 1848

The peace treaty surrender ending the Mexican-American War, in which Mexico ceded claims to West Texas along with New Mexico territory, Utah territory, and California to the United States.

California Statehood Application of 1850

California's petition to join the Union as a free state, motivated by miners seeking to prevent competition from slave labor, which directly challenged the Missouri Compromise line.