Chapter 6 Study Guide

Manifest Destiny

John O'Sullivan coined the phrase "Manifest Destiny" in 1845 to describe the God-given right for the U.S. to expand across all of North America

Santa Fe Trail

frontier highway stretching between Independence, Missouri and Santa Fe, New Mexico

Oregon Trail

A 2,170 mile long trail from independence, Missouri to the Oregon Country that was used by many pioneers during the expansion era

Mormon

a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Joseph Smith

the founder of Mormonism in New York in 1830. In 1843, Smith's announcement that God allowed polygamy split the Mormons and led to an uprising against Mormons in 1844 when he was killed by a mob.

Brigham Young

successor to Smith after he was killed. He brought the Mormons to Utah in 1846. Thanks to Young, he established their new home in the Salt Lake City area, called New Zion.

Cotton Gin

a machine for cleaning the seeds from cotton fibers, invented by Eli Whitney in 1793

Why did slavery grow in the south?

owning slaves became more beneficial after the invention of the Cotton Gin. Another reason why there was an increase in slave population was due to the fact that owners would encourage their slaves to start families in order to have future generations of slaves, as slave trading became illegal after 1808.

Issues of annexation and slavery

a month before President Polk took office, Congress narrowly voted to annex Texas into the union as a slave state. Polk endorsed the belief that Texas owned the land to the west and south of the original borders. Mexico became enraged by this and refused to recognize the annexation. Polk sent ambassador John Slidell, who was to offer $30 million for New Mexico and California, but the Mexicans refused to meet with Slidell.

Stephen F. Austin

he was the person who started the first American settlement in the Mexican province of Texas in 1821

Sam Houston

the first President of the Republic of Texas, elected in 1836

Treaty of Velasco

a treaty which recognized Texas' independence. The boundary went south to Mexico and west to the Rio Grande River. Mexico refused to honor this treaty.

Expansion out west

the 19th-century movement of settlers into the American West, began with the Louisiana Purchase and was fueled by the Gold Rush, the Oregon Trail and a belief in "manifest destiny"

Gadsden Purchase

the United States' purchase of a strip of land for $10 million from Mexico, just south of the Gila River in AZ & NM. They used this land to help build the transcontinental railroad

Wilmot Proviso

proposed by David Wilmot (PA-Dem.) in 1846 to be added to a bill concerning Mexico. It stated that "neither slavery nor involuntary servitude shall ever exist in any part of the territory that was acquired from Mexico

Gag Rule

a rule passed in 1836 that was renewed annually for 8 years. It banned the mention of slavery in the House of Representatives

Abolitionist Movement

the movement to end slavery

Denmark Vesey

was a former slave who bought his freedom. In 1822, he was the leader of a wide-spread conspiracy to free slaves in order to seize Charleston and ultimately end slavery

Nat Turner

was a 31 year old black preacher who planned and carried out a violent uprising in southeastern Virginia. It had a huge impact afterwards as many states made it illegal for slaves to learn how to read and write, as well as prohibited meetings among the slaves without a supervisor

David Walker

a freed black man from Boston who wrote the famous pamphlet, Appeal to the Colored Citizens of the World (1829)

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

a treaty that ended the Mexican-American War, granting the U.S. control of Texas, New Mexico, and California in exchange for $15 million. It established the Rio Grande as the new border. The U.S. paid any claims made by Americans against Mexico, which was about an additional $3 million.

What states came from the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo?

C. A. N. C. U. N. W.
- California
- Arizona
- Nevada
- Colorado
- Utah
- New Mexico
- Wyoming

Why was the Mexican-American War fought?

fought due the annexation of the Republic of Texas by the U.S. in 1845 and from a dispute over whether Texas ended at the Nueces River (Mexican claim) or the Rio Grande (U.S. claim)

California Gold Rush

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

Benjamin Lundy

was an American Quaker abolitionist who established the anti-slavery newspaper, the Genius of Universal Emancipation, which called for eventual freedom

Elijah Paris Lovejoy

American newspaper editor for the St. Louis Observer and martyred abolitionist who died in defense of his right to print antislavery material in 1837

Frederick Douglass

an escaped slave who founded an abolitionist newspaper called The North Star, and became a monumental leader in the push for the end of slavery

William Lloyd Garrison

editor of the abolitionist newspaper The Liberator. He also founded the American Anti-Slavery Society in 1833. Garrison strongly criticized the constitution because it allowed slavery to continue in a nation built upon freedom

Alamo

a mission and fort in San Antonio, TX, where Mexican forces massacred rebellious Texans in 1836

Goliad

Texans occupying a fort at Goliad surrendered to a larger Mexican army, and became prisoners of war

Treaty of 1846

U.S. and Great Britain agreed to divide the Oregon Country along the 49th parallel

Fr. Junipero Serra

Franciscan priest who founded the first of the California missions in 1769 in San Diego