Westward Expansion Review

Texas

Asked to be annexed by the United States

Gadsden Purchase

U.S. paid Mexico $10 million for this strip of land.

Assimilate

To absorb into another culture.

Trail of Tears

Land promised to Cherokee and Choctaw tribes after they were removed.

Pawnee

Friendly to railroad workers because they hurt enemy tribes

Omaha

Where the Union Pacific Railway began.

Coolies

Name given to Chinese railroad workers.

Promontory Point

Where the Transcontinental Railroad was joined:UTAH

Cession

Giving up land

California

State that was entirely ceded from Mexico.

Grants

Given by the U.S. government for railway construction.

Laborers

More than 1/3 were African American or Mexican.

Sioux

Sitting Bull’s tribe

Mountains

Biggest obstacle for the transcontinental railroad.

Louisiana Purchase

Purchased by Jefferson in 1803

Homestead Act

Gave up to 160 acres of land to settlers in the West

Indigenous

Original peoples

Annexation

Taking territory.

Indian Removal Act

Policies that led to Indian Removal.

Cession

When land is given up by one country to another, usually by a treaty.

Secede

When a state leaves or breaks away from a country.

Annex

When a country adds land and makes it part of itself.

Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson bought the Louisiana Territory, doubling the size of the United States. He also sent Lewis and Clark to explore the western lands.

Andrew Jackson

Andrew Jackson strengthened the power of the presidency and promoted the idea of the “common man” in politics. He also forced Native Americans off their lands through the Trail of Tears and opposed the national bank.

Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln led the country during the Civil War and worked to preserve the Union. He issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which began the process of freeing enslaved people. He gave famous speeches like the Gettysburg Address and promoted the passage of the 13th Amendment to abolish slavery. He also signed the Homestead Act, which gave free land to settlers willing to farm it, encouraging westward expansion.

James K Polk

James K. Polk expanded the United States’ territory by winning the Mexican-American War, gaining land that became California, Texas, and other southwestern states. He also settled the Oregon boundary with Britain, achieving U.S. control of the Pacific Northwest. Polk strongly supported Manifest Destiny, the idea that the U.S. should expand across the continent, and he worked to reduce tariffs and reform the treasury. His presidency is known for achieving almost all of his major goals in just one term.

Pawnee

hurt enemy tribes protecting workers for support

“Hell on Wheels”

The “Hell on Wheels” towns were basically built to serve the workers building the railroad. They had saloons, gambling halls, and brothels, and were known for being rowdy, chaotic, and full of crime, drinking, and fights—essentially wild frontier towns that popped up wherever the railroad crews were working.

HomeStead Act

give land to setllers