US I Honors Final 2026: Important Terms

Expansion, Antebellum, Civil War, Reconstruction, Gilded Age, Progressivism

Specialization

shifted from self-sufficiency to raising one or two cash crops farmers could sell at home or abroad

Market Revolution

people bought and sold goods rather than making them for their own use; caused growth of the economy

Capitalism

the economic system in which private businesses and individuals control the means of production (factories/machines/land) and use them to earn profits

Entrepreneurs

investors that risked their own money in new industries

Telegraph

a device to carry messages, tapped I code, across copper wire; connected larger cities, used for transmitting orders, relay info on pri

John Deere

invented the steel plow (sliced through heavy soil more easily than existing plows, took less animal power to pull)

Cyrus McCormick

invented the mechanical reaper (permitted one farmer to do the work of five hired hands)

Manifest Destiny

it was the United States’ destiny to expand to the Pacific OCean and into Mexican territory

Black Hawk War

a conflict between American settlers and Native American tribes led by Black Hawk, primarily over land disputes in Illinois and Wisconsin; not a success - 200 Sauk and Fox people slaughtered and rest were forcibly removed

Treaty of Fort Laramie

An agreement between the U.S. government and several Native American tribes, promising to recognize tribal land boundaries in exchange for peace, protection, and construction of govt. forts and roads but often violated by settlers and the government

Santa Fe Trail

busiest and well-known avenue of trade

Oregon Trail

a historic route used by thousands of settlers traveling to the Pacific Northwest, allowing for the westward expansion of the United States; started with missionaries trying to convert Natives to Christianity

Middle Ground

the place that neither settlers nor Native Americans dominated; as long as settlers needed natives as trading partners and guides, relations could be beneficial

Mormon Trail

a route used by Mormons migrating westward

Brigham Young

leader of the Mormons; helped move his followers to Utah

Fifty-Four Forty or Fight

the northern limit of the disputed Oregon Territory between U.S and Britain; G.B not very interested anyway

Stephen F. Austin

most successful empresario who established a colony in Texas

Tejanos

American and Mexican settlers in Texas

land grants

offered by Mexico to Empresarios to encourage American settlers to prevent border violations and protect the territory from Native American attacks

Santa Anna

Mexican general and president known for his role in the Texas Revolution, famously leading the siege of the Alamo.

Alamo

site of a battle in the Texas Revolution, where Texian defenders held out against Santa Anna's forces; American garrison was destroyed

Texas Revolution

rebellions that erupted/conflict between Texas settlers and Mexico, leading to Texas' independence.

Sam Houston

led the defeat of Santa Anna at the Battle of San Jacinto; became president of Republic of Texas

Joseph Smith

first Mormon leader; established Church of Christ and Latter-day Saints in New York

Treaty of Velasco

granted independence to Texas

James K. Polk

U.S President who had strong territorial aspirations and oversaw the territorial expansion of the United States through the Oregon Trail and the Mexican-American War

John Slidell (Slidell’s rejection)

rejected by Mexico when he went to purchase CA & New Mexico and gain approval of Rio Grande as Texas border

Zachary Taylor

general who was ordered by Polk to march into Rio Grande and blockade the river - Mexicans viewed this as a violation of their rights

Lone Star Republic

independent Republic of Texas; created by Treaty of Velasco after Texas Rev

John C. Fremont

led an expedition into Mexico’s California province - another violation of Mexico’s territorial rights

Spot Resolution

created by Lincoln to ask Polk to certify the spot where the skirmish between Mexican and American soldiers “shedding American blood upon American soil” had occurred

Stephen Kearny

“the Long Marcher” who marched to Santa Fe - New Mexico fell to the US without a shot being fired

Republic of California

Fremont and Kearny led rebels and hoisted a flag featuring a grizzly bear which declared California’s independence from Mexico, leaving US in control of CA

Winfield Scott

“Old Fuss and Feathers” - captured Veracruz and Mexico City

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

Mexico agreed to Rio Grande border for TX and ceded New Mexico and California to the US; US paid $15 million for Mexican Cession

Gadsden Purchase

established the current borders of lower 48 states

Forty-Niners

prospectors who rushed to California in 1849 during the Gold Rush

Wilmot Proviso

proposed slavery be banned in all territories gained from War with Mexico