U.S. History Prelude Final P. 1

waghh

John Louis O'Sullivan

magazine editor who coined the term "Manifest Destiny"

Zachary Taylor

President who was a Southern slave holder, hero in the Mexican American war

Millard Fillmore

13th President from the Whig Party, was the last president to not be affiliated with either the Republican or Democratic party

Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna

Mexican president who led an army against Texas

James Buchanan

The 15th President. He tried to maintain a balance between proslavery and antislavery factions, but his neutral views angered both North and South, and he was unable to stop the secession of South Carolina

Winfield Scott

United States general who was a hero of the War of 1812 and who defeated Santa Anna in the Mexican War

Harriet Beecher Stowe

Abolitionist and author of the antislavery novel, Uncle Tom's Cabin.

Dred Scott

Slave who sued his master for keeping him enslaved in a territory where slavery was banned under the Missouri Compromise

Stephen F. Austin

known as the Father of Texas, led the colonization of the Texas by bringing 300 families from the United States.

Henry Clay

United States politician responsible for the Missouri Compromise between free and slave states

Nat Turner

Leader of a slave rebellion in Virginia. Revolt led to the deaths of 20 whites and 40 blacks and led to the "gag rule' outlawing any discussion of slavery in the House of Representatives

Roger B. Taney

Chief Justice of the Supreme Court during the Dred Scott decision

William B. Travis

Commander of the Alamo

Daniel Webster

Leader of the Whig Party, originally pro-North, supported the Compromise of 1850

Stephen Douglas

supported idea of popular sovereignty. (people could vote if they wanted slavery or not) Wrote the Kansas-Nebraska Act

Abraham Lincoln

16th President of the United States, opposed extension of slavery into territories, but did not call for abolition of slavery in states that already allowed it.

Sam Houston

Commander of the Texas army at the battle of San Jacinto; later elected president of the Republic of Texas

William Seward

Secretary of State who was responsible for purchasing Alaskan Territory from Russia

John Brown

An abolitionist who attempted to lead a slave revolt by capturing Armories in southern territory and giving weapons to slaves, was killed after this for his revolts. Spread the word of abolition with the attention he recieved

John Breckenridge

Believed slavery should be permitted in any U.S. territory. people there could not vote to end slavery

Juan Seguin

Tejano leader at the Battle of the Alamo

John C. Calhoun

Leader of the Fugitive Slave Law, which forced the cooperation of Northern states in returning escaped slaves to the south.

Jefferson Davis

Charles Sumner

Radical Republican against the slave power who insults Andrew Butler, a democrat, and subsequently gets caned by Preston Brooks (Butler's relative)

James K. Polk

11th president wanted to settle oregon boundary dispute with britain. wanted to acquire California. wanted to incorporate Texas into union.

John Tyler

Vice President and became the 10th President of the United States when Harrison died, President responsible for annexation of Mexico after receiving mandate from Polk, opposed many parts of the Whig program for economic recovery

Preston Brooks

A passionate advocate for slavery and the allowing of slavery in states. Responsible for beating radical republican Charles Sumner with his cane

John Bell

Purposely ignored the slavery issue. said that laws established by the Constitution should be obeyed and that the Union must be held together despite sectional differences.

manifest destiny

Idea that it was American's god-given right to expand its land and spread democracy

Mexican-American War

President Polk declared war on Mexico over the dispute of land in Texas. At the end, American ended up with over half of Mexico's land.

Fugitive Slave Act

A law that made it a crime to help runaway slaves; allowed for the arrest of escaped slaves in areas where slavery was illegal and required their return to slaveholders

Pottawatomie

A retaliation attack by John Brown and his followers in Kansas, claimed to be acting out of god's will and mutilated five bodies of pro slavery people

Creek Massacre

Santa Fe Trail

an important trade route going between Independence, Missouri and Santa fe

Bear Flag Revolt

A revolt of American settlers in California against Mexican rule. It ignited the Mexican War and ultimately made California a state.

Great Debate

In this Argument, the senate argued about how to permit California to the Union without upsetting the balance of free and slave states.

Bleeding Kansas

A sequence of violent events involving abolitionists and pro-Slavery elements that took place in Kansas-Nebraska Territory. The dispute further strained the relations of the North and South, making civil war imminent.

Oregon Trail

Trail from independence Missouri to Oregon used by many pioneers during the 1840s

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

Treaty that ended the Mexican War, granting the U.S. control of Texas, New Mexico, and California in exchange for $15 million

fire-eaters

A group of extremist pro-slavery politicians from the South who urged the secession of southern states into a new nation, which became known as the Confederate States of America.

Lecompton Constitution

The pro-slavery constitution suggested for Kansas' admission to the union. It was rejected.

Donner Party

a group of western travelers who went to California but were stranded in the Sierra Nevada Mountains during winter (cannibals)

Mexican Cession

Lands sold by Mexico to the US following the Mexican War. California, Nevada, Utah, New Mexico, most of Arizona and Colorado, and parts of Oklahoma, Kansas, and Wyoming

Uncle Tom's Cabin

a novel published by Harriet Beecher Stowe which portrayed slavery as brutal and immoral. seen as outlandish and was disliked by people in the south

Dred Scott Decision

Supreme Court ruling that declared slaves were not viewed as citizens but as property. (See term Dred Scott for more)

Gadsden Purchase

Agreement w/ Mexico that gave the US parts of present-day New Mexico & Arizona in exchange for $10 million; completed the continental expansion by those who believed in Manifest Destiny.

Tejanos

Mexicans who claimed Texas as their home

Kansas-Nebraska Act

a law that allowed voters in Kansas and Nebraska to choose whether to allow slavery

John Brown's Raid on Harper's Ferry

John Brown's failed scheme to invade the South w/ armed slaves, backed by North abolitionists sponsers. took the fed. arsenal; Brown and others were caught by Robert E. Lee. Brown was hanged

Empresarios

People who were contracted by the Mexican republic to bring settlers to Texas in the early 1800s

Gold Rush

a period from 1848 to 1856 when thousands of people came to California in order to search for gold.

popular sovereignty

Idea that people could vote and have power in their own government

Lincoln-Douglas Debates

series of debates between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas over the issue of slavery. Lincoln: Against slavery but didn't want to change states that already had it

Douglas: popular sovereignty

Texas Revolution

War between Texas settlers and Mexico from 1835-1836 resulting in the formation of the Republic of Texas

forty-niners

People who went to California looking for Gold (They left in 1849)

Republican Party (1854)

organized in 1854 by antislavery Whigs, Democrats, and Free Soilers in response to the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act

Freeport Doctrine

Idea authored by Stephen Douglas that claimed slavery could only exist when popular sovereignty said so

The Alamo

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

Californios

Mexicans who lived in California

Border Ruffians

proslavery gangs from Missouri who often battled antislavery forces in Kansas

Election of 1860

Lincoln, the Republican candidate, won because the Democratic party was split over slavery. As a result, the South no longer felt like it has a voice in politics and a number of states seceded from the Union.

Battle of San Jacinto

the Texans captured Santa Anna and forced him to sign a treaty giving Texas its independence

Wilmot Proviso

Bill that would ban slavery in the territories acquired after the War with Mexico

Free-State Party

Political party formed by anti-slavery settlers in Kansas.

Annexation

The adding of a region to the territory of an existing political unit.

Missouri Compromise

an agreement in 1820 between pro-slavery and anti-slavery factions in the United States concerning the extension of slavery into new territories. No states above 36º 30' latitude line could have slavery

Lawrence Raid

mob of citizens who attempted to blow up a fort in Lawrence to show antislavery

Confederate States of America/Confederacy

nation formed by the states that seceded from the Union in 1860 and 1861

(Aka the Confederacy)

Oregon Territory Acquisition

Acquired during Manifest Destiny. Polk makes deal with Britian to acquire California and Oregon Territory.

Compromise of 1850

Agreement designed to ease tensions caused by the expansion of slavery into western territories

- added CA as a free state

- added option for New Mexico and Utah to vote for slavery. as well as any new territory from the Mexican American War

How did westward expansion lead to conflict with Mexico?

Conflicts in land battles with those already settled. American lust for land (manifest destiny) caused this strong desire for land lead to conflict