Unit 10: Manifest Destiny Crocker Test

Preemption Act of 1841

• Allowed settlers to buy 160 acres of public land at $1.25 an acre before it was offered for sale.

• Encouraged westward migration by making land cheap and accessible.

Webster-Ashburton Treaty

• 1842 treaty settling the Maine–Canada boundary between the U.S. and Britain.

• Signified the U.S. shifting focus away from expanding into Canada and toward western expansion

Stephen F. Austin

• Leader who brought the first major group of American settlers into Texas under Mexican rule.

• His colony laid the foundation for the large American population that later pushed for Texan independence.

Alamo

• Battle where all 187 Texan defenders of the fort were killed by Santa Anna’s forces.

• Became a rallying cry and increased American support for Texan independence

Sam Houston

• Commander of Texan forces who defeated Santa Anna at San Jacinto and secured Texas independence.

• Became the first president of the Republic of Texas, shaping its early political direction

Abel Upsher

• U.S. Secretary of State under Tyler who pushed for Texas annexation.

• His death in the USS Princeton explosion led Tyler to appoint Calhoun, which inflamed sectional tensions

Manifest Destiny

• Belief that the U.S. was destined by God to expand across the continent.

• Drove westward expansion, the Mexican-American War, territorial ambitions, and intensified the question of slavery.

“Oregon Fever”

• Mass enthusiasm for settling Oregon in the 1840s.

• Led to thousands of settlers moving west, helping the U.S. outnumber Britain and claim the region

The Oregon Trail

• 2,000‑mile route from Missouri to Oregon used by settlers.

• Enabled large-scale migration that strengthened U.S. claims to the Pacific Northwest.

San Francisco

• Small settlement that exploded in population during the Gold Rush.

• Became the economic hub of the West as more than 100,000 people traveled to California

Election of 1844

• Contest between Henry Clay (Whig) and James K. Polk (Democrat) where he narrowly won.

• Polk’s victory was seen as a mandate for expansion, especially Texas and Oregon

James K. Polk

• Expansionist Democratic president known as “Young Hickory.”

• Achieved major territorial gains: Texas annexation, Oregon settlement, and victory in the Mexican-American War.

Zachary Taylor

• Mexican-American War general and Whig president elected in 1848.

• His unclear stance on slavery in the territories helped push the nation toward the Compromise of 1850.

John Slidell

• U.S. diplomat sent by Polk to Mexico City to buy more land for $30 million.

• Mexico’s refusal to meet him helped Polk justify the Mexican-American War

Winfield Scott

• U.S. general (“Old Fuss and Feathers”) who captured Mexico City in 1847.

• His campaign ended the war and made the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo possible.

Nicholas Trist

• Diplomat sent to negotiate peace with Mexico.

• Despite being recalled, he completed the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, securing huge U.S. territorial gains

James W. Marshall

• Discovered gold at Sutter’s Mill in 1848.

• Sparked the California Gold Rush, transforming the West

Wilmot Proviso

• Proposal to ban slavery in all land gained from Mexico.

• Intensified sectional conflict as the House passed it repeatedly, but the Senate blocked it over 50 times

Lewis Cass

• Democratic politician who proposed popular sovereignty.

• His stance split the Democrats and shaped the Election of 1848

“Popular Sovereignty”

• Idea that settlers in a territory should vote on whether to allow slavery.

• Became a central (and controversial) approach to handling slavery in new territories.

Election of 1848

• Contest between Cass (Democrat), Taylor (Whig), and Van Buren (Free Soil).

• Taylor won, showing early cracks in the national party system.

Barnburners

• Anti-slavery, anti-Calhoun faction of the Democratic Party in New York.

• Broke away to form the Free-Soil Party, weakening Democrats

Free-Soil Party

• Party opposing the expansion of slavery into western territories.

• Their slogan “Free Soil, Free Speech, Free Men” signaled rising northern resistance to slavery’s spread

Compromise of 1850

• Five-part deal admitting California free, using popular sovereignty in the Southwest, ending the D.C. slave trade, settling Texas’s debt, and strengthening the Fugitive Slave Act.

• Temporarily eased sectional tensions but overturned the Missouri Compromise and deepened long-term conflict

Stephen Douglas

• Illinois senator who helped pass the Compromise of 1850 by splitting it into separate bills.

• Became a major national figure and champion of popular sovereignty