APUSH Ch. 13 Terms

Stephen Austin

American empresario who led the "Old Three Hundred" families to settle in Mexican Texas in the 1820s. Known as the "Father of Texas," he initially worked within Mexican law but later supported Texan independence.

Santa Anna

Antonio López de Santa Anna, Mexican general and president who led forces against Texas rebels. His victory at the Alamo was followed by defeat at San Jacinto, leading to Texas independence in 1836.

Sam Houston

Commander of Texan forces who defeated Santa Anna at San Jacinto, securing Texas independence. He served as president of the Republic of Texas and later as governor of Texas after statehood.

Alamo

Former Spanish mission in San Antonio where approximately 200 Texan defenders, including Davy Crockett and Jim Bowie, died during a 13-day siege by Mexican forces in March 1836. "Remember the Alamo!" became a rallying cry.

Tejanos

Mexican Texans who lived in Texas before and during the revolution. Many supported Texan independence and fought alongside Anglo settlers, though they faced discrimination after Texas won independence.

San Jacinto

Battle on April 21, 1836, where Sam Houston's forces surprised and defeated Santa Anna's army in 18 minutes, securing Texas independence. Santa Anna was captured and forced to sign treaties recognizing Texan independence.

Oregon Territory

Vast region in the Pacific Northwest claimed by both the United States and Britain. The dispute was resolved peacefully by the Oregon Treaty of 1846, which established the 49th parallel as the border.

Oregon Trail

2,000-mile overland route from Missouri to Oregon used by approximately 400,000 settlers between the 1840s-1860s. The journey took 4-6 months and was fraught with disease, accidents, and hardship.

"54-40 or Fight"

Aggressive 1844 campaign slogan demanding U.S. control of Oregon Territory up to latitude 54°40' (the southern boundary of Russian Alaska). Polk campaigned on this but compromised at the 49th parallel to avoid war with Britain.

James Polk

11th U.S. President (1845-1849) who aggressively pursued territorial expansion. He orchestrated the annexation of Texas, acquisition of Oregon, and provoked war with Mexico to gain California and the Southwest.

Zachary Taylor

"Old Rough and Ready," American general who won key victories at Palo Alto and Buena Vista during the Mexican-American War. His military success propelled him to the presidency in 1848.

John Slidell

Diplomat sent by Polk to Mexico in 1845 to negotiate the purchase of California and New Mexico and settle the Texas border dispute. Mexico's refusal to receive him was used as justification for war.

Stephen Kearny

U.S. Army officer who led the conquest of New Mexico and California during the Mexican-American War. He established temporary American government in these territories with relatively little bloodshed.

Winfield Scott

Commanding general who led the decisive Mexico City campaign in 1847, landing at Veracruz and fighting his way to the capital. His success forced Mexico to negotiate and end the war.

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

1848 treaty ending the Mexican-American War. Mexico ceded nearly half its territory (present-day California, Nevada, Utah, most of Arizona and New Mexico, and parts of Colorado and Wyoming) for $15 million and recognized the Rio Grande as Texas's border.

Wilmot Proviso

1846 proposed amendment to ban slavery in any territory acquired from Mexico. Though it never passed, it crystallized sectional divisions and made slavery expansion the dominant political issue.

Free Soil Party

Political party formed in 1848 opposing slavery's expansion into western territories. Their slogan "Free Soil, Free Speech, Free Labor, Free Men" attracted antislavery Democrats and Whigs.

California Gold Rush

Mass migration to California following the 1848 discovery of gold at Sutter's Mill. Over 300,000 people rushed to California, rapidly transforming it from a sparsely populated territory to a state by 1850.

49ers

Name for the approximately 80,000 gold-seekers who arrived in California in 1849. They came by ship around Cape Horn, across Panama, or overland, hoping to strike it rich.

Sutter's Mill

Sawmill in Coloma, California, where James Marshall discovered gold on January 24, 1848. This discovery sparked the California Gold Rush and transformed the American West.

Compromise of 1850

Package of five bills designed to ease sectional tensions over slavery. California entered as a free state, while the territories of New Mexico and Utah would decide slavery by popular sovereignty; included a stronger Fugitive Slave Act.

Henry Clay

"The Great Compromiser," Kentucky senator who crafted the Missouri Compromise (1820) and Compromise of 1850. His final effort sought to preserve the Union by balancing free and slave state interests.

William Seward

New York senator and antislavery Whig who opposed the Compromise of 1850, arguing there was a "higher law than the Constitution" against slavery. He became Lincoln's Secretary of State.

Jefferson Davis

Mississippi senator and future Confederate president who defended slavery and Southern rights. He served as Secretary of War under Pierce before returning to the Senate.

Stephen Douglas

Illinois senator who championed popular sovereignty and successfully maneuvered the Compromise of 1850 through Congress. He later authored the Kansas-Nebraska Act, which destroyed his national political prospects.

Personal Liberty Laws

State laws passed in Northern states to counteract the Fugitive Slave Act by guaranteeing alleged fugitives trial by jury and other legal protections. Southerners viewed these as nullification of federal law.

Franklin Pierce

14th U.S. President (1853-1857), a Northern Democrat with Southern sympathies. His support for the Kansas-Nebraska Act and attempts to acquire Cuba alienated Northern voters and deepened sectional divisions.

Young America

Movement within the Democratic Party promoting aggressive territorial expansion, support for European republican revolutions, and American commercial dominance. It influenced Pierce's expansionist foreign policy.

Ostend Manifesto

Secret 1854 diplomatic memo proposing the U.S. purchase Cuba from Spain or, if Spain refused, take it by force. When leaked, Northern critics denounced it as a plot to expand slavery, embarrassing the Pierce administration.

Transcontinental Railroad

Proposed railroad connecting the East and West coasts. Debates over its route (northern vs. southern) intensified sectional conflict, contributing to the Kansas-Nebraska Act. Completed in 1869.

Gadsden Purchase

1853 acquisition from Mexico of a strip of land (southern Arizona and New Mexico) for $10 million. Pierce sought this territory to facilitate a southern transcontinental railroad route.

Kansas-Nebraska Act

Stephen Douglas's 1854 law organizing Kansas and Nebraska territories under popular sovereignty, explicitly repealing the Missouri Compromise line. It sparked violent conflict and destroyed the Whig Party.

Bleeding Kansas

Period of violent guerrilla warfare (1854-1859) between pro-slavery and antislavery settlers in Kansas Territory. Over 200 people died as each side sought to control the territory's future status.

Pottawatomie Massacre

May 1856 attack in which abolitionist John Brown and his followers murdered five pro-slavery settlers in Kansas. This escalated violence in the territory.

Brooks/Sumner Incident

May 1856 assault in which South Carolina Congressman Preston Brooks beat Massachusetts Senator Charles Sumner nearly to death with a cane on the Senate floor, after Sumner delivered an antislavery speech. The incident symbolized the impossibility of reasoned debate over slavery.

Slave Power Conspiracy

Republican theory that a coordinated group of slaveholders controlled the federal government to expand and protect slavery. They cited events like the Kansas-Nebraska Act, Dred Scott decision, and Fugitive Slave Act as evidence.

Calhoun's Defense of Slavery

Arguments by South Carolina senator John C. Calhoun portraying slavery as a "positive good" rather than a necessary evil. He defended it on racial, economic, and constitutional grounds, influencing Southern political thought.

James Buchanan

15th U.S. President (1857-1861), a Pennsylvania Democrat who sympathized with the South. His support for the Lecompton Constitution and passive response to secession are considered among the worst presidential failures.

John C. Frémont

"The Pathfinder," explorer and Mexican-American War officer who became the Republican Party's first presidential candidate in 1856. His antislavery platform won 11 Northern states but lost to Buchanan.

Dred Scott Decision

Infamous 1857 Supreme Court ruling declaring that African Americans could not be citizens, Congress could not ban slavery in territories, and the Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional. It enraged Northerners and pushed the nation toward war.

Lecompton Constitution

Pro-slavery Kansas constitution drafted in 1857 through a fraudulent process boycotted by antislavery settlers. Buchanan's support for it split the Democratic Party when Douglas opposed it as violating popular sovereignty.

Lincoln-Douglas Debates

Seven 1858 Illinois Senate debates between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas focusing on slavery expansion. Though Lincoln lost the election, his performance elevated his national profile and defined Republican principles.

John Brown's Raid

October 1859 failed attempt by abolitionist John Brown to seize the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia, hoping to spark a slave insurrection. His capture, trial, and execution made him a martyr to abolitionists and terrified Southerners.

Election of 1860

Four-way presidential race won by Republican Abraham Lincoln without a single Southern electoral vote. The Democratic Party split between Northern (Douglas) and Southern (Breckinridge) candidates. Lincoln's victory prompted seven Southern states to secede before his inauguration.

Manifest Destiny

Idea that the US had a god-given right to expand westward to the Pacific. “From sea to shining sea.”