Manifest Destiny Vocab

Manifest Destiny

Century believed it was America's God given destiny to settle the continent of the North American.

John O. Sullivan

American columnist who coined the term 'Manifest Destiny'.

Squatters

Settling on a land that you do not own.

Trailblazers

Mountain Men who carved east to west passages for western settlement.

Overlanders

Someone who travels over farmland to the west.

Tejanos

Spanish speaking inhabitants of Texas.

Empresarios

Person who arranged for settlement of Texas in the 1800s.

Texians

An American living in Mexico owned Texas. The three conditions were: 1. Had to learn Spanish, 2. Had to become Catholic, and 3. No slaves.

Stephen F. Austin

1st and most successful empresarios.

Sam Houston

Military leader of Texas.

Santa Anna

Dictator and military leader of Mexico during the Mexican American War.

Annexation

Becoming part of the United States.

The Alamo

Spanish minister/church where a group of texians make their last stand. Becomes a symbol of Texan American independence.

Lone Star Republic (1836 - 1844)

Texas as an independent country.

Rio Grande

The US claims the southern border of Texas.

Nueces River

What Mexico claimed is the southern border of Texas.

54/40 or fight

Polk's Presidential slogan to gain the entire Oregon territory from the British.

Oregon Territory (1846)

Cut Oregon Territory in ½ between the US and Britain.

Zachary Taylor

'Old rough and ready' American war general who led an attack on southern Mexico.

Winfield Scott

'Old Fuss and Fathers' American war general who captured Mexico City.

John C. Fremont

Captured northern California and declares it the Bear flag republic.

Bear Flag Republic

Overthrown of Mexican authority in Northern California Creation of California as an independent country.

Guadalupe Hidalgo

Treaty that ended Mexican American war US gets the southwest and West for $15 million.

Mexican Cession

The region in the modern day southwestern United States that Mexico ceded to the US.

49ers

Men seeking fortune mining gold in California during 1849.