Western Expansion - APUSH

Manifest destiny

A notion held by a nineteenth-century Americans that the United States was destined to rule the continent, from the Atlantic the Pacific.

Texas

A region that caused controversy after it won independence from Mexico. Northerners feared it would be admitted as a slave state and upset the balance of power. It finally became a slave state in 1845.

Stephen austin

Original settler of Texas, granted land from Mexico on condition of no slaves, convert to Roman Catholic, and learn Spanish

Antonio Lopez De Santa Anna

Mexican general who tried to crush the Texas revolt and who lost battles to Winfield Scott and Zachary Taylor in the Mexican War (1795-1876)

Sam Houston

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

Alamo

A Spanish mission converted into a fort, it was besieged by Mexican troops in 1836. The Texas garrison held out for thirteen days, but in the final battle, all of the Texans were killed by the larger Mexican force.

John Tyler

(1841-1845) His opinions on all the important issues had been forcefully stated, and he had only been chosen to balance the Whig ticket with no expectation he would ever have power. He was in favor of state's rights, and a strict interpretation of the constitution, he opposed protective tariffs, a national bank and internal improvements at national expense.

Aroostook war

A small clash between Canadian and Maine lumberjacks, over the disputed northern Maine territory.

Webster-Ashburton treaty

1842 between the US and the Brits, settled boundry disputes in the North West, fixed most borders between US and Canada, talked about slavery and excredition

Oregon territory

-Area in the Northwest occupied by both Britain and America because of their "joint occupation" agreement from 1818

Fifty four fourty or fight

The slogan that referred to the latitude 54,40 the northern limit of the disputed Oregon Territory.

James K. Polk

"dark horse" Democratic candidate; acquired majority of the western US (Mexican Cession, Texas Annexation, Oregon Country), lowered tariffs, created Independent Treasury

Rio grande

Claimed by United States as southern boundary of Texas.

Nueces River

Mexico thought this river was the border between Texas and Mexico

Mexican war

War declared by U.S. against Mexico over unpaid claims, "American blood on American soil," and the Slidell Affair.

Zachary Taylor

(1849-1850), Whig president who was a Southern slave holder, and war hero (Mexican-American War). Won the 1848 election. Surprisingly did not address the issue of slavery at all on his platform. He died during his term and his Vice President was Millard Fillmore.

Stephen Kearney

This Colonel, under the direction of Polk, led a small army that captured Santa Fe with no opposition. He then proceeded to California where he joined a conflict already in progress that was being staged jointly by American settlers

Winfield Scott

"Old Fuss and Feathers," whose conquest of Mexico City brought U.S. victory in the Mexican War

John C. Fremont

1856 Republican presidential nominee; platform called for no expansion of slavery, free homesteads, and a probusiness protective tariff

California

Acquired from Mexico in 1848 and admitted as a free state in 1850 without ever having been a territory

Bear Flag Republic

nickname for California after it declared independence from Mexico in 1846

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

(1848) treaty signed by the U.S. and Mexico that officially ended the Mexican-American War; Mexico had to give up much of its northern territory to the U.S (Mexican Cession); in exchange the U.S. gave Mexico $15 million and said that Mexicans living in the lands of the Mexican Cession would be protected

Mexican Cession

1848. Awarded as part of the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo after the Mexican American War. U.S. paid $15 million for 525,000 square miles.

Wilmot Proviso

1846 proposal that outlawed slavery in any territory gained from the War with Mexico

Franklin Pierce

President elected in 1852; puppet of the Democrats; sought expansion in Nicaragua and Cuba; signed trade treaties with China (Wanghia) and Japan (Kanagawa)

Ostend Manifesto

a declaration (1854) issued from Ostend, Belgium, by the U.S. ministers to England, France, and Spain, stating that the U.S. would be justified in seizing Cuba if Spain did not sell it to the U.S.

Walker Expedition

William Walker, a southern adventurer, tried to take Baja California from Mexico in 1853; took Nicaragua to develop a proslavery empire but collapsed when he was killed by Honduran authorities

Clayton-Bulwer treaty

1850 - Treaty between U.S. and Great Britain agreeing that neither country would try to obtain exclusive rights to a canal across the Isthmus of Panama. Abrogated by the U.S. in 1881.

Gadsden purchase

(1853) U.S. purchase of land from Mexico that included the southern parts of present-day Arizona and New Mexico; set the current borders of the contiguous United States (the U.S. states, minus Hawaii, Alaska, and commonwealth of Puerto Rico)

Great american desert

Many early explorers called the region of the American West between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains the

Mountain men

American adventurers and fur trappers who spent most of their time in the Rocky Mountains

Far west

Pacific states that were the focus of Manifest Destiny: California, Oregon, Texas, etc.

Overland trails

Westward trail route of wagon trains bearing settlers; collective experience; despite contradicting stories, Indian attacks were extremely rare & more helpful than harmful

Mining frontier

California, Colorado, Nevada, Black Hills of the Dakotas, where gold or silver rushes began; boomtowns started up

Gold rush

a period from1848 to 1856 when thousands of people came to California in order to search for gold.

Silver rush

Miners rused to Coloroado, Nevado, the Black Hills of the Dakotas, and other western states to search for silver.

Farming frontier

A period of time in which hundreds of thousands of citizens moved west and began to farm the frontier, very much due to the Homestead Act of 1862, which offered 160 acres of free public land to any family that settled there for a period of 5 years.

Urban frontier

Western cities that arose as a result of railroads, mineral wealth, and farming. This attracted a number of professionals and businesspersons (e.g. San Francisco, Denver, and Salt Lake City)

Industrial technology

industrialization of 1840s on created shoes, sewing machines, ready-to-wear clothing, firearms, precision tools, and iron products for railroads, etc.

Elias Howe

American inventor whose sewing machine helped revolutionize garment manufacture in the factory and in the home.

Samuel F. B. Morse

(1791-1872) American artist and inventor, he applied scientists' discoveries of electricity and magnetism to develop the telegraph, which soon sent messages all across the country.

Federal land grant

Federal gov. granted land for railroad companies to build more routes

Foreign commerce

commerce with foreign nations. The commerce clause grants the federal government the authority to regulate foreign commerce.

Matthew C. Perry

He was the military leader who convinced the Japanese to sign a treaty in 1853 with the U.S. The treaty allowed for a commercial foot in Japan which was helpful with furthering a relationship with Japan.

Panic of 1857

Economic downturn caused by overspeculation of western lands, railroads, gold in California, grain. Mostly affected northerners, who called for higher tariffs and free homesteads

Homestead act

1862 - Provided free land in the West to anyone willing to settle there and develop it. Encouraged westward migration.

Zebulon pike

American soldier and explorer whom Pikes Peak in Colorada is named. His Pike expedition often compared to the lewis and Clark expedition, mapped much of the southern portion of the Louisianna Purchase

Stephen long

Called the Great Plains the "Great American Desert" and concluded that I was almost "wholly unfit for cultivation" He also predicted that "the scarcity of wood and water would prove to be an insuperable obstacle in settling."

Rendezvous system

The basis for the American fur-trapping industry, many traders ventured to the Rocky Mountains each summer to trade with fur-trappers and Indians for pelts in exchange for manufactured goods.

Rocky mountain fur company

The trading expedition headed by William Ashley and Major Andrew Henry joined by the young Jim Bridger.

John O'Sullivan

Wrote an editorial that first mentioned the term "Manifest Destiny"