Terms
Manifest Destiny- A Doctrine, first expressed in 1845, that the expansion of white Americans across the continent was inevitable and ordained by God.
Oregon Trail- Overland trail of over 2,000 miles that carried American settlers from the Midwest to new settlements in Oregon, California, and Utah.
Tejanos- Spanish-speaking people born in Texas.
Alamo- The fort in San Antonio, Texas, where the 187 Texan rebels defending the fort died while killing 1,500 Mexican troops before the Mexicans took the it.
San Jacinto- A decisive battle in the Texas Revolution in which Texas won its independence.
Empresarios- Agents who received a land grant from the Spanish or Mexican government in return for organizing settlements.
Santa Anna- The President and General of Mexico during the Texas Revolution. He was the one who granted Texas to the Americans.
James K. Polk- Democrat from Tennessee who won the Election of 1844 to become the nation’s 11th President. He endorsed the annexation of Texas and the re-occupation of Oregon.
Election of 1844- Election won by James K. Polk, though he only won the popular vote over Henry Clay by 40,000 votes. This was the first showing of a growing antislavery opinion (largely from Northern antislavery Whigs).
“Spot” Resolutions- An event where Abraham Lincoln wanted to know where it was that American blood was spilled prior to the Mexican-American War in an attempt to show that Mexico had not done anything to America.
Mexican-American War- War fought between the United States and Mexico between 1846 and 1848 over the control of territory in southwest North America.
John Slidell- The man sent to negotiate an agreement with Mexico saying that the border between the US and Mexico would be the Rio Grande. Mexico, however, refused, and the Americans attacked them.
Zachary Taylor- A Whig from Louisiana, he was the winner of the 1848 Election.
Nicholas Trist- The negotiator of the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo. During negotiations he was recalled to America by President Polk, but he refused to return and made sure he got the treaty done before returning.
Sutter’s Mill- The first place where gold was discovered in California, and that caused the flocking of thousands to California to look for gold.
Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo 1848- The treaty in which America received the California territory from Mexico. It was brought about after Americans simply occupied and attempted to take California by force. America obtained all previously Mexican land north of the Rio Grande from Texas to California.
Chinese Immigrants- There were over 20,000 Chinese who showed up in California between 1849 and 1852 looking to find gold. However, they were seen as an economic threat and hostilities were raised against them.
Wilmot Proviso- The amendment offered by Pennsylvania Democrat David Wilmot in 1846 which stipulated that “as an express and fundamental condition to the acquisition of any territory from the Republic of Mexico…neither slavery nor involuntary servitude shall ever exist in any part of said territory.”
Free-soilers- A group of Northerners who started the Free-Soil party in an attempt to go against slavery. The argument of the party shifted the focus from the morality of slavery to the ways in which slavery impeded Northern expansion, therefore establishing a link between expansion (which many Americans supported) and sectional politics.
Popular Sovereignty- A solution to the slavery crisis suggested by Michigan senator Lewis Cass by which territorial residents, not Congress, would decide slavery’s fate.
Election of 1848- Election won by Whig Zachary Taylor of Louisiana. The election’s issues were headlined by slavery, with the popular sovereignty doctrine having been recently proposed.
Gadsen Purchase- A treaty discussed with Mexico by James Gadsen that included the secession of southern Arizona and New Mexico to America for the price of $10 million, though only $6 million was ever received by Mexico.
Questions
1) The community that gathered in Texas became very united in the quest to gain independence. The Anglos and Tejanos got along well and worked well together during the struggle for independence. However, after independence was achieved, the Anglos saw themselves as better than the Tejanos.
2) Expansion was so attractive to Americans because they were very interested in what the continent had to offer, and they were very land hungry. This was because the amount of land a country or family posses is a good way to show power of the nation or family.
3) President Polk said the Mexican-American War happened because the Mexicans insulted the Americans in not selling them the Texas territory. I do not buy this, because the Mexicans definitely did not have to give us the land if they did not want to.
4) Texas communities were split between Tejanos and Anglos, Spanish California’s communities were very unified with people of the same decent, Oregon’s territories were unified by families who had migrated there in search of a better life, and gold rush California’s societies were very hostile over finding gold. They were all similar because they all contained people who did not originally inhabit the area who had to create their own relations.
5) The Mexican-American War was all about annexing territories South of the line that was created by the Missouri Compromise, meaning all of the territories annexed would be slave states, which the northern citizens did not like.
6) Imperialism is when a country holds and controls territories in a part of the world that they are not part of. Based on this, the Americans were not imperialistic for two reasons: First, they did not control Texas until they annexed it, and they never controlled Mexico. Second, the areas the Americans did control were in the same region as the country was.
7) The Mexican-American War was neither inevitable nor necessary because it was all about the Americans being greedy and feeling that they deserved to own land that Mexico owned. Both sides could have prevented this war; the Americans by not being so land-hungry and bloodthirsty, and the Mexicans by realizing the Americans’ amazing desire for land and just giving it up instead of going to war over the land.
Manifest Destiny- A Doctrine, first expressed in 1845, that the expansion of white Americans across the continent was inevitable and ordained by God.
Oregon Trail- Overland trail of over 2,000 miles that carried American settlers from the Midwest to new settlements in Oregon, California, and Utah.
Tejanos- Spanish-speaking people born in Texas.
Alamo- The fort in San Antonio, Texas, where the 187 Texan rebels defending the fort died while killing 1,500 Mexican troops before the Mexicans took the it.
San Jacinto- A decisive battle in the Texas Revolution in which Texas won its independence.
Empresarios- Agents who received a land grant from the Spanish or Mexican government in return for organizing settlements.
Santa Anna- The President and General of Mexico during the Texas Revolution. He was the one who granted Texas to the Americans.
James K. Polk- Democrat from Tennessee who won the Election of 1844 to become the nation’s 11th President. He endorsed the annexation of Texas and the re-occupation of Oregon.
Election of 1844- Election won by James K. Polk, though he only won the popular vote over Henry Clay by 40,000 votes. This was the first showing of a growing antislavery opinion (largely from Northern antislavery Whigs).
“Spot” Resolutions- An event where Abraham Lincoln wanted to know where it was that American blood was spilled prior to the Mexican-American War in an attempt to show that Mexico had not done anything to America.
Mexican-American War- War fought between the United States and Mexico between 1846 and 1848 over the control of territory in southwest North America.
John Slidell- The man sent to negotiate an agreement with Mexico saying that the border between the US and Mexico would be the Rio Grande. Mexico, however, refused, and the Americans attacked them.
Zachary Taylor- A Whig from Louisiana, he was the winner of the 1848 Election.
Nicholas Trist- The negotiator of the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo. During negotiations he was recalled to America by President Polk, but he refused to return and made sure he got the treaty done before returning.
Sutter’s Mill- The first place where gold was discovered in California, and that caused the flocking of thousands to California to look for gold.
Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo 1848- The treaty in which America received the California territory from Mexico. It was brought about after Americans simply occupied and attempted to take California by force. America obtained all previously Mexican land north of the Rio Grande from Texas to California.
Chinese Immigrants- There were over 20,000 Chinese who showed up in California between 1849 and 1852 looking to find gold. However, they were seen as an economic threat and hostilities were raised against them.
Wilmot Proviso- The amendment offered by Pennsylvania Democrat David Wilmot in 1846 which stipulated that “as an express and fundamental condition to the acquisition of any territory from the Republic of Mexico…neither slavery nor involuntary servitude shall ever exist in any part of said territory.”
Free-soilers- A group of Northerners who started the Free-Soil party in an attempt to go against slavery. The argument of the party shifted the focus from the morality of slavery to the ways in which slavery impeded Northern expansion, therefore establishing a link between expansion (which many Americans supported) and sectional politics.
Popular Sovereignty- A solution to the slavery crisis suggested by Michigan senator Lewis Cass by which territorial residents, not Congress, would decide slavery’s fate.
Election of 1848- Election won by Whig Zachary Taylor of Louisiana. The election’s issues were headlined by slavery, with the popular sovereignty doctrine having been recently proposed.
Gadsen Purchase- A treaty discussed with Mexico by James Gadsen that included the secession of southern Arizona and New Mexico to America for the price of $10 million, though only $6 million was ever received by Mexico.
Questions
1) The community that gathered in Texas became very united in the quest to gain independence. The Anglos and Tejanos got along well and worked well together during the struggle for independence. However, after independence was achieved, the Anglos saw themselves as better than the Tejanos.
2) Expansion was so attractive to Americans because they were very interested in what the continent had to offer, and they were very land hungry. This was because the amount of land a country or family posses is a good way to show power of the nation or family.
3) President Polk said the Mexican-American War happened because the Mexicans insulted the Americans in not selling them the Texas territory. I do not buy this, because the Mexicans definitely did not have to give us the land if they did not want to.
4) Texas communities were split between Tejanos and Anglos, Spanish California’s communities were very unified with people of the same decent, Oregon’s territories were unified by families who had migrated there in search of a better life, and gold rush California’s societies were very hostile over finding gold. They were all similar because they all contained people who did not originally inhabit the area who had to create their own relations.
5) The Mexican-American War was all about annexing territories South of the line that was created by the Missouri Compromise, meaning all of the territories annexed would be slave states, which the northern citizens did not like.
6) Imperialism is when a country holds and controls territories in a part of the world that they are not part of. Based on this, the Americans were not imperialistic for two reasons: First, they did not control Texas until they annexed it, and they never controlled Mexico. Second, the areas the Americans did control were in the same region as the country was.
7) The Mexican-American War was neither inevitable nor necessary because it was all about the Americans being greedy and feeling that they deserved to own land that Mexico owned. Both sides could have prevented this war; the Americans by not being so land-hungry and bloodthirsty, and the Mexicans by realizing the Americans’ amazing desire for land and just giving it up instead of going to war over the land.