Manifest
Destiny:
An idea of John O’Sullivan that Americans were given the right by God to expand
westward.
Alamo:
An 1836 attack by Mexican President Santa Anna on the Texan fort known as the
Alamo which succeeded, yet later inspired Texans to overcome the Mexican
force.
Santa
Anna:
The president of Mexicoand the general that was victorious at the
Alamo.
“Spot”
resolutions:
Documents issued to Congress by Abraham Lincoln which suggested that President
Polk had provoked the Mexican-American War, contrary to what the president had
stated.
Zachary
Taylor:
A prominent and successful general during the Mexican-American War who went on
to become president in the election of
1848.
Treaty
of Guadalupe-Hidalgo:
An agreement made by Nicholas Trist in which Mexico ceded its northern provinces
of New Mexico and California and accepted the Rio Grande as the boundary of
Texas. The U.S.agreed to pay Mexico
$15 million and accept $2 million in
claims.
Free-soilers:
Members of a political party that promoted the adjustment of abolitionist
ideals to practical politics.
Gadsden
Purchase:
The U.S.bought 30,000 square
miles of territory in modern Arizonaand
New Mexico for $10 million from
Mexico in 1853.
The territory was purchased to allow for a southern transcontinental
railroad route.
Oregon
Trail:
A 2,000
mile trail from the Midwest to Oregon and the
surrounding regions. Whole
families made the trip in wagons and deaths due to disease, accidents, and
drowning were common.
San
Jacinto:
The location of General Sam Houston’s defeat of Santa Anna and his army after
the Alamo.
James
K. Polk:
A Democrat elected president in 1844, he advocated the occupation of Oregon and annexation of Texas.
He was known as the “manifest destiny”president and provoked the Mexican
American War after the Mexican government refused his offer to buy California and New
Mexico.
Mexican-American
War:
A war beginning in 1846 which was provoked by President Polk after
Mexico refused his offer to
buy California and New Mexico.
Polk assumed control of military strategy during the War, which the
United
States won. The war was concluded by the Treaty of
Guadalupe Hidalgo.
Nicholas
Trist:
President Polk’s envoy to Mexico, he formed the Treaty of
Guadalupe Hidalgo against the orders of Polk to return.
Polk reluctantly accepted the Treaty after being pressured by
protestors.
Chinese
immigrants:
These people came to California in search of gold in 1849. They were often discriminated
against.
Popular
sovereignty:
The solution for the slavery crisis suggested by Michigan senator Lewis Cass in which the
people, rather than Congress, would decide the
issue.
Tejanos:
People of Spanish or Mexican descent that were born in Mexico.
Empresarios:
Agents who received a land grant from the Spanish or Mexican government in
return for organizing settlements.
The first was Stephen F. Austin.
Election
of 1844:
The Democrat James Polk was victorious by a small margin over the Whig Henry
Clay. James Birney of the Liberty
Party surprisingly amassed 62,000
votes.
John
Slidell:
A secret envoy sent by President Polk to offer Mexico $30 million for New
Mexico, California, and for the
Texas border to be established along the
Rio Grande. The Mexican governor refused to see him,
angered Polk and leading him to provoke the Mexican-American
War.
Sutter’s
Mill:
The location in Californiawhere gold was first discovered by
James Marshall in 1848.
Wilmot
Proviso:
An amendment suggested by David Wilmot in 1846 which stated that slavery should
be outlawed in new states. This
sparked a slavery crisis and led to sectional politics and the formation of the
free-soiler party.
Election
of 1848:
General Zachary Taylor (Whig Party) was victorious over Lewis Cass (Democrat)
and Martin Van Buren (free-soiler).
He was deliberately vague on the issue of slavery, using his status as a
military hero to claim that he was above
politics.
Questions
Destiny:
An idea of John O’Sullivan that Americans were given the right by God to expand
westward.
Alamo:
An 1836 attack by Mexican President Santa Anna on the Texan fort known as the
Alamo which succeeded, yet later inspired Texans to overcome the Mexican
force.
Santa
Anna:
The president of Mexicoand the general that was victorious at the
Alamo.
“Spot”
resolutions:
Documents issued to Congress by Abraham Lincoln which suggested that President
Polk had provoked the Mexican-American War, contrary to what the president had
stated.
Zachary
Taylor:
A prominent and successful general during the Mexican-American War who went on
to become president in the election of
1848.
Treaty
of Guadalupe-Hidalgo:
An agreement made by Nicholas Trist in which Mexico ceded its northern provinces
of New Mexico and California and accepted the Rio Grande as the boundary of
Texas. The U.S.agreed to pay Mexico
$15 million and accept $2 million in
claims.
Free-soilers:
Members of a political party that promoted the adjustment of abolitionist
ideals to practical politics.
Gadsden
Purchase:
The U.S.bought 30,000 square
miles of territory in modern Arizonaand
New Mexico for $10 million from
Mexico in 1853.
The territory was purchased to allow for a southern transcontinental
railroad route.
Oregon
Trail:
A 2,000
mile trail from the Midwest to Oregon and the
surrounding regions. Whole
families made the trip in wagons and deaths due to disease, accidents, and
drowning were common.
San
Jacinto:
The location of General Sam Houston’s defeat of Santa Anna and his army after
the Alamo.
James
K. Polk:
A Democrat elected president in 1844, he advocated the occupation of Oregon and annexation of Texas.
He was known as the “manifest destiny”president and provoked the Mexican
American War after the Mexican government refused his offer to buy California and New
Mexico.
Mexican-American
War:
A war beginning in 1846 which was provoked by President Polk after
Mexico refused his offer to
buy California and New Mexico.
Polk assumed control of military strategy during the War, which the
United
States won. The war was concluded by the Treaty of
Guadalupe Hidalgo.
Nicholas
Trist:
President Polk’s envoy to Mexico, he formed the Treaty of
Guadalupe Hidalgo against the orders of Polk to return.
Polk reluctantly accepted the Treaty after being pressured by
protestors.
Chinese
immigrants:
These people came to California in search of gold in 1849. They were often discriminated
against.
Popular
sovereignty:
The solution for the slavery crisis suggested by Michigan senator Lewis Cass in which the
people, rather than Congress, would decide the
issue.
Tejanos:
People of Spanish or Mexican descent that were born in Mexico.
Empresarios:
Agents who received a land grant from the Spanish or Mexican government in
return for organizing settlements.
The first was Stephen F. Austin.
Election
of 1844:
The Democrat James Polk was victorious by a small margin over the Whig Henry
Clay. James Birney of the Liberty
Party surprisingly amassed 62,000
votes.
John
Slidell:
A secret envoy sent by President Polk to offer Mexico $30 million for New
Mexico, California, and for the
Texas border to be established along the
Rio Grande. The Mexican governor refused to see him,
angered Polk and leading him to provoke the Mexican-American
War.
Sutter’s
Mill:
The location in Californiawhere gold was first discovered by
James Marshall in 1848.
Wilmot
Proviso:
An amendment suggested by David Wilmot in 1846 which stated that slavery should
be outlawed in new states. This
sparked a slavery crisis and led to sectional politics and the formation of the
free-soiler party.
Election
of 1848:
General Zachary Taylor (Whig Party) was victorious over Lewis Cass (Democrat)
and Martin Van Buren (free-soiler).
He was deliberately vague on the issue of slavery, using his status as a
military hero to claim that he was above
politics.
Questions