AMSCO United States History 2015 Edition, Chapter 12 Territorial and Economic Expansion, 1830-1860
5806369820 | manifest destiny | The belief that the United States had a divine mission to extend its power and civilization across the breadth of North America. (p. 230) | 0 | |
5806369821 | industrial technology | After 1840, industrialization spread rapidly throughout most of the Northeast. New factories produced shoes, sewing machines, ready-to-wear clothing, firearms, precision tools, and iron products for railroads and other new products. (p. 238) | 1 | |
5806369822 | Elias Howe | The U.S. inventor of the sewing machine, which moved much of clothing production from homes to factories. (p. 238) | 2 | |
5806369823 | Samuel F. B. Morse | In 1844, he invented the electric telegraph which allowed communication over longer distances. (p. 238) | 3 | |
5806369824 | railroads | In the 1840s and the 1850s, this industry expanded very quickly and would become America's largest industry. It required immense amounts of capital and labor and gave rise to complex business organizations. Local and state governments gave the industry tax breaks and special loans to finance growth. (p. 238) | 4 | |
5806369825 | Panic of 1857 | Financial crash which sharply lowered Midwest farmers prices and caused unemployment in the Northern cities. The South was not affected as much because cotton prices remained high. (p. 239) | 5 | |
5806369826 | Great American Desert | In the 1850s and 1860s, the arid area between the Mississippi River and the Pacific Coast, was known by this name. (p. 236) | 6 | |
5806369827 | mountain men | The first non-native people to open the Far West. These fur trappers and explorers included James Beckwourth, Jim Bridger, Kit Carson, and Jedediah Smith. (p. 237) | 7 | |
5806369828 | Far West | In the 1820s, the Rocky Mountains were known by this name. (p. 237) | 8 | |
5806369829 | overland trails | The wagon train trails that led from Missouri or Iowa to the west coast. They traveled only 15 miles per day and followed the river valleys through the Great Plains. Months later, the wagon trains would finally reach the foothills of the Rockies or face the hardships of the southwestern deserts. The final challenge was to reach the mountain passes before the first heavy snows. Disease was even a greater threat than Indian attack. (p. 237) | 9 | |
5806369830 | mining frontier | The discovery of gold in California in 1848 caused the first flood of newcomers to the West. A series of gold strikes and silver strikes in what became the states of Colorado, Nevada, Idaho, Montana, Arizona, and South Dakota kept a steady flow of hopeful young prospectors pushing into the West. (p. 237) | 10 | |
5806369831 | gold rush | California's population soared from 14,000 in 1848 to 380,000 in 1860, primarily because of this event. (p. 237) | 11 | |
5806369832 | silver rush | The discovery of silver in Colorado, Nevada, the Black Hills of the Dakotas, and other western territories, created a mining boom. (p 237) | 12 | |
5806369833 | farming frontier | In the 1830s and 1840s pioneer families moved west to start homesteads and begin farming. Government programs allowed settlers to purchase inexpensive parcels of land. (p. 237) | 13 | |
5806369834 | urban frontier | Western cities that arose as a result of railroads, mineral wealth, and farming. They included San Francisco, Denver, and Salt Lake City. (p. 238) | 14 | |
5806369835 | federal land grants | In 1850, the U.S. government gave 2.6 million acres of federal land to build the Illinois Central railroad from Lake Michigan to Gulf of Mexico. (p. 238) | 15 | |
5806369836 | John Tyler | He was elected Vice President, then he became the tenth president (1841-1845) when Benjamin Harrison died. He was responsible for the annexation of Mexico after receiving a mandate from Polk. He opposed many parts of the Whig program for economic recovery. (p. 231) | 16 | |
5806369837 | Oregon territory | This was a vast territory on the Pacific coast that stretched as far north as the Alaskan border. Originally the United States was interested in all the territory, but in 1846 Britain and the U.S. agreed to divide the territory at the 49th Parallel, today's border between Canada and the United States. (p. 232) | 17 | |
5806369838 | Fifty-four Forty or Fight | The slogan of James K. Polk's plan for the Oregon Territory. They wanted the border of the territory to be on 54' 40° latitude (near present-day Alaska) and were willing to fight Britain over it. Eventually, 49 degrees latitude was adopted as the northern border of the United States, and there was no violence. (p. 232) | 18 | |
5806369839 | James K. Polk | The eleventh U.S. president from 1845 to 1849. He was a slave owning southerner dedicated to Democratic party. In 1844, he was a "dark horse" candidate for president, and a protege of Andrew Jackson. He favored American expansion, especially advocating the annexation of Texas, California, and Oregon. (p. 232) | 19 | |
5806369840 | Wilmot Proviso | In 1846, the first year of the Mexican War, this bill would forbid slavery in any of the new territories acquired from Mexico. the bill passed the House twice, but was defeated in the Senate. (p. 234) | 20 | |
5806369841 | Franklin Pierce | In 1852, he was elected the fourteenth president of the United States. (p. 236) | 21 | |
5806369842 | Ostend Manifesto | The United States offered to purchase Cuba from Spain. When the plan leaked to the press in the United States, it provoked an angry reaction from antislavery members of Congress, forcing President Franklin Pierce to drop the plan. (p. 235) | 22 | |
5806369843 | Texas | In 1823, Texas won its national independence from Spain. The annexation of this state was by a joint resolution of Congress, supported by President-elect James Polk. This annexation contributed to the Mexican War because the border with Mexico was in dispute. Land from the Republic of Texas later became parts of New Mexico, Colorado, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Wyoming. (p. 233) | 23 | |
5806369844 | Stephen Austin | In the 1820s, his father had obtained and large land grant in Texas. He brought 300 families from Missouri to settle in Texas. (p. 231) | 24 | |
5806369845 | Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna | In 1834, he established himself as dictator of Mexico and attempted to enforce Mexico's laws in Texas. In March 1836 a group of American settlers revolted and declared Texas to be an independent republic. He then led an army which attacked the Alamo in San Antonio, killing all the American defenders. Shortly after that, Sam Houston led an army that captured him and he was forced to sign a treaty that recognized the independence of Texas. (p. 231) | 25 | |
5806369846 | Sam Houston | In March 1836, he led a group of American settlers that revolted against Mexico and declared Texas to be an independent republic. He led an army that captured Santa Anna and forced him to sign a treaty that recognized Texas as an independent republic. As the first president of the Republic of Texas, he applied to the U.S. government for Texas to be added as a new state. It was many years before the U.S. would act to add Texas as a state. (p. 231) | 26 | |
5806369847 | Alamo | The mission and fort that was the site of a siege and battle during the Texas Revolution, which resulted in the massacre of all its defenders. The event helped galvanize the Texas rebels and led to their victory at the Battle of San Jacinto. Eventually Texas would join the United States. (p. 231) | 27 | |
5806369848 | Aroostook War | In the early 1840s, there was a dispute over the the British North America (Canada) and Maine border. Open fighting broke out between rival groups of lumbermen. The conflict was soon resolved by the Webster-Ashburton Treaty of 1842. (p. 231) | 28 | |
5806369849 | Webster-Ashburton Treaty | In this 1842 treaty US Secretary of State Daniel Webster and British ambassador Lord Alexander Ashburton created a treaty splitting New Brunswick territory into Maine and British Canada. It also settled the boundary of the Minnesota territory. (p. 232) | 29 | |
5806369850 | Rio Grande; Nueces River | In the 1840s the United States believed the southern Texas border was the Rio Grande River. Mexico believed the border was further north on the Nueces River. (p. 233) | 30 | |
5806369851 | Mexican War (1846-1847) | A war between the United States and Mexico from 1846 to 1848. President James Polk attempted to purchase California and the New Mexico territories and resolve the disputed Mexico-Texas border. Fighting broke out before the negotiations were complete and the war lasted about two years, ending when the United States troops invaded Mexico City. (p. 233-235) | 31 | |
5806369852 | Zachary Taylor | In 1845, this U.S. general, moved his troops into disputed territory in Texas, between the Nueces and Rio Grande Rivers. Eleven of his soldiers were killed by Mexican troops and President James Polk used the incident to justify starting the Mexican War. He used of force of 6,000 to invade northern Mexico and won a major victory at Buena Vista. In 1848, he was elected president. (p. 233, 234) | 32 | |
5806369853 | Winfield Scott | This U.S. general invaded central Mexico with an army of 14,000. They took the coastal city of Vera Cruz and then captured Mexico City in September 1847. (p. 234) | 33 | |
5806369854 | Stephen Kearney | This U.S. general led a small army of less than 1,500 that succeeded in taking Santa Fe, the New Mexico territory, and southern California during the Mexican War. (p. 234) | 34 | |
5806369855 | John C. Fremont | In June 1846, he overthrew Mexican rule in northern California and proclaimed California to be an independent republic, the Bear Flag Republic. (p. 234) | 35 | |
5806369856 | California; Bear Flag Republic | In June 1846, John C. Fremont quickly overthrew Mexican rule in Northern California to create this independent republic. (p. 234) | 36 | |
5806369857 | Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo | In 1848, this treaty ended the Mexican War. Under its terms, Mexico recognized the Rio Grande as the border with Texas, Mexico ceded the California and New Mexico territories to the United States. The United States agreed to pay Mexico $15 million and assumed responsibility for any claims of American citizens against Mexico. (p. 234) | 37 | |
5806369858 | Mexican Cession | Historical name for the former Mexican provinces of California and New Mexico that were ceded to the U.S. by Mexico in 1848 under the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. (p 234) | 38 | |
5806369859 | Walker Expedition | An expedition by a Southern adventurer who unsuccessfully tried to take Baja California from Mexico in 1853. He took over Nicaragua in 1855 to develop a proslavery empire. His scheme collapsed when a coalition of Central American countries invaded and defeated him, and he was executed. (p. 236) | 39 | |
5806369860 | Clayton-Bulwer Treaty | An 1850 treaty between the U.S. and Great Britain agreeing that neither country would attempt to take exclusive control of any future canal route in Central America. (p. 236) | 40 | |
5806369861 | Gadsden Purchase | In 1853, the U.S. acquired land (present day southern New Mexico and Arizona) from Mexico for $10 million. (p. 236) | 41 | |
5806369862 | foreign commerce | In the mid-1800s, the growth in manufactured goods as well as in agriculture products (Western grains and Southern cotton) caused a significant growth of exports and imports. (p. 238, 239) | 42 | |
5806369863 | exports and imports | In the mid-1800s, the U.S. was exporting primarily manufactured goods and agriculture products such as Western grains and Southern cotton. Imports also increased during this period. (p. 238, 239) | 43 | |
5806369864 | Matthew C. Perry; Japan | Commodore of the U.S. Navy who was sent to force Japan to open up its ports to trade with the U.S. (p. 239) | 44 |