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Unit 10A SS Vocab
Study the Unit 10 SS Vocab here!
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Manifest Destiny | America's God given fate to own land from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean. |
| Mountain Men | Fur trappers who explored the Rocky Mountains and Great Plains; they also became trail guides |
| Marcus and Narcissa Whitman | Missionaries who encouraged Americans to settle Oregon because of the fertile land |
| Joseph Smith | Founder of the Mormon Church or Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints |
| Bringham Young | Led the Mormons to the Great Salt Lake in Utah |
| Oregon Trail | Trail used in the mid-1800s for pioneers to reach Oregon for land and adventure |
| Santa Fe Trail | Trail used by merchants to trade with Mexico |
| California Trail | Trail used by Americans to reach California for gold |
| James K. Polk | 11th president; from Tennessee; democrat; achieved manifest destiny for the United States in the Mexican War |
| David Corckett | Tennessee frontiersman who fought and died at the Alamo |
| Sam Houston | Former Tennessee governor; commander of the Texan army; first president of the Texan Republic |
| Battle of the Alamo | Defeat that inspired Texans to fight harder and win their independence |
| Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna | President and dictator of Mexico during the Texan Revolution and Mexican War |
| Battle of San Jacinto | Last battle of the Texan Revolution that gave Texas its independence; lasted only 18 minutes |
| Mexican War | War fought between 1846-1848; led to the United States acquiring New Mexico |
| Fifty-Four Forty or Fight | James K. Polk's campaign slogan in 1844 to get all of Oregon from Britain |
| Bear Flag Revolt | Uprising in California during the Mexican War; Americans declared independence from Spain |
| California Gold Rush | Mass migration of people from all over the world to Northern California for gold in 1848-1849; changed California and the United States economy |
| James Marshall | Worker at Sutter's Mill who found the first nugget of gold |
| John Sutter | Owner of the sawmill where gold was first found in 1848; kick-started the Gold Rush |
| Zachary Taylor | Popular general during the Mexican War |
| Rio Grande | River the US claimed was the border between Texas and Mexico |
| Nueces River | River that Mexico claimed was the border between Texas and Mexico |
| Annexation | An addition to a country |
| Gadsden Purchase | Land bought by the US government in southern Arizona for a transcontinental railroad |
| Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo | Officially ended the Mexican War; gave the US the Mexican Cession |
| Mexican Cession | Land in Northern Mexico that was given to the US after the Mexican War; includes California, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, etc. |
| Tejanos | Mexicans living in Texas who fought with the Americans |
| Chinese | Immigrants who first came to America during the Gold Rush; worked on railroads and opened laundromats |
| San Francisco | City that grew as a result of the California Gold Rush |