Question 1

Manifest Destiny

Accepted Answer

Belief that the United States was obligated by God to spread its “empire of liberty” across North America and was used as a justification for mid-nineteenth century expansionism.

Question 2

Texas

Accepted Answer

Territory that revolted against the Mexican government and was originally denied statehood in 1837, but was eventually annexed under President Polk, which helped spark the Mexican-American War.

Question 3

Oregon Territory

Accepted Answer

Territory of the northern Pacific Coast that was jointly occupied by the British and the United States for twenty years and almost led to war, but was eventually split along the 49th parallel.

Question 4

Stephen Austin

Accepted Answer

Led one of the first settlements of Americans in Texas and eventually became the commander of the settlers’ army against Mexico in the Texas Revolution.

Question 5

Antonio López de Santa Anna

Accepted Answer

Military and political leader of Mexico who successfully attacked the Alamo, but was defeated by Sam Houston at San Jacinto and forced to sign a treaty granting Texas independence.

Question 6

Sam Houston

Accepted Answer

Military leader of the Texas independence movement who defeated Santa Anna at San Jacinto and forced him to sign a treaty granting Texas independence.

Question 7

Alamo

Accepted Answer

Former Spanish mission converted into a fort that was besieged by Mexican troops in 1836 for thirteen days, but the final battle killed all of the Texan defenders by the significantly larger Mexican force.

Question 8

John Tyler

Accepted Answer

First vice president elevated to president due to the death of his predecessor, he drifted from Whig ideas and replaced his cabinet with Democrats, but did not change much from previous policies.

Question 9

Webster-Ashburton Treaty

Accepted Answer

Treaty between the United States and Britain that settled border disputes with Canada, resolved the Caroline steamship issue and called for a final end to the transatlantic slave trade.

Question 10

Jame K. Polk

Accepted Answer

Expansionist president who led the United States during the Mexican-American War, oversaw the acquisition of Texas and the Mexican Cession and encouraged the expansion of slavery.

Question 11

Fifty-Four Forty or Fight!

Accepted Answer

Democratic campaign slogan used by James K. Polk that called for the United States to take all of the disputed Oregon Territory, but once in office he split the territory with Britain.

Question 12

Great American Desert

Accepted Answer

Term applied to the land west of the Missouri River and east of the Rocky Mountains because the landscape had almost no trees, little rainfall and tough prairie sod.

Question 13

Far West

Accepted Answer

Term applied to the land west of the Missouri River to the Pacific Coast that offered new opportunities such as mining and farming, but included hardships such as dangerous weather.

Question 14

Overland Trails

Accepted Answer

Long and dangerous routes through the Great American Desert and Rocky Mountains that American settlers used to reach California and the Oregon Territory.

Question 15

Mining Frontier

Accepted Answer

Discovery of gold in California in 1848 caused the first flood of newcomers to the West and was followed by more mineral strikes that kept a steady flow of young prospectors pushing into the West.

Question 16

Gold Rush

Accepted Answer

Discovery of sources of a precious metal encouraged people to flock to the Far West in hopes of striking it rich, the most famous example occurring in California in 1848.

Question 17

Silver Rush

Accepted Answer

Discovery of sources of a precious metal encouraged people to flock to the Far West in hopes of striking it rich, the most famous example occurring in Nevada.

Question 18

Farming Frontier

Accepted Answer

Western land was settled and developed by pioneers who were willing to face the hardships of the West in order to gain land, grow crops or raise cattle and create a living for themselves.

Question 19

Urban Frontier

Accepted Answer

Cities started to develop and grow in the Far West in places such as San Francisco and Denver as more settlers moved westward in search of opportunity.

Question 20

Foreign Commerce

Accepted Answer

Trade between the United States and foreign countries that includes exports and imports.

Question 21

Exports

Accepted Answer

Goods made in the United States and traded to foreign countries.

Question 22

Imports

Accepted Answer

Goods made in foreign countries and traded into the United States.

Question 23

Matthew C. Perry

Accepted Answer

American naval officer who led a military expedition to Japan and used American naval power to convince the Japanese to open up to trade with the United States under the Kanagawa Treaty.

Question 24

Kanagawa Treaty

Accepted Answer

Treaty between U.S and Japan beginning trade

Question 25

Mexican-American War

Accepted Answer

Conflict over land between the United States and Mexico that was encouraged by President Polk and ended with the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo and the Mexican Cession.

Question 26

California

Accepted Answer

Part of Mexican territory that President Polk wanted for the United States and failed to purchase, which helped lead to the Mexican-American War and became part of the Mexican Cession.

Question 27

Nueces River

Accepted Answer

Body of water Mexico insisted made the southern border of Texas while the Americans argued the border was farther south along the Rio Grande, which helped lead to the Mexican-American War.

Question 28

Rio Grande

Accepted Answer

Body of water the Americans insisted made the southern border of Texas while Mexico argued the border was farther north along the Nueces River, which helped lead to the Mexican-American War.

Question 29

Zachary Taylor

Accepted Answer

Famous general of the Mexican-American War and the 12th president of the United States (Whig) who opposed the spread of slavery, but died suddenly in office.

Question 30

Stephen Kearney

Accepted Answer

American general who succeeded in conquering the New Mexico territory and southern California in the Mexican-American War.

Question 31

John C. Frémont

Accepted Answer

Leader of a small American force who overthrew Mexican rule in California during the Mexican-American War and declared California to be an independent republic called the Bear Flag Republic.

Question 32

Bear Flag Republic

Accepted Answer

Name given to California after John C. Frémont overthrew Mexican rule during the Mexican-American War and declared California to be an independent republic.

Question 33

Winfield Scott

Accepted Answer

American general who led the main invasion of Mexico during the Mexican-American War and conquered Vera Cruz and the capital of Mexico City.

Question 34

Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo (1848)

Accepted Answer

Agreement between the United States and Mexico that ended the Mexican-American War and included the Mexican Cession.

Question 35

Mexican Cession

Accepted Answer

Land annexed by the United States from Mexico according to the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo, which included the future states of California, Arizona and New Mexico.

Question 36

Wilmot Proviso

Accepted Answer

Proposal to prohibit slavery in the territory gained from the Mexican-American War that passed the House of Representatives, but failed in the Senate

Question 37

Mountain Men

Accepted Answer

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

Question 38

Ostend Manifesto

Accepted Answer

Leaked secret proposal by diplomats under orders from President Franklin Pierce to try and buy Cuba from Spain, which angered antislavery members of Congress and ultimately failed.

Question 39

Walker Expedition

Accepted Answer

Failed private attempt to build a proslavery Central American Empire, which included trying to take the Baja Peninsula from Mexico and Nicaragua.

Question 40

Clayton-Bulwer Treaty (1850)

Accepted Answer

Agreement between the United States and the British that neither nation would attempt to take exclusive control of any future canal route in Central America (revised in 1901).

Question 41

Gadsden Purchase

Accepted Answer

Purchase of southern sections of present-day New Mexico and Arizona from Mexico organized by President Franklin Pierce in order to build a railroad through the region.

Question 42

Free-Soil Movement

Accepted Answer

Ideology of many Northern Democrats and Whigs about stopping the spread of slavery to new parts of the country, but leaving slavery intact where it already existed.

Question 43

Free-Soil Party

Accepted Answer

Political organization founded on the ideology of stopping the spread of slavery to new parts of the country, but leaving slavery intact where it already existed.

Question 44

Lewis Cass

Accepted Answer

Democratic senator from Michigan who proposed a Congressional compromise of allowing new states to vote on whether or not to allow slavery in a process called popular sovereignty.

Question 45

Popular Sovereignty

Accepted Answer

Congressional compromise idea of allowing new states to vote on whether or not to allow slavery in a process called popular sovereignty.

Question 46

Zachary Taylor

Accepted Answer

Famous general of the Mexican-American War and the 12th President of the United States (Whig) who opposed the spread of slavery, but died suddenly in office.

Question 47

Barnburners

Accepted Answer

Antislavery Democrats whose defection to the Free-Soil Party threatened to severely weaken or destroy the Democratic Party.

Question 48

Henry Clay

Accepted Answer

Representative from Kentucky that promoted the idea of the American System and was also known as the Great Compromiser due to his efforts to try and keep the country from falling to sectionalism.

Question 49

Compromise of 1850

Accepted Answer

Law proposed by Henry Clay that hoped to resolve sectional tension over expanding slavery into new territory from the Mexican Cession, but the compromise proved unsuccessful.

Question 50

Irish

Accepted Answer

Group of immigrants who came to the United States in order to flee a devastating famine at home and sought opportunity in American cities, but often faced discrimination because of their Roman Catholic religion.

Question 51

Roman Catholic

Accepted Answer

Religion practiced by many Irish immigrants that was used as a justification by Nativists for discriminating against the Irish.

Question 52

Tammany Hall

Accepted Answer

Political machine of the Democratic Party in New York City that appealed to immigrants in order to secure votes and was well known for corruption and graft.

Question 53

Germans

Accepted Answer

Group of immigrants who came to the United States in order to flee economic hardships and failed democratic revolutions at home and sought opportunity in the American Midwest.

Question 54

Nativism

Accepted Answer

Anti-immigrant ideology that grew popular during the 1840s against Catholic immigrants such as the Irish and Germans and led to the creation of the Know-Nothing Party.

Question 55

Industrial Technology.

Accepted Answer

Advancements in manufacturing that allowed for the rise of factories mostly in the states of the American Northeast, but also allowed for improved transportation and agriculture

Question 56

Railroads

Accepted Answer

Transportation advancement that greatly increased the efficiency of transporting goods and people across land, opened up the West to more settlers and led to large and wealthy corporations.

Question 57

Elias Howe

Accepted Answer

Inventor of the sewing machine

Question 58

Samuel Morse

Accepted Answer

Inventor of the telegraph and Morse Code, which greatly increased the efficiency of communication across the country.

Question 59

Panic of 1857

Accepted Answer

Financial downturn that greatly hurt the industrial East and the agricultural West, but did little damage to the South, reinforcing the South’s view that their economic system was superior.

Question 60

Fugitive Slave Law

Accepted Answer

Part of the Compromise of 1850 that allowed Southerners to send slave hunters into Northern soil to retrieve runaway slaves, but many Northerners resented the law and actively resisted it.

Question 61

Underground Railroad

Accepted Answer

Loose network of activists who aided enslaved people escape to freedom in the North or Canada in direct defiance of the Fugitive Slave Act.

Question 62

Harriet Tubman

Accepted Answer

One of the most famous and successful conductors of the Underground Railroad who was a former slave and helped at least 300 people escape slavery.

Question 63

Uncle Tom’s Cabin

Accepted Answer

Influential book written by Harriet Beecher Stowe, who inspired many Northerns to actively be opposed to slavery and increased sectional tension over slavery.

Question 64

Harriet Beecher Stowe

Accepted Answer

Author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, who inspired many Northerns to actively be opposed to slavery and increased sectional tension over slavery.

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