Question | Answer |
Indian Removal Act | passed by Jackson & Congress; forced tribes west of the Mississippi River; Supreme Court against it |
Trail of Tears | name of path taken by Cherokees and other tribes when forced to relocate west of the Mississippi River |
Rendezvous | month-long meeting of Mountain Men where they ate, drank, traded furs, and told stories |
Conestogas | covered wagons used by pioneers to cross the Appalachian mountains |
prairie schooners | covered wagons used by pioneers to cross the more rugged mountains past the Mississippi River |
Gold Rush | people hurried to California in 1849 because of this; mostly storekeepers and merchants got rich |
Jedidiah Smith | mountain man who carried a Bible and used clean language and good habits; helped make a trail to the South Pass |
Free Soil Party | against slavery in the west |
President Tyler | took over presidency after president died following a one month term in office |
President Harrison | died after one month in office |
Manifest Destiny | means America will expand westward from "sea to shining sea" |
President Polk | president who added California and Oregon to the U.S. |
mountain men | rough people who hunted furs, met at the Rendezvous, often had been lawbreakers in the east, often dressed like Indians, many had bad habits (drinking, smoking, cursing) |
Reasons to go west | gold & money; cheap,fertile land; religious freedom; adventure & freedom from law; and tougher life |
Spain | first country to control Texas and California |
Sam Houston | president of Texas; defeated Santa Ana |
Jim Bowie | died at the Alamo in his bed; made a knife |
Davey Crockett | died at the Alamo; rifle named "Old Betsy" |
Santa Ana | Dictator of Mexico; lost more men but defeated the Texans at the Alamo |
"Remember the Alamo" | inspiration/motivation for Texas |
Stephen Austin | led first settlers to Texas; capital named after him |
William Henry Harrison | president who died in office; nicknamed "Old Tippecanoe" |
Andrew Jackson | against Indians; nicknamed "Old Hickory" |
manifest destiny painting (lady) | the lady leads settlers to improve the west with education (book)and the telegraph (communication) |
manifest destiny painting (movement) | the west is settled by more and more modern forms of transportation |
Zachary Taylor | nicknamed "Old Rough and Ready"-fierce American general in war with Mexico |
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo | ended war with Mexico, gave CA/NM to US and set Texas border at Rio Grande |
Utah | Mormons came here to escape religious persecution, leader Joseph Smith was killed by a mob, and to set up their town as they wanted |
Reasons to go west | the Mexican War, a depression in the east, freedom of religion, to get cheap land |
Mormon Trail | used by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints |
Wild West | called that because criminals & outlaws went west to avoid being caught, fights over gold, with no police people broke laws |
War with Mexico | started by President Polk because Texans and Mexico disagreed on the border and Mexicans killed some Americans there |
Supreme Court | disagreed with Jackson and Congress about the Indian Removial Act |
1840s routes west | Oregon Trail, Mormon Trail, California Trail |
Brigham Young | Mormon leader who lead the Mormons to the Great Salt Lake region |
49ers | named after 1849, year people came to CA to mine gold |
polygamy | having more than one wife; practiced by early Mormons |
Oregon Dispute | America and Britain settled the country's boundary at the 49th parallel with a treaty |
1849 routes to California | OR and CA trails, clipper ship around South America (Cape Horn), and ship to Panama and across then ship to CA |
Joseph Smith | started the Mormon religion (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) based on supposed visitation by 2 personages; killed by a mob |
To get CA & TX | why Polk started war with Mexico |
Western Transport/Communication | Pony Express, Clipper ships, Telegraph were innovations of this |
John Sutter | ran a fort where gold was discovered when he was having a mill built |
James Marshall | famous for finding gold by accident while building a mill at Sutter's fort |
Cheapest route to CA | covered wagons on the OR & CA trails |
bully relationship | American relationship with Mexico during westward expansion |
1829 | Jackson elected |
1823 | Monroe Doctrine |
1831-1833 | Trail of Tears (because of Jackson's Indian Removal Act) |
1849 | Gold Rush |