chapter 17

In the Oregon treaty with Britain in 1846, the northern boundary of the United States was established to the Pacific Ocean along the Lin of ____

49*

In the Oregon treaty with Britain in 1846, the northern boundary of the United States was established to the Pacific Ocean along the line of

49°.

Joint Resolutions

Act of both houses of Congress by which Texas was annexed.

During an 1837 Canadian rebellion against Britain

America was unlawfully invaded by the British.

The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ending the Mexican War provided for

American acquisition of about half of Mexico and payment of several million dollars in compensation.

Among the major sources of the tension between Britain and the United States in the 1840s was

American involvement in Canadian rebellions and border disputes.

Zachary Taylor

American military hero who invaded northern Mexico from Texas in 1846-1847. (K)

Conscience Whigs

Anti-slavery Whigs who opposed both the Texas annexation and the Mexican War on moral grounds.

Wilmot Proviso

Bill that would ban slavery in the territories acquired after the War with Mexico

Which of the following was not among the reasons why Britain strongly supported an independent Texas?

Britain was interested in eventually incorporating Texas into the British empire.

Aroostook War

Clash over the Maine-Canada boundary where a road was proposed to connect Halifax and Quebec. (H)

David Wilmot

Congressional author of resolution forbidding slavery in territory acquired from Mexico. (L)

Abraham Lincoln

Congressional author of the "spot resolutions" criticizing the Mexican War. (A)

The phrase "spot resolutions" refers to

Congressman Abraham Lincoln's resolution demanding to know the exact spot of American soil where American blood had supposedly been shed.

John Tyler joined the Whig party because he

Could not stomach the dictatorial tactics of Andrew Jackson

Arrange the following in chronological order: (A) annexation of Texas, (B) Webster-Ashburton Treaty, (C) settlement of the Oregon boundary, and (D) Aroostook War.

D, B, A, C

The only member of President Tyler's Whig cabinet who did not resign in protest over his policies was

Daniel Webster.

James K. Polk

Dark-horse presidential winner in 1844 who effectively carried out ambitious expansionist campaign plans. (M)

John C. Fremont

Dashing explorer/adventurer who led the overthrow of Mexican rule in California after war broke out. (G)

After President Harrison's death, Vice President John Tyler carried on the strong Whig policies of leaders like Clay and Webster.

False

By the 1840s, the bitter memories of two Anglo-American wars had disappeared, putting an end to major British-American conflicts.

False

The main American military campaign that finally captured Mexico City was commanded by

General Winfield Scott.

When northwesterners questioned why all of Texas was annexed but not all of Oregon, the reply was

Great Britain was a far more powerful nation than Mexico.

Polk's frustration at Mexico's refusal to sell California

Helped lead to a controversial confrontation with Mexico along the Texas border. (C)

British support for the Texas Republic

Increased American determination to annex Texas. (D)

Texas

Independent nation that was the object of British, Mexican, and French scheming in the early 1840s. (J)

Henry Clay

Leader of Senate Whigs and unsuccessful presidential candidate against Polk in 1844. (C)

John Tyler

Leader who was elected on the Whig ticket but spent most of his presidency in bitter feuds with his fellow Whigs. (O)

Nicholas Trist

Long-winded American diplomat who negotiated the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. (D)

The ___ was the largest single addition to American territory

Mexican Succession

Santa Anna

Mexican military leader who failed to stop humiliating American invasion of his country. (I)

The immediate cause of the Mexican War was

Mexican refusal to sell California and a dispute over the Texas boundary.

54*40'

Northern boundary of Oregon territory jointly occupied with Britain, advocated by Democratic party and others as the desired line of American expansion.

Oregon

Northwestern territory in dispute between Britain and the United States, subject of "Manifest Destiny" rhetoric in 1844. (N)

Texas was finally admitted to the Union in 1844 as a result of

President Tyler's interpretation of the election of 1844 as a "mandate" to acquire Texas.

Spot Resolution

Resolution offered by Congressman Abraham Lincoln demanding to know the precise location where Mexicans had allegedly shed American blood on the "America" soil.

California

Rich Mexican province that Polk tried to buy and Mexico refused to sell.

Nunces River

River that Mexico claimed as the Texas-Mexico boundary, crossed by Taylor's troops in 1846.

Liberty Party

Small anti-slavery party that took enough votes from Henry Clay to cost him the election of 1844.

Tyler's refusal to carry out his own Whig party's policies

Split the Whigs and caused the entire cabinet except Webster to resign. (E)

All of the following were reasons why Britain was intensely interested in an independent Texas except

Texas could become a location for the settlement of undesirable British emigrants.

President Polk's claim that "American blood [had been shed] on the American soil" referred to news of an armed clash between Mexican and American troops near

The Rio Grande

Manifest Destiny

The belief that the United States was destined to stretch across the continent from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean.

The rapid Senate ratification of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

Thwarted a growing movement calling for the United States to annex all of Mexico. (A)

Guadalupe-Hidalgo

Treaty which ended the Mexican War in 1848; Mexico gave up claims to Texas and accepted the Rio Grande River as the boundary between Mexico and U.S.; for $15 million Mexico ceded (handed over) CA and NM

A primary motive driving Americans to annex Texas was fear that the Lone Star Republic would become an ally or protectorate of Britain.

True

In the dispute with Britain over Oregon, the United States repeatedly demanded control of the whole territory as far north as "fifty-four forty."

True

In the election of 1844, Clay lost to Polk partly because he tried to straddle the Texas annexation issue and thus lost antislavery support.

True

Polk's victory in 1844 was interpreted as a mandate for Manifest Destiny and led directly to the annexation of Texas and a favorable settlement of the Oregon dispute.

True

The Wilmot Proviso symbolized the burning issue of slavery in the territories

True

The overwhelming American military victory over Mexico led some Americans to call for the United States to take over all of Mexico.

True

Clay's unsuccessful attempts to straddle the Texas issue

Turned antislavery voters to the Liberty party and helped elect the expansionist Polk. (H)

The _____ stipulated that slavery should never exist in any territories that Mexico ceded to the United States

Wilmot proviso

From a domestic standpoint, which of these was NOT a product of the war with Mexico? a. A significant loss of life and a weakening of the US army. b. Training the military officials who would eventually become leaders in the Civil War. c. Pushing the slavery debate into the foreground. d. Weakening US relations with Latin America e. Increasing the geographic size of the US by one-third.

a

How was the question of the Oregon boundary finally resolved between the US and Britain? a. Britain peacefully settled for the proposed line of 49 degrees. b. America threatened war with England over settling the boundary at the Columbia River. c. Polk pushed his 1844 campaign promise of the 54 degree 40' line until Britain agreed. d. The two nations agreed to continue jointly occupying the region as they had for decades. e. American settlers in the territory attacked small cluster of British until they withdrew into Canada.

a

Symbolically important, the 1846 Wilmot Proviso stated that a. slavery should never be established in the territories acquired from Mexico. b. each new territory in the land acquired from Mexico should decide the slave issue for itself. c. slavery in the US should end by a specified date. d. the number of slave and free states should remain equal and balanced. e. southern states would make no effort to influence the further course of slavery in the territories.

a

Who were the Californios? a. The original inhabitants of the land later called California. b. The descendants of Spanish and Mexican conquerors who once ruled the region. c. Christian missionaries who sought to convert local Indians along the Pacific Coast. d. Mexican prisoners released from jail and sent to settle in California. e. The name given to US settlers who moved into the territory acquired after the war with Mexico.l

b

The conflict between President Tyler and Whig leaders like Henry Clay took place over issues of

banking and tariff policy.

The British-American dispute over the border of Maine was solved

by a compromise that gave each side some territory.

John Tyler joined the Whig party because he

could not stomach the dictatorial tactics of Andrew Jackson.

The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which ended the US war with Mexico, included all of the following terms EXCEPT that it a. confirmed that Texas belonged to the US. b. gave the US all of the territory to the Pacific, including California. c. required the US to assume the land claims against Mexico made by US citizens. d. required the US pay $25 million for its land acquisitions, primarily California. e. granted to the US nearly one-half of all the land formerly held by Mexico.

d

The US-British tension over the Maine-Canada boundary that nearly sparked a war was finally settled in 1842 by a. granting the entire area in question to the Americans. b. granting the entire area in question to the British. c. dividing the area equally between the nations. d. adjusting the Canadian border so that the US gained an additional 6,500 square miles. e. adjusting the Canadian boarder so that the British gained thousands of miles of US territory.

d

In the 1830s, America's relationship with Britain was marked by all of the following EXCEPT a. a borrower-lender status. b. a constant state of being on the brink of war. c. a series of compromises. d. ongoing boundary disputes. e. tensions over tarriffs.

e

During the early 1840s, Texas maintained its independence by

establishing friendly relations with Britain and other European powers.

In his quest for California, President James K. Polk

first advocated buying the area from Mexico.

Henry Clay lost the election of 1844 to James Polk because

his attempt to straddle the Texas annexation issue lost him votes to the antislavery Liberty party in New York.

49th Parallel

line at which the Oregon Territory was drawn in 1846.

The group most supportive of gaining control of all the Oregon Country was the

northern Democrats.

In what year did John O'Sullivan coin the phrase Manifest Destiny?

1845

Oregon Trail

2,00 mile long pioneer trail that began in Missouri and crossed the great plains into the Oregon country.

The Aroostook War was the result of

A dispute over the northern boundary of Maine

During the Mexican War,_____ introduced spot resolutions that requested information that indicated where American blood had been shed to provoke the war

Abraham Lincoln

The group that was instrumental in saving the soil of Oregon for the United States was

American missionaries to the Indians.

Arrange in chronological order the United States' acquisition of (A) Oregon, (B) Texas, and (C) California.

B, A, C

Arrange the following in chronological order: (A) Bear Flag revolt, (B) Slidell mission rejected, (C) declaration of war on Mexico, and (D) American troops ordered to the Rio Grande Valley.

B, D, C, A

Rio Grande

Claimed by United States as southern boundary of Texas. (F)

The area in dispute between the United States and Great Britain in 1845 lay between the

Columbia River, the forty-ninth parallel, and the Pacific Ocean.

The upsurge of Manifest Destiny in the 1840's

Created widespread popular support for Polk's expansionist policies on Texas, Oregon, and California. (I)

The overwhelming American military victory over Mexico

Enabled the United States to take vast territories in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. (B)

In the nineteenth century, relations between Britain and the United States could be characterized as generally peaceful with occasional periods of tension

False

Polk's primary objective in fighting the Mexican War was to obtain California.

False

The Polk administration aimed to seize California by force and made no effort at peaceful purchase of the territory.

False

The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo gave the United States a small slice of present-day southern New Mexico and Arizona.

False

The Wilmot Proviso prohibiting slavery in territory acquired from Mexico helped shove the slavery issue out of sight.

False

The immediate cause of the Mexican War was an attempt by Mexico to reconquer Texas.

False

"Manifest Destiny" represented the widespread American belief that

God had destined the United States to expand across the whole North American continent.

Because the two-thirds vote necessary for a treaty of annexation could not be obtained in the Senate, Texas was annexed by a simple majority resolution of both houses of Congress.

True

In the 1840s, the idea that God had ordained the growth of an American nation stretching across North America was known as Manifest Destiny

True

The "Aroostook War" over the Maine boundary was settled by a territorial compromise in the Webster-Ashburton Treaty.

True

The outcome of the Mexican War became a source of continuing bad feeling between the United States and much of Latin America.

True

The term of the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo, ending the Mexican War, included

United States payment of $15 million for the cession of northern Mexico

What was Polk's real goal once the battle with Mexico began? a. To end the fighting once he captured California. b. To conquer all of Mexico's land claims north of the Nueces River. c. To use Santa Anna to betray - and help the US annex - Mexico. d. To keep Mexico from regaining Texas and advancing into the US. e. To take Mexico City.

a

The "Aroostook War" involved

a battle between British and American sailors over impressment.

The final result of the British-American conflict over the Oregon country in 1844-1846 was

a compromise agreement on a border at the forty-ninth parallel.

Texas was annexed to the United States as a result of

a joint resolution rather than a treaty.

The major domestic consequence of the Mexican War was

a sharp revival of the issue of slavery.

The Aroostook War was

a small-scale clash between lumberjacks in Maine and Canada

What prompted fiercely loyal Whigs to denounce their leader, President John Tyler, as "His Accidency"? a. His veto of bills to establish a national bank. b. His refusal to sign the Tariff of 1842. c. His height and natural clumsiness. d. His perceived ineptitude as president. e. His inability to keep his entire cabinet from resigning.

a. His veto of bills to establish a national bank.

The Whigs placed John Tyler on the 1840 ticket as vice president to

attract the vote of the states' rightists.

All of the following accomplishments from the 1840s are examples of America fulfilling its Manifest Destiny EXCEPT a. gaining land that would become New Mexico and Arizona from Mexico. b. lowering tariff rates. c. annexing Texas. d. formally acquiring land in Oregon Country. e. acquiring gold-rich California.

b

All of the following fanned the flames that led to the US war with Mexico EXCEPT a. Polk's desire for California b. Britain's offer to purchase California from Mexico. c. a dispute over where the Texas boarder with Mexico actually lay. d. Mexico's anger at the US annexation of its territory in revolt, Texas. e. American bloodshed at the hands of Mexican troops along the Rio Grande.

b

What distinguished William Henry Harrison's presidency? a. It was plagued by tensions between western settlers and Native Americans. b. It was the shortest on record. c. It was marked by hard drinking. d. It was undermined by venomous Whig party politics. e. It was the first time a frontiersman held US' highest office.

b. It was the shortest on record.

John C. Calhoun stated, "Mexico is to us the forbidden fruit... the penalty of eating it would be to subject our institutions to political death." How did this statement prove to be correct? a. Northerners took control of the newly acquired land, limiting the South's power. b. European nations regarded the US as an aggressor. c. The controversy resulting from gaining new land led to the Civil War. d. The US went into debt after paying millions of dollars for the Mexican Cession. e. The president gained too much power with the addition of new territories.

c

Manifest Destiny is best described as a. a sense of mission to ultimately eliminate slavery from US soil. b. the goal of expelling all foreign influences from American boarders so that the nation could fully develop as a republic. c. the notion that America was ordained by God to spread its democratic institutions beyond its existing boarders. d. America's push toward becoming a commercial nation and world power. e. a phrase coined by Henry Clay to justify pushing the British further back into Canada.

c

Tyler was considered by contemporaries as a "Democrat in Whig clothing" for all of the following reasons EXCEPT that he a. supported states' rights over a nationalist agenda. b. disliked protective tariffs. c. favored federal funding of internal improvements like roads and canals. d. opposed a national bank. e. rejected the idea of turning profits from the sale of western lands over to the states.

c

Which of the following did NOT influence the decision to annex Texas, the Lone Stare Republic, to the US in 1845? a. Fear that Texan's continued independence made America vulnerable. b. The belief that Mexico would not be able to reclaim its lost Texas territory. c. Increasing British interest in Texas. d. Pressure from the southern states to annex Texas, ideally as a slave territory. e. Whig campaigning in the 1844 election on the promise of annexing Texas.

e

The Wilmot Proviso

Heated up the slavery controversy between North and South. (F)

In the presidential election of 1844, the Whig candidate, Henry Clay

favored both the postponing and the annexation of Texas.

Relations between Britain and the United States in the nineteenth century could be characterized as

generally tense, with periods of both violence and peaceful resolution.

All of the following happened after President John Tyler's veto of a bill to establish a new Bank of the United States except

he sent legislation to Congress for the creation of a National Bank.

The election of 1844 was notable because

it was fought over the issue of expansionism.

One argument against annexing Texas to the United States was that the annexation

might give more power to the supporters of slavery.

Americans responded to the Oregon settlement with

northwestern states joining with antislavery forces to condemn the pact.

Most Americans who migrated to the Oregon Country were attracted by the

rich soil of the Willamette River Valley.

As a result of the panic of 1837

several states defaulted on their debts to Britain.

The nomination of James K. Polk as the Democrats' 1844 presidential candidate was secured by

southern expansionists.

The earliest known use of the term Manifest Destiny was by

John L. O'Sullivan.

Some people in Britain hoped for a British alliance with Texas because

the alliance would give abolitionists the opportunity to free slaves in Texas.

Britain eventually lost out in the contest for the disputed Oregon territory because

the rapidly growing number of American settlers overwhelmed the small British population.

One reason that the British government decided to compromise on the Oregon Country border was

their belief that the territory was not worth fighting over.

Daniel Webster

Leader of the Whig Party, negotiated an end to Maine boundary dispute in 1842. (E)

In the 1840s, the view that God had ordained the growth of an American nation stretching across North America was called

Manifest Destiny.

Britain

Nation that strongly backed independence for Texas, hoping to turn it into an economic asset and antislavery bastion.

Strong American hostility to Britain

Sparked bitter feuds over Canadian rebels, the boundaries of Maine and Oregon, and other issues. (G)

Rapidly growing American settlement in Oregon

Strengthened American claims to the Columbia River country and made Britain more willing to compromise. (J)

Winfield Scott

"Old Fuss and Feathers", whose conquest of Mexico City brought U.S. victory in the Mexican War. (B)