Unit 7 Part 2

Gadsden Purchase

In 1853, the US bought parts of modern New Mexico and Arizona from Mexico. It established the southern boundary of the United States and was separate from the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo. It provided the land for a transcontinental railroad to the pacific.

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. When war broke out between the United States and Mexico, Kearny was promoted to General, with orders to gather an army of volunteers around his unit and head down the Santa Fe Trail to seize the Mexican province of New Mexico. (With a small army, he took Santa Fe, the New Mexican Territory, and southern California)

Winfield Scott

Was one of the most important American military figures of the early 19th century. A hero of the Mexican-American war and named commanding general of the Union war effort. Scott unsuccessfully ran for president as the Whig Party nominee in 1852. His Civil War tactics were originally derided, but eventually became part of the Union's successful strategy.

Conscience Whigs

a Northern/New England portion of the Whig party who opposed the expansion of slavery. They were against the Mexican-American war and the annexation of Texas as a slave state. Some of their members joined the Free-soil party in 1848.

Ostend Manifesto

a meeting in Ostend, Belgium in 1854 to discuss the possibility of America buying Cuba. The diplomats warned Spain that it must sell Cuba or it would be conquered, but their warning failed. It was seen as an attempt to extend slavery.

Free Soil Party

a political party formed in 1848 in support the prevention of slavery in the west. Whigs, Democrats, and Liberty Party members were drawn to this party. They nominated Martin van Buren for their presidential candidate in 1848 at a Buffalo convention.

"Barnburner" Democrats

a political party that stemmed from the Democratic party around 1848. Their rival party was the Hunkers and their name implied that they'd "burn down a political party to get their way". They opposed the expansion of slave states and large corporations.

Wilmot Proviso

a proposal by Democratic Congressman David Wilmot in 1846. Wilmot suggested that any new Mexican territory gained in the Mexican-American War should be free of slavery. This idea caused controversy and John C. Calhoun responded by claiming the Bill of Rights as a guarantee for slavery.

Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo

a treaty signed on February 2nd, 1848 between Mexico and the United States. In exchange for fifteen million dollars, Mexico transferred California, New Mexico, and Texas land north of the Rio Grande to the US. The treaty also granted the American government the territory that would become Nevada, Utah, Arizona, Colorado, and Wyoming.

Mexican War

Marked the first U.S. armed conflict chiefly fought on foreign soil. It pitted a politically divided and militarily unprepared Mexico against the expansionist-minded administration of U.S. President James K. Polk, who believed the United States had a "manifest destiny" to spread across the continent to the Pacific Ocean. A border skirmish along the Rio Grande started off the fighting and was followed by a series of U.S. victories. When the dust cleared, Mexico had lost about one-third of its territory, including nearly all of present-day California, Utah, Nevada, Arizona and New Mexico.

James K. Polk

Often referred to as the first "dark horse," the 11th PRESIDENT of the United States from 1845 to 1849, the last strong President until the Civil War. Polk was a chief lieutenant of Jackson in his Bank war. He served as Speaker between 1835 and 1839, leaving to become Governor of Tennessee. Until circumstances raised Polk's ambitions, he was a leading contender for the Democratic nomination for Vice President in 1844. Both Martin Van Buren and Henry Clay tried to take the expansionist issue out of the campaign by declaring themselves opposed to the annexation of Texas. Polk, however, publicly asserted that Texas should be "re-annexed" and all of Oregon "re-occupied.

Zachary Taylor

Served in the army for some four decades, commanding troops in the War of 1812, the Black Hawk War (1832) and the second of the Seminole Wars (1835-1842). He became a full-fledged war hero through his service in the Mexican War, which broke out in 1846 after the U.S. annexation of Texas. Elected president in 1848, Taylor (12TH PRESIDENT)entered the White House at a time when the issue of slavery and its extension into the new western territories (including Texas) had caused a major rift between the North and South. Though a slaveholder, Taylor sought to hold the nation together.

"Fifty-four Forty or Fight"

The 1844 Democratic presidential candidate James K. Polk ran on a platform of taking control over the entire Oregon Territory and used the famous campaign slogan, "Fifty-four Forty or Fight!" (after the line of latitude serving as the northern boundary of Oregon at 54°40'). Polk's plan was to claim and go to war over the entire territory of the United States.

Franklin Pierce

he was nominated by the Democratic party in the election of 1852. He promoted western expansion and discouraged conflict between the north and the south. Pierce was indecisive and was the only president who wasn't re-elected by his own party. (14 president)

California Gold Rush

the mass migration to California after the discovery of gold. John A. Sutter found gold on his property on January 24, 1848, triggering a major movement. The gold rush helped the US economy and helped populate California cities.

Bear Flag Republic

the name for the Republic of California, an independent state established in Sonoma in 1846. The flag featured a grizzly bear and a star and became the California state flag years later. The Bear Flag Republic was separate for a month before it was added to the US.

Mexican Cession

the name for the land ceded to the US during the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo in 1848. The land largely increased the size of the United States and helped pull the economy out of a depression. However, many lives were lost in the war and northerners saw it as an excuse to expand slavery.

John C. Fremont

was known as the "Pathfinder" because he helped map the eastern section of the Oregon trail. He was a popular military figure who helped Americans in California declare independence from Mexico. He would later become the northern military governor of California and be nominated for presidency by the Republican party in 1856.