Unit 7: Westward Expansion

Unit 7 Vocabulary:

Westward Expansion Vocabulary

1. Monroe Doctrine - Policy created by President James Monroe in 1823, that stated the United States would not tolerate any European interventions in the Americas.
2. Manifest Destiny – An idea held by a nineteenth-century Americans that the United States was destined to rule the continent, from the Atlantic the Pacific.
3. Indian Removal Act - (1830) a congressional act that authorized the removal of Native Americans who lived east of the Mississippi River
4. Trail of Tears - (1838-39) an 800-mile forced march made by the Cherokee from their homeland in Southeast to Indian Territory in Oklahoma; resulted in the deaths of almost one-fourth of the Cherokee people
5. Andrew Jackson - 7th president known for signing the Indian removal act
6. Homestead Act - 1862 - Provided free land in the West to anyone willing to settle there and develop it. Encouraged westward migration.
7. Transcontinental Railroad - Railroad connecting the west and east coasts of the continental US
8. Oregon Trail - 2,000 mile trail from Independence, Missouri to Oregon used by many pioneers during the 1840s
9. Zebulon Pike - Explored the southern part of the Louisiana Territory
10. Meriwether Lewis and William Clark -
11. Sent on an expedition by Jefferson to gather information on the United States' new land and map a route to the Pacific. They kept very careful maps and records of this new land acquired from the Louisiana Purchase.
12. Gadsden Purchase - Agreement w/ Mexico that gave the US parts of present-day New Mexico & Arizona in exchange for $10 million; needed to complete transcontinental railroad. all but completed the continental expansion envisioned by those who believed in Manifest Destiny.
13. Mexican Cession - land ceded by Mexico as a result of the Mexican war; contained the southwest portion of the U.S.
14. Adams-Onis Treaty - Agreement in which Spain gave up all of Florida to the United States
15. Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo - Treaty that ended the Mexican War, granting the U.S. control of Texas, New Mexico, and California in exchange for $15 million
16. California Gold Rush - Mass migration to California following the discovery of gold in 1848
17. Battle of the Alamo - battle in which Mexican soldiers physically won and killed all but 2 Texan volunteers, inspired the Texans to fight for freedom
18. Land Speculators - People who buy land in the hope that it will increase in value
19. Brigham Young - A Mormon leader who urged the Mormons to move farther west. They settled at the edge of the lonely desert near the Great Salt Lake.
20. Louisiana Purchase - 1803 purchase of the Louisiana territory from France. Made by Jefferson, this doubled the size of the US.