Embedded Files
AMERICAN STORY
THE GOLDEN CITY
ESSENTIAL CHAPTER QUESTION
ESSENTIAL CHAPTER QUESTION
Why were Americans inspired to move west?
TRAILS WEST
TRAILS WEST
THE PULL OF THE WEST | MANIFEST DESTINY | TRAILS TO THE WEST | PIONEERS AND NATIVE AMERICANS
A tough economy and the promise of a rich and exciting future led Americans to look for opportunities in the West.
John O’Sullivan might have thought he was onto something when he coined the phrase “manifest destiny.” However, he could not have predicted the impact that Americans’ movement west would have on the nation’s identity.
Between 1841 and 1866, as many as a half million Americans followed trails to new lives in the West.
Pioneers who moved west endured hardships, and their encounters with Native Americans had profound effects on both cultures.
THE TEXAS REVOLUTION
THE TEXAS REVOLUTION
THE TEJANOS | STTLEMENT AND REBELLION | INDEPENDENCE AND ANNEXATION | "SAM" HOUSTON & SANTA ANA
After achieving independence from Spain, Mexico encouraged American settlement in the territory of Texas.
Cultural differences and disagreements with the Mexican government led Texans to declare independence from Mexico.
The annexation of the Republic of Texas as the 28th state caused tension between northern and southern states.
THE WAR WITH MEXICO
THE WAR WITH MEXICO
TENSIONS WITH MEXICO | THE UNITED STATES AT WAR | CONSEQUENCES OF THE WAR
The annexation of Texas upset the balance of slave and free states and led to the Mexican-American War.
The United States took control of New Mexico and California after forcing Mexico to surrender at the end of the Mexican-American War.
After a series of treaties, land purchases, and international agreements, the United States stretched from the Atlantic to the Pacific.
THE CALIFORNIA GOLD RUSH
THE CALIFORNIA GOLD RUSH
THE SPANISH AND MEXICANS IN CALIFORNIA | THE GOLD RUSH | THE MINING FRONTIER
Long before the United States acquired California, Spanish and Mexican settlers were founding missions and settlements there.
The discovery of gold in California in 1848 led to a boom in population and wealth.
A population boom and growing lawlessness caused by the gold rush led to the demand for California statehood.
REVIEW
REVIEW
VOCABULARY
VOCABULARY
Annex - (v.) to add
Continental Divide - (n.) the high point in the Rocky Mountains that divides the watersheds of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans
Exodus - (n.) a mass departure
Individualism - (n.) self-reliant independence
Manifest Destiny - (n.) the idea that the United States had the right and the obligation to expand its territory across North America to the Pacific Ocean
Mountain Men - (n.) the American fur trappers and explorers who began to explore and move west
Pioneer - (n.) a settler moving to a new and unfamiliar land
Rendezvous - (n.) a temporary market where trappers met to trade and socialize
Wagon Train - (n.) a large group of covered wagons that traveled together across the North American continent as American pioneers moved westward
Margin - (n.) the amount by which something is won or lost
Presidio - (n.) a military post or settlement
Siege - (n.) a military tactic in which troops surround a city with soldiers in an attempt to take control of it
Contiguous - (adj.) connected
Diplomat - (n.) a person sent to another nation to represent his or her country’s interests
Gadsden Purchase - (n.) a sale of land in 1853 from Mexico to the United States that established the current U.S. southwestern border
Insurrection - (n.) a rebellion
Parallel - (n.) a line of latitude
Proviso - (n.) a condition attached to a legal document or legislation
Boomtown - (n.) a town that experiences a great population increase in only a short time period
Californio - (n.) a resident of California who was of Spanish or Mexican descent and lived there before the gold rush
Forty-Niner - (n.) one of the thousands of prospective miners who traveled to California seeking gold in 1849
Prospector - (n.) a person who searches in the earth for valuable resources, such as gems or precious metals
Rancho - (n.) land granted by Mexico to settlers in the form of large estates in what is now California
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