Chapter 14 Reading Key Terms

Front 1

Manifest Destiny (p.383)

Back 1

-Imperialist phrase first used in 1845 to urge annexation of Texas; used thereafter to encourage American settlement of European colonial and Indian lands in the Great Plaines and Far West.

Front 2

mountain men (p.387)

Back 2

-Inspired by the fur trade, these men left civilization to work as trappers and reverted to a primitive existence in the wilderness. They were the first whites to find routes through the Rocky Mountains, and they pioneered trails that settlers later used to reach the Oregon country and California in the 1840's.

Front 3

Oregon fever (p.387)

Back 3

-Enthusiasm for emigration to the Oregon Country in the late 1830's and the early 1840's.

Front 4

Franciscan missions (p.389)

Back 4

-In the late 1769, Franciscan missioners accompanied Spanish soldiers to California and over the next fifty years established a chain of missions from San Diego to San Francisco. At these missions, friars sough to convert Indians to Catholicism and make them members of the Spanish empire. The friars stripped the Indians of their native heritage and used soldiers to enforce their will.

Front 5

Overland Trails (p.390)

Back 5

-Trial Route of wagon trains bearing settlers from Independence, Missouri, to the Oregon COuntry in the late 1840's to 1860's.

Front 6

John Fremont, "The Pathfinder" (p.394)

Back 6

-He was an explorer and surveyor who helped inspire Americans living in California to rebel against the Mexican government and declare independence.

Front 7

Stephen F. Austin (p.395)

Back 7

-He established the first colony of Americans in Texas, which he eventually attracted 2,000 people.

Front 8

General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna (p.395)

Back 8

-Fought for Mexico against Sam Houston.

Front 9

Battle of the Alamo (p.395)

Back 9

-Siege in the Texas War for Independence of 1836, in which the San Antonio mission fell to the Mexicans. Davy Crockett and Jim Bowie were among the courageous defenders.

Front 10

Sam Houston (p. 396)

Back 10

-During Texas's fight for independence from Mexico, Sam Houston was the commander in chief of the Texas forces, and he led the attack that captured General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna. After Texas gained its independence, he was named its first president.

Front 11

Lone Star Republic (p.396)

Back 11

-After winning independence from Mexico, Texas became its own nation that was called the Lone Star Republic.
-In 1836, Texans drafted themselves a constitution, legalized slavery, banned free blacks, named Sam Houston president, and voted for the annexation to the United States.
-Quarrels over adding a slave state and fears of instigating a war with Mexico delayed Texas's entrance into the Union until December 29,1845.

Front 12

James Knox Polk "Young Hickory" (p.399)

Back 12

-As President, his chief concern was the expansion of the United States.
-In 1846 his administration resolved the dispute with Britain over the Oregon Country border.
-Polk declared war on Mexico and sough to subvert Mexican authority in California. The United States defeated mexico; and the two nations signed the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in which Mexico gave up any claims on Texas north of the Rio Grande River and ceded New Mexico and California to the United States.

Front 13

Zachary Taylor (p.401)

Back 13

-During the Mexican War, he scored two quick victories against Mexico, which made him very popular in America.
-President Polk chose him as the commander in charge of the war.
-He was not put in charge of the campaign to capture Mexico City, he chose to return home. Later he used his popularity from his military victories to be elected the president as a member of the Whig Party.

Front 14

Winfield Scott (p.402)

Back 14

-During the Mexican War, he was the American general who captured Mexico City, which ended the war.
-Using his popularity from his military success, he ran as a Whig party candidate for President.

Front 15

Bear Flag Republic (p.403)

Back 15

-On June 14,1846, a group of Americans in California captured Sonoma from the Mexican army and declared it the Republic of California whose flag featured a grizzly bear.
-In July, the commodore of the U.S. Pacific Fleet landed troops on California's shores and declared it part of the United States.