ch 13
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46 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 oregon country | area west of the rocky mountains. did not include california |
| mountain men | adventurious men hiked throuhg the regions vast forests trapping animals and living off the land |
| rugged individualists | people who follow their own independent course in life |
| rendezvous | get together |
| Jedediah smith | led slettlers through present day wyoming to get past the rocky mountains |
| Manuel lisa | a latino fur trader who led a trip up the Missouri river in 1807 and founded fot manuel, the first outpost on upper missouri |
| james beckwourth | African American who traveled west to escape slavery; became a chief in the Crow tribe; later discovered a mountain pass through the Sierra Nevada Mountains that enabled thousands of pioneers and gold seekers to reach northern California |
| whitmans | United States frontier missionary who estanblished a post in Oregon where Christianity and schooling and medicine were available to Native Americans (1802=1847) |
| oregon trail | a historical route to the western United States extending from various cities on the Missouri River to Oregon and the West coast. |
| Stephen austin | Original settler of Texas, granted land from Mexico on condition of no slaves, convert to Roman Catholic, and learn Spanish,, Austin, Texas was named after him; he was the man the brought the first Americans into Texas because he was granted permission by the Mexicans. Leader of Texas settlers in 1820 |
| santa anna | Mexican president and General, Mexican general who tried to crush the Texas revolt and who lost battles to Winfield Scott and Zachary Taylor in the Mexican War. |
| dictator | a ruler with absolute power and authority |
| tejanos | people of Mexican descent born in Texas |
| sam houston | United States politician and military leader who fought to gain independence for Texas from Mexico and to make it a part of the United States (1793-1863), First president of the Republic of Texas |
| alamo | the mission in San Antonio where in 1836 Mexican forces under Santa Anna besieged and massacred American rebels who were fighting to make Texas independent of Mexico |
| siege | enemy forces try to capture a city or fort, often By surrounding and bombarding it |
| William travis | commanded the garrison at the Alamo; important in rallying the men to continue fighting |
| battle of san jacinto | a big victory for texans, santa anna was captured, and gives texas its independence ( the battle only lasted 18 mintutes) |
| lone star republic | The texans had carried a flag with a simgle white star after winning independence, they nicknamed their nation the lone star republic |
| annex | add on |
| new mexico territory | It included most of the present day states of Arizona, New mexico , all of Nevada, and Utah, and parts of Colorado |
| william becknell | a merchant and adventurer, he was the first american to head for Sante fe. In 1821 he led a group of traders from Franklin Misourri across the plains |
| santa fe trail | an important trade route going between Independence, Missouri and Santa fe, New mexico used from about 1821 to 1880 |
| self-sufficient | producing enough for its own needs |
| vaqueros | the Indian and Mexican cowhands who worked on the ranches |
| manifest destiny | the belief that the United States was destined to stretch across the continent from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean |
| james polk | the eleventh President of the United States. He threatened war with Britain then backed away and split the ownership of the Northwest with Britain. He is even more famous for leading the successful Mexican-American War. |
| zachory taylor | Moves troops to Texas in 1846. Encounters Mexican resistance and declares war taking TX, NM, AZ |
| winfield scott | United States general who was a hero of the War of 1812 and who defeated Santa Anna in the Mexican War (1786-1866) |
| stephen kearny | American general in war with Mexico, he captured Santa Fe without fireing a shot |
| bear flag republic | aka the California republic; the result of a revolt by Americans on June 14, 1846, in the town of Sonoma against the authorities of the Mexican province of California; the Republic lasted less than a month. The republic eventually became the present-day state of California. |
| john fremont | American military officer, explorer, the first candidate of the United States Republican Party for the office of President of the United States First Presidential candidate of a major party to run on a platform of opposition to slavery. |
| chapultepec | battle at which los niños fought heroically and died defending the military academy |
| treaty of guadalupe-hidalgo | mexico had to give up all of california, and new mexico to the us |
| cede | give up |
| mexican cession | historical name for the region of the present day southwestern United States that was ceded to the U.S. by Mexico in 1848 under the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo following the Mexican-American War. this massive land grab was significant because the question of extending slavery into newly acquired territories had become the leading national political issue. |
| gadsden purchase | purchase of land from mexico in 1853 that established the present U.S.-mexico boundary |
| mormans | Belonged to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Founded by Joseph Smith in 1830 |
| joseph smith | founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints |
| nauvoo | Mormons founded this Illinois town, which became an imposing and economically successful community. |
| refuge | a place where they would be safe from persecution |
| brigham young | The successor to the Mormons after the death of Joseph Smith. He was responsible for the survival of the sect and its establishment in Utah, thereby populating the would-be state. |
| sutters mill | where gold was discovered in 1848 |
| forty niners | Thousands of Americans rushed to California in search of gold. 80000 people made journey to California. |
| vigilantes | self-appointed law enforcers |
| lynched | hanged without a legal trial |
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