Manifest destiny Flashcards
(12 cards)
Caroline (1837)
An American steamboat attacked and burned by British forces while it was supplying Canadian rebels on the Niagara River. One American was killed. This event caused outrage and heightened tensions between the U.S. and Britain.
Creole (1841)
An American ship carrying enslaved people was taken over by the enslaved Africans on board. They sailed to the British Bahamas, where Britain had outlawed slavery. Britain granted them asylum, angering American pro-slavery leaders and straining U.S.–British relations.
Aroostook War (1838–1839)
A bloodless conflict between American and Canadian (British) lumberjacks over the unclear border between Maine and British Canada. It was resolved by the Webster-Ashburton Treaty, which peacefully settled the boundary.
Manifest Destiny
The 19th-century belief that the United States had a divine mission to expand across the North American continent, from the Atlantic to the Pacific. It was used to justify U.S. expansion into Texas, Oregon, California, and the Southwest—even at the cost of war and Native/foreign land claims.
54-40 or Fight!
A political slogan used by expansionists who demanded that the United States claim all of Oregon up to the latitude 54°40′ (the border with Russian Alaska). Eventually, a compromise with Britain set the border at the 49th parallel in 1846.
Liberty Party (1840s)
A small but influential abolitionist political party that broke from the larger parties to oppose slavery directly. Though it never won major elections, it helped push anti-slavery ideas into the national conversation.
Spot Resolutions (1847)
Proposed by Abraham Lincoln, these were resolutions demanding that President Polk show the exact ‘spot’ where blood was first shed in the Mexican-American War. Lincoln doubted Polk’s claim that Mexico had attacked on U.S. soil, suggesting the war was started to gain territory for slavery.
California Bear Flag Republic (1846)
A short-lived independence movement in California led by American settlers who declared the region free from Mexican rule. It lasted only a few weeks before U.S. forces took control and annexed California.
Battle of Buena Vista (1847)
A major U.S. victory in the Mexican-American War where General Zachary Taylor defeated a much larger Mexican force. It boosted American morale and helped make Taylor a national hero (and later president).
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848)
The treaty that ended the Mexican-American War. Mexico gave the U.S. a vast amount of land (modern-day California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, and more) in exchange for $15 million. This land became known as the Mexican Cession.
Conscience Whigs
A group of anti-slavery Whigs who opposed the Mexican-American War and the spread of slavery into new territories. They believed the war was immoral and that slavery should not expand westward.
Wilmot Proviso (1846)
A proposed amendment that would ban slavery in any territory gained from Mexico. Though it failed in the Senate, it deepened the divide between North and South and previewed the coming Civil War.
