Westward Expansion flashcards

Question 1

What does Manifest Destiny mean?

Answer 1

Belief that Americans had believing it was their destiny to take over the whole continent.

Question 2

Why did Americans want to expand to the Pacific Ocean?

Answer 2

• Americans belief of their “destiny” being to expand futher west
• Spread freedom and democracy
• Future for America

Question 3

What impact did Westward Expansion on Native Americans?

Answer 3

• a very harsh impact
• lost ancestral land due to huntingm minning, an dlooging
• NA moved to reservations so settlers could have their land instead
• lost the Native way of life

Question 4

How did the majority of Americans move West?

Answer 4

• through the Oregon trail
• most used prairie (covered wagon) to travel through the trail

Question 5

How did the Adams-Onis Treaty help futher Westward Expansion?

Answer 5

• border between England and America would be at 49 latitude

Question 5

Who are “mountain men “ and why were they living on the frontier?

Answer 5

• men who lived in the moutains
• lived there for fur trade, they made hats out of beaver skin

Question 6

What was the result of Oregon Treaty?

Answer 6

• Spain gave up their land, Russia later gave it up too
• only between England and America now
  Britain got the land North of the 49th parallel
• U.S. got the land South of the 49th parallel

Question 7

Why did Americans move into Mexico, specifically the area of Texas?

Answer 7

Mexico offered Americans land on Texas to increase settlement.

Question 8

What happened at the Alamo? What impact did it have?

Answer 8

Americans in the Alamo held up with Mexican soliders for 13 days, until the wall of the Alamo broke off and all the Americans died.
It then later became an symbol for the Americans showing their resitance for oppersion.

Question 9

What is the Lone Star Republic?

Answer 9

Texas after it gained it own independence from Mexico. Texas wanted to be a American states, but the US refused to accept them as a state.

Question 10

What does it mean to annex something?

Answer 10

• to add a territory to one’s own territory

Question 11

Why did the United States fight a war with Mexico?

Answer 11

• border dispute

Question 12

What was the result of the Mexican American War?

Answer 12

• Mexico signed treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
• Annexnation of Texas to be recognized
• California, Nevada, Arizona and other areas to the United States for $15
  million (called the Mexican Cession) and border at Rio Grande
• Mexicans are suppose to keep their property

Question 13

What does it mean to cede?

Answer 13

• to transfer control of something

Question 14

What does it mean to be a 49er?

Answer 14

• meant they arrived to Califorina in 1849 to try and get gold

Question 15

Why did the population in Califorina grow and diversify?

Answer 15

• the gold lured people there

Question 16

What hardships did miners face in Califorina?

Answer 16

• it was a very long path, there was no railroad to take them
• harsh weather

Question 17

Were most prospectors succesful in minning for gold? Why or Why not?

Answer 17

No, there was not that much gold for all the people and some people were not experienced with money

Question 18

What are boomtowns and ghost towns.

Answer 18

• boomtowns were villages made for gold nearby that grew quickly
• ghost towns are towns after the minners left, largely empthy

Question 19

What was Congress biggest concern regarding adding states to the country in the 1800s?

Answer 19

• adding states could add an unbalance of states who wanted slavery or states that didn´t want slavery

Question 20

What is the Mexican Cession?

Answer 20

• Mexico cedeing California, Nevada, Arizona and other areas to the United States for $15 million