-
Louisiana Purchase
It was an agreement between the French and the United States to give the U.S. 827,000 square miles of land for $15 million dollars which would give them economic advantages of the Mississippi River, and double the size of the United States. -
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson was the third president of the U.S. and bought the Louisiana territory from France in 1803 due to economic advantages of the Mississippi River and port of New Orleans. -
Lewis and Clark
Thomas Jefferson sent Lewis and Clark out on an expedition to explore the Louisiana territory (827,000 square miles) to try and find a route from the east through the territory all the way west to the Pacific Ocean which could increase trade with China. -
Sacagawea
A Native American woman of the Shoshone tribe who offered her skills to Lewis and Clark as an interpreter and guide for them along their expedition to get across obstacles unfamiliar to them. -
Adams-Onis Treaty
A treaty between the United States and Spain that ceded Florida to the U.S. and which would also settle border disputes between the U.S. and Spanish Empire. -
"Remembering the Alamo"
A battle cry at San Jacinto by the Texans who showed bitterness toward the massacre of Mexican forces at the Alamo in San Antonio. -
Webster-Ashburton Treaty
A treaty with resolved many border issues between the United States and the British North American colonies, which resolved the Aroostook War. -
Manifest Destiny
The belief that it was the destiny of the United States to expand their territory across the whole of North America, which would enhance it's economic and political influences. -
Texas Annexation
The incorporation of the Texas Republic into the United States because it had been seceded from Mexico in a rebellion, which this also set off a war that would happen the following year between the U.S. and Mexico. -
Oregon Territory
A dispute between the United States and Britain over the Oregon boundary was then settled with the signing of the Oregon Treaty to split the territory at the 49th parallel. -
Fifty-Four Forty or Fight
A popular, aggressive slogan adopted in the Oregon boundary dispute over where the border between Canada and Oregon should be drawn, also being James K. Polk's slogan because the Democrats wanted the U.S. border drawn at the 54'40" latitude. -
War with Mexico
A war between Mexico and the United States that started as the result of the annexation of Texas, a boundary dispute and the U.S's desire to obtain Mexico's northern territories. -
Rio Grande
The United States claimed the Rio-Grande River, and Mexico claimed the Nueces River. When both troops met at the Rio Grande the Mexican army opened fire. -
Santa Anna
Antonio López de Santa Anna Pérez de Lebrón was a general who when heard of the war between the United States and Mexico, had a ship arranged to take him to Mexico for the purpose of working for peace. When he took charge of the Mexican forces, instead led his men against the United States. -
President Polk
James K. Polk, the 11th president of the U.S. requested to declare war on Mexico over the dispute on Texas and as a way to force the secession of New Mexico and California. -
Zachary Taylor
The general who commanded the northern campaign in the Mexican-American War and was sent by Polk to lead the American Army against Mexico at Rio Grande. -
Winfield Scott
United States general who helped the U.S. win tremendously by defeating general Santa Anna in the Mexican-American War, and who would later in 1852 be an unsuccessful presidential candidate. -
Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo
A treaty of peace between the United States and the Mexican Republic which ended the Mexican-American war and transferred 500,000 square miles of Mexican land to the United States ownership. -
Mexican Cession
A historical name in the United States for the region of the modern day southwestern U.S. that Mexico ceded to, giving the U.S. it's largest land acquisition since the Louisiana Purchase. -
Gadsden Purchase
A treaty where the United States bought from Mexico, which would now be southern Arizona and southern New Mexico, which would allow Southerners to build southern transcontinental railroad.