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Treaty of Paris
The Treaty of Paris of 1783, negotiated between the United States and Great Britain, ended the revolutionary war and recognized American independence. The Continental Congress named a five-member commission to negotiate a treaty–John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, John Jay, Thomas Jefferson, and Henry Laurens. -
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, one of the Founding Fathers of the United States and the principal author of the Declaration of Independence. He served as the third President of the United States (1801–1809) and was elected the second Vice President of the United States -
Louisiana Purchase
The Louisiana Purchase was the acquisition of the Louisiana territory by the United States from France in 1803. The U.S. paid fifty million francs and a cancellation of debts worth eighteen million francs for a total of sixty-eight million francs -
Stephen F. Austin
During Austin's time in Arkansas, his father traveled to Spanish Texas and received an empresarial grant that would allow him to bring 300 American families to Texas, they would be called "The Old 300." Moses Austin caught pneumonia soon after returning to Missouri. -
Adams-Onis Treaty
The Adams–Onís Treaty of 1819, also known as the Transcontinental Treaty, the Florida Purchase Treaty, or the Florida Treaty, was a treaty between the United States and Spain in 1819 that ceded Florida to the U.S. and defined the boundary between the U.S. and New Spain. -
Lone Star Republic
The Lone Star Republic. At the time Spain granted independence to Mexico in 1821, the land now comprising the state of Texas was very sparsely populated. The Mexican government actually encouraged the settlement of the area by American pioneers. -
Santa Fe trail
The Santa Fe Trail was a 19th-century transportation route through central North America that connected Independence, Missouri with Santa Fe, New Mexico. -
Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna
Antonio de Padua María Severino López de Santa Anna y Pérez de Lebrón, often known as Santa Anna or López de Santa Anna was a Mexican politician and general who fought to defend royalist New Spain and then for Mexican independence. -
Alamo
The Alamo Mission in San Antonio is commonly called The Alamo and was originally known as Misión San Antonio de Valero -
Sam Houston
Sam Houston was an American soldier and politician. His victory at the Battle of San Jacinto secured the independence of Texas from Mexico in one of the shortest decisive battles in modern history -
Oregon Trail
The route over which settlers traveled to Oregon in the 1840s and 1850s; trails branched off from it toward Utah and California. The Oregon Trail passed through what is now Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Wyoming, and Idaho. -
54’40’ or fight line
Polk called for expansion that included Texas, California, and the entire Oregon territory. The northern boundary of Oregon was the latitude line of 54 degrees, 40 minutes. "Fifty-four forty or fight!" was the popular slogan that led Polk to victory against all odds. -
Texas Annexation
The Texas annexation was the 1845 incorporation of the Republic of Texas into the United States of America, which was admitted to the Union as the 28th state on December 29, 1845. The Republic of Texas declared independence from the Republic of Mexico on March 2, 1836 -
James K. Polk
James Knox Polk was an American politician who served as the 11th President of the United States. He previously was elected the 13th Speaker of the House of Representatives and Governor of Tennessee. -
Mormon Trail
The Mormon Trail is the 1,300-mile route that members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints traveled from 1846 to 1868 -
Oregon Territory
In 1846, the Oregon boundary dispute between the U.S. and Britain was settled with the signing of the Oregon Treaty. The British gained sole possession of the land north of the 49th parallel and all of Vancouver Island, with the United States receiving the territory south of that line. -
Mexican Cession
The Mexican Cession is the region in the modern-day southwestern United States that Mexico ceded to the U.S. in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848 -
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
The war officially ended with the February 2, 1848, signing in Mexico of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. The treaty added an additional 525,000 square miles to United States territory, including the land that makes up all or parts of present-day Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming. -
Zachary Taylor
Zachary Taylor was the 12th President of the United States, serving from March 1849 until his death in July 1850. Before his presidency, Taylor was a career officer in the United States Army, rising to the rank of major general. -
Winfield Scott
Winfield Scott was a United States Army general and the unsuccessful presidential candidate of the Whig Party in 1852. -
Gadsden Purchase
The Gadsden Purchase is a 29,670-square-mile region of present-day southern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico that the United States purchased via a treaty signed on December 30, 1853, by James Gadsden, U.S. ambassador to Mexico at that time