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Joseph Smith establishes the Church of Latter-Day Saints
Joseph Smith founds the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints based on the Book of Mormon. This new Mormon religion was born in the Burned-Over District, and soon gained distinction because of close Mormon unity and their economic sucess. After being harassed in New York, the Mormons moved to Illinois in 1839. In 1844 Smith began to preach that polygamy was acceptable, and soon after Smith and his brother were killed by an angry mob of non Mormons. -
The Battle of The Alamo
Built in 1724, The Alamo was a Spanish mission that served as a home to missionaries and their Indian converts. All was calm in the town of San Antonio, where the mission was located until rebellious ideas started to get spread around. In December of 1835, Ben Milam led Texan volunteers to fight against Mexican troops that were stationed in the city. This was the beginning of the Texas Revolution. -
The Battle of The Alamo Cont.
In February 1836, Mexican General Antonio Lopez led a surprise attack against the revolting Texans who took shelter in The Alamo. The defenders fought bravely for 13 days but in the end, they fell to the strength of the Mexican army. Although this battle was a loss for the Texans, it represents the craving for freedom shared by Americans. People were angered at the loss and this was only the beginning of Americans’ quest for liberty. -
Davey Crockett
A lieutenant colonel of the 57th regiment of the Tennessee Militia, and later a congressman representing Tennessee. He opposed Jackson's Inidan Removal Act, which cost him his spot in 1830, but he later regained his spot in 1832. In 1834 he lost re-eleciton and moved to Texas arriving and immediately volunteering for the army on Jan. 14, 1836. He then went to the Alamo where he met his death on March 6, 1836 defending the Alamo from Mexican forces. -
Brigham Young moves Mormons to Utah
In 1846, Brigham Young took control of the Mormons and moved them away from the midwest because they were still unable to practice their religion in peace. Brigham Young moved the Mormons to Utah, where they hoped to be able to practice their religion in peace. -
"54-40' or fight"
A popular slogan amongst democrats who elected James Polk in 1844. James Polk wanted to expand territory which included Texas, California, and all of Oregon Territory. Americans at this time were moving west on the Oregon trail, so they needed more room for settlement, and so James Polk claimed he would end the joint occupation of Oregon Territory within the year of 1845. Americans outnumbered British, and British compromised in June of 1846 to split the territory along the 49th parallel -
Bear-Flag Revolt
33 men gathered at the adobe of General Mariano Vallejo, most men were explorers and mountain men, and they were all displeased with the unpowerful Mexican rule. The group arrested Vallejo and took him to Sutter's Fort for safeguarding. After the easy victory, they made a flag with a grizzly bear on it and raised it to legitamize their conquest. -
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
Marked the end of the Mexican-American War and Granted the USA land where California, Texas, Arizona, Nevada, and New Mexico would later be. -
Miner 49ers
This is the term given to the tens of thousands of people that migrated west to California in 1849, to find their fortune during the Gold Rush. Not only did prospectors travel the nine months from the west, but many immigrated from across the Pacific Ocean. The mass exodus of people to California reinforced the idea of Manifest Destiny; the United States was destined to stretch from sea to shining sea. The Gold Rush resulted in California being admitted into the union as the 31st state. -
The Homestead Act
The Homestead Act offered an incentive for people to move out west and become farmers.The Act offered 160 acres of land to anyone who would live on the land for at least 5 years and improve it by cultivating the land and building a house. Settlers who went to the midwest were sucessful, but farmers who traveled to the Great Plains usually lost their claims because it was too difficult to improve the land. -
Homestead Act Significance
In the end, only 10% of farmers took advantage of the Homestead Act. The other 90% bought the land from the government so that they could have the valuable land located near transportation such as trains. However, the Governments promotion of the Homestead Act and the benefits of the West convinced many people to buy land and start a farm. -
Buffalo Bill
William Fredrick Cody, also known as Buffalo Bill was a soldier, bison hunter, and showman. He was a chief scout for the third calvalry of the Union during the Civil War, and earned a metal of honor, and earned the name "Buffalo Bill" by killing 4,280 American Bison from 1867-1867 and supplying the meat to the Kansas Pacific Railroad. He resided in many western states mainly Kansas, and became globally recognized as a showman in Dec. 1872 performing his western show in Europe as well as the US -
Treaty of Fort Laramie
In 1864, war began between people living in Colorado and the local Indian tribes because settlers were destroying Indian lands and forcing Indians to live on reservations that were too small to support the tribes. After several years of fighting, the Treaty of Fort Laramie allowed the Sioux to live on the Black Hills, the sacred land of the Sioux tribe. -
Transcontinental Railroad Finished
The 1,766 mile railroad is now finished. Allowing people to travel coast to coast in 2 weeks time. -
Golden Spike
On May 10, 1869, Leland Stanford drove the final spike of the transcontinental railroad in Promontory Summit, Utah. The driving of this Golden Spike connected the vast country from one coast to another, allowing people, ideas, materials, and anything else spread across America. Prior to the Transcontinental Railroad, settlers looking to go west could expect a minimum of a sixth month journey and would face many struggles, including the ever-present threat of dysentery. -
Custer's Last Stand
Unfortunatly, gold was soon discovered on the Black HIlls, the land the Sioux just acquired in the Treaty of Fort Laramie. Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer surveyed the Black Hills and told Congress that there was lots of ore that could be easily recovered. The Sioux, Cheyenne, and Arapaho warriors prepared to fight for their land. Custer decieded to moved up to Montana, but while he traveled the largest Indian group ever assembled (2,000-4,000 warrriors) attacked. -
Custer's Significance
As Custer moved north, the Indian warriors cut him off from his military support and destroyed Custer and his army. The significance is that the Indians attack fueled anti-Indian sentiment. The Indian victory led to the US Army tracking down the rebellious Indian tribes and forcing them to surrender, strrengthening US control in the West. -
"I will fight no more, forever"
Said by Chief Joseph after the Nez Perce War on October 5, 1877 after the Nez Perce were forced to surrender to Colonel Nelson Miles and General O. O. Howard after the Battle of Bear Paw Mountains. The US troops had been chasing the Nez Perce from the Wallowa Valley of Oregon toward Canada to make room for settlers -
Mormons Live in Utah
The 87,000 Mormons now living in Utah farmed using techniques learned from local Indian tribes. As the rest of the United States caught up with Mormons in terms of moving West, the Mormons once again saw their way of life threatened. IN the 1879 court case United States v. Reynolds, the Supreme Court ruled that polygamy was illegal. Mormons could believe in having multiple wives, but legally they were not allowed to practice this belief. -
Mormon Signficance
The Mormons were countinually forced to move West because people in the East were trying to disrupt the Mormon way of life and make them stop practicing. This is similar to the Puritan migration to America. It is also significant because although the Bill of Rights allows for the freedom of religion, Mormons are not legally allowed to practice polygamy. The Mormon community in Utah remains large there today. -
The Dawes Severalty Act
The Dawes Act was similar to the Homestead Act in that it gave 160 acres of land to any individual willing to work on it. The Dawes Act allowed the Government to give land to Indians that were no longer associated with a tribe. The act was part of an effort to break up tribal relations and have Indians adapt to autonomy and a Yeoman farmer lifestyle. -
The Dawes Act fails.
The Dawes Act intially worked to pull apart Indian tribes. The Act prohibited traditional ways of Indian life such as practing ceremonies, telling myths, and forbidding Indian language and clothing. The Act allowed Indians to become citizens if they worked on the land and petitioned for citizenship, but because the government gave the Indians poor land, tools, and little information on how to farm, many Indians went back to their tribes. -
Wounded Knee Massacre
The last battle of the Indian Wars. Army Calvary walks on a Lakota camp to disarm them and end up killing 150 Men, Women, and Children. -
Frontier Thesis
The Turner Thesis is written to highlight the successes and failures of the frontier and how it is no longer considered the frontier.
