Key Historical Terms

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Gadsden Purchase

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A 29,670-square-mile region of present-day southern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico that was purchased by the United States from Mexico in 1853.

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Cession

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The formal giving up of rights, property, or territory by a state.

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Forty Niners

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The people who moved to California in 1849 during the California Gold Rush.

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Santa Anna

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A Mexican politician and general who greatly influenced early Mexican politics and government.

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Transcontinental Railroad

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A contiguous network of railroad trackage that crosses a continental land mass with terminals at different oceans or continental borders.

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Trade, commerce

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The activity of buying, selling, or exchanging goods and services between people or countries.