Unit 7: Westward Expansion Review

Section 1: Manifest Destiny — Define Manifest Destiny.

• The belief that the United States was destined to expand across North America to the Pacific Ocean

• A policy to restrict settlement to the Atlantic Coast only

• A plan to keep the United States within its original thirteen colonies

• The idea that only trade, not land, should grow the nation

Section 1: Manifest Destiny — List three problems on the Eastside of America that caused Americans to want to move West.

• Overcrowding in cities

• Limited land and high farmland prices

• Economic depressions

• Abundant free land and high wages in the East

• Safe, easy travel in the East

Section 1: Manifest Destiny — What technology made it easy to move West quickly?

• The transcontinental railroad

• Hand-carried mail routes

• Clipper ships along the Atlantic Coast

• Horse-drawn canal boats only

Section 1: Manifest Destiny — “Manifest Destiny” was achieved when we gained what territory? Include the year.

• Oregon Territory in 1846

• Louisiana Territory in 1803

• Gadsden Purchase in 1853

• Florida in 1819

Section 2: American Territories — What treaty gave us Florida? Include the year.

• Adams–Onís Treaty in 1819

• Treaty of Paris in 1783

• Oregon Treaty in 1846

• Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848

Section 2: American Territories — How did we gain Texas? Who did it belong to before it was its own nation?

• Annexation of the independent Republic of Texas; before independence it belonged to Mexico

• Purchase from Spain; before independence it belonged to France

• Conquest from Britain; before independence it belonged to Spain

• Annexation of a U.S. territory; before independence it belonged to Britain

Section 2: American Territories — Our final land purchase was called the ______ Purchase, and it was purchased in order to complete the ________.

• Gadsden Purchase; southern transcontinental railroad route

• Louisiana Purchase; Erie Canal

• Alaska Purchase; transatlantic telegraph line

• Florida Purchase; Mississippi River steamboat system

Section 2: American Territories — How did we gain the Oregon Territory? (include the year)

• Oregon Treaty with Great Britain in 1846

• Purchase from Spain in 1819

• Annexation following the War of 1812 in 1815

• Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848

Section 3: James K. Polk and The U.S. Mexican War — What did James K Polk claim he was going to do once he became president in 1844?

• Expand U.S. territory to fulfill Manifest Destiny, including Texas, Oregon, and lands in the West

• Reduce the size of the United States to avoid foreign conflicts

• Focus only on banking reform with no territorial changes

• End westward migration and protect the Atlantic Coast

Section 3: James K. Polk and The U.S. Mexican War — What was James K Polk’s opinion about the battle at the Rio Grande?

• Mexico had invaded U.S. territory and shed American blood on American soil

• The United States had crossed into Mexican territory by mistake

• The battle was a minor border skirmish unworthy of war

• Britain encouraged the fight to gain Oregon