A U.S. political party that, at the time, encouraged the Populist movement of that era and the expansionist movement west that followed.

The practice of giving supporters government jobs 

An act passed by South Carolina that declared that the Tariff of 1832 was unconstitutional 

A law passed by Congress in 1830 setting up territories west of the Mississippi River where American Indians living in existing states could be relocated. A few tribes went peacefully, but many resisted the relocation policy.

The forced migration by the Cherokee and other American Indian groups from their southeastern homelands to territories west of the Mississippi River 

An 1832 Supreme Court ruling that proclaimed state laws do not apply within American Indian territory 

Money, especially money collected by a government for public use 

the idea that the United States is destined—by God, its advocates believed—to expand its dominion and spread democracy and capitalism across the entire North American continent

a 2,170-mile east–west, large-wheeled wagon route and emigrant trail in the United States that connected the Missouri River to valleys in Oregon Territory

An old Spanish mission building in Texas where Mexican forces under Santa Anna besieged Texans in 1836

This treaty, in 1848, ended the war between the United States and Mexico. By its terms, Mexico ceded 55 percent of its territory, including the present-day states California, Nevada, Utah, New Mexico, most of Arizona and Colorado, and parts of Oklahoma, Kansas, and Wyoming.

one taking part in the rush to California for gold in 1849

A private meeting; often a political meeting 

an agreement between states for regulation of matters affecting all of them

A trapper who explored and hunted in the American West in the early 1800’s 

Able to produce enough for one’s own needs

A ruler with absolute power and authority over a country, usually through the use of violence 

a military operation in which enemy forces surround a town or building, cutting off essential supplies, with the aim of compelling the surrender of those inside.

an amount or portion of a resource assigned to a particular recipient.

The right to vote