Westward Expansion and Reform Study Guide
Section 1: Territories claimed by the U.S
Be able to identify how the United States gained each territory.
1. Louisiana Territory: Purchased from France by Thomas Jefferson; explored by Lewis
and Clark
2. Florida: Spain gave Florida to the United States through a treaty
3. Texas: joined the United States after becoming an independent country
4. Oregon: divided by the United States and Great Britain
5. California: added to the United States after a war with Mexico
Section 2: Reasons for traveling west
Identify 4 reasons people in the United States began moving west.
1.
Manifest Destiny: the belief that the United States should control all territory from
Atlantic to Pacific
2.
Cheap fertile land
3.
New opportunities, freedom for African Americans
4.
California Gold Rush of 1848
Section 3: How did they get there?
Identify 2 ways pioneers traveled west.
1.
Overland trails
2.
Trains, steamboats
Section 4: Dangers on the trail
Identify 2 dangers pioneers might encounter traveling west.
1. Native Americans
2. Weather
3. Terrain—mountains, rivers…
4. Problems on trail—wagon accidents, poor maps of trails
Section 5: Events/things
Be able to identify the following events/things. Make sure you know what happened and
what impact it had on people in the United States.
The Middle Passage: the stage of the Triangular Trade in which millions of Africans were
shipped to America to the sold as slaves
The voyage of the Amistad: a slave ship carrying enslaved Africans. During the voyage, the
captives, led by Sengbe, overthrew the crew and took control of the ship. They landed in
New York, put on trail, and sent back to Africa.
Indian Removal/Trail of Tears: Andrew Jackson’s policy of moving eastern tribes to the
west of the Mississippi River; the trail taken by Native Americans to their new home. On
the trail, many died of starvation and disease.
Slavery in the United States: review page 106 of notebooks!
Section 6: People
Be able to identify the following people. Make sure you know who they are and what they
did that was important.
Frederick Douglass:

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born a slave
escaped to the North
published his autobiography
became an abolitionists that wrote the North Star
William Lloyd Garrison:
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Abolitionist who wrote the Liberator
Worked with Frederick Douglass to abolish slavery
Harriet Tubman:
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former slave who helped hundreds of slaves escape to freedom on the Underground
Railroad
Susan B Anthony:
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Leader of the women’s suffrage movement
Worked with Elizabeth Cady Stanton to campaign for women’s rights
Elizabeth Cady Stanton:
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Leader of the women’s suffrage movement
Worked with Elizabeth Cady Stanton to campaign for women’s rights
Organized the first women’s rights convention—Seneca Falls Convention of 1848
Sojourner Truth:
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Born a slave
Became free and traveled around U.S. giving speech supporting abolition and
suffrage
The Grimke Sisters
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Born on a Southern plantation
Left their plantation to travel around the north speaking out against slavery and for
women’s rights
Lucy Stone:
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Leader of the women’s suffrage movement
First woman from Massachusetts to graduate from college
Lucretia Mott:
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Leader of the women’s suffrage movement
Mentored Stanton and Anthony